Water Access, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH)
Safe drinking water and good hygiene and sanitation are essential for children to thrive.
WASH Programs Help Families Stay Safer — and Healthier
Lack of access to clean water and poor hygiene and sanitation are often the root causes of illnesses in the impoverished communities where we work. Unsafe drinking water and inadequate hygiene and sanitation can lead to debilitating consequences like parasites and diarrhea. Diarrhea is the second-biggest killer of children under age 5.
With the support of sponsors and donors, Holt works in communities and with schools to ensure that children and families have access to soap, clean drinking water, handwashing stations, sanitary supplies for girls and latrines. Holt’s on-the-ground staff provide training for parents, including information about handwashing, food preparation and other ways of preventing illness and infection. Parents pass this information along to their children, and entire communities become cleaner, safer and healthier.
“Access to water is considered an equalizer. It promotes equity, keeps children healthy and able to continue learning. Nothing is as inspiring and motivating as seeing children rushing to splash at a water point in school.”
Ali Amante, Program Manager in Ethiopia
How Holt Provides Clean Water & Helps to Eliminate Disease
Without clean water and good hygiene and sanitation, children die from preventable causes like diarrhea or malnutrition. With the support of sponsors and donors, Holt helps to alleviate these problems.
215,000+ Doses of Parasite Treatment
Intestinal parasites can have a debilitating effect on children’s health, sapping them of essential nutrients and energy and stunting their growth. To help children stay healthy, Holt sponsors and donors provide more than 215,000 doses of treatment for parasites each year.
4,500+ Children & Families Received Clean Water
Access to clean, potable water is a challenge for many children worldwide. That’s why Holt works with local communities around the world to build water access points at school and to support other clean water programs. In 2021, Holt sponsors and donors provided clean water to more than 4,500 children and families in Ethiopia.
“When a child is free of parasites, the difference truly is amazing. Their body better utilizes the nutrients from their food, and they are able to grow, have more energy and learn better in school!”
Emily DeLacey, Director of Holt’s Nutrition and Health Services
How WASH Initiatives Save Children’s Lives
Simple health and hygiene measures can help prevent many of the diseases that take the lives of children in developing countries.
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A Bottle of Hand Sanitizer, Hope for the School Year
Provide a Handwashing Kit
Children and families urgently need soap, clean water and sanitizers to stay healthy during the pandemic. But both are hard to come by in impoverished communities.
Holt’s WASH Programs — in Action!
Having access to clean water and good hygiene and sanitation is essential to the well-being of children and families. Meet the families whose lives have been transformed through Holt’s WASH programs.
“Proper feeding, handwashing and regular health screening have helped us lower the rates of having to bring children to the hospital.”
Merzel Demasu-ay, Nutritionist and Care Provider in the Philippines
