Spreading healthy behaviors through simple songs that can be shared with families improves the health of the entire community.1
Maintaining good hygiene is a very serious issue in Tanzania, where cholera and diarrheal diseases frequently keep kids sick and away from school. However, school attendance has risen at Kisaki Primary School in Singida because the children are learning about good hygiene through song and sharing these songs with their families.
“We can prevent diseases like cholera, bilharzia, and diarrhea
We have to get rid of them completely and wipe them out
We should not walk barefoot by water
We should boil water before drinking it
We should wash our hands after going to the latrine and before eating
Don’t wash at the water point
We can get rid of diarrhea.”
In a country where the act of washing one’s hands can reduce diarrheal diseases by 40 percent, these simple songs are saving lives.2
1Jeremia M, Kall K. Midzemba Area Development Programme School Safe Water Project. Final Report. World Vision; 2008.
2WaterAid. Singing the Message Home. London: WaterAid; 2009.