Anisa is a local handwashing champion in Solomon Islands

Anisa demonstrates how to wash hands properly to help prevent COVID-19 (Live & Learn)

Hearing that a deadly virus might reach your country can be frightening and overwhelming news.

For Anisa, it was an opportunity to learn the correct steps for handwashing and share that knowledge with others. Anisa is 9 years old and lives with her family in Western Guadalcanal Province, Solomon Islands.

Anisa and her brother Paul both have disabilities. After Live & Learn staff visited Anisa’s village to demonstrate and spread awareness about the importance of handwashing, Anisa took it upon herself to share her experience and knowledge with other children in the community.

After observing Anisa's energy and enthusiasm for handwashing, her father worked with the church leaders in the community to expand the hygiene awareness sessions to nearby communities. The leaders also addressed how to help people with special needs access handwashing facilities to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

A WASH response is a COVID-19 response

Ensuring Solomon Islands remains COVID-19 free is critical for the health and wellbeing of the population, which is vulnerable to this pandemic and other diseases due to a weak health system. Through their Water for Women project, our partners Plan International and Live & Learn were able to mobilise quickly to ensure communities were aware and prepared and practicing proper handwashing, Anisa has been a wonderful help in spreading these messages!

As their WASH project work continues, the teams are focusing on long term improvements through targeted infrastructure improvements in schools. This will provide important economic recovery through the paid engagement and development of local skilled and unskilled labour. Intended improvements will include construction of latrines with provision for menstrual hygiene management and enhanced school water supply.