Prior to COVID-19, good handwashing habits were quietly saving lives and preventing illness. It is estimated that proper handwashing with soap and water reduces global diarrhea related deaths by 50%.

In 2019, 2,576 participants, including children, youth leaders and adults, enrolled in the Children International Healthy Homes program in Guayaquil, Ecuador, supported by GROW. They learned about safe water storage and proper handwashing techniques that are extremely important in today’s world. 85% of these enrollees completed the program.

175 volunteers recruited and trained new families that had never participated in the program. These volunteers were responsible for replicating the techniques they had learned during training sessions for other families in their communities. Amid social distancing, this information is now being shared via videos created by staff and youth health leaders.

The result of the 2019 program is that 98% of the households now have soap and water in a handwashing station that is available to all family members. 96% of the families now use soap and water for handwashing, compared with only 8% prior to the introduction of the program. 91% of the participants learned the critical times for handwashing, including before eating, after using the toilet, after outside play and after handling garbage. 89% agreed that their water at home needed to be treated to be potable, a major problem in poverty stricken rural areas.

Healthy Homes with contributions from the GROW program is creating a healthier population, leading to a better quality of life for these rural communities of Ecuador.