COVID-19 highlights the need for a collective effort towards safe, clean water sources
October 15th is Global Handwashing Day.
Although much is still unknown about the Coronavirus as information is still regularly updated, one constant has been the importance of hand hygiene in order to prevent the spread of the disease. We stand united with the rest of the world on this Global Handwashing Day while we participate wherever we can in providing Hand Hygiene to All.
How do you clean your hands if you don’t have soap and water?
Clean water is a right, not a privilege. Sadly, many of the communities JAM serves either have no access to clean water or their closest water source is a long-distance away. It is most often the women and young children who collect water – a dangerous and arduous journey, where frequent violent attacks take place. This water is often contaminated and can lead to the contraction of waterborne diseases. This is why JAM is dedicated to the provision of clean water sources within communities.
JAM Water Services assesses the best course of action for a specific community. This may be in the form of drilling a borehole, rehabilitating an existing water well or rain-water harvesting. Our Community services include the implementation of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programmes (WASH). Throughout the Coronavirus pandemic, JAM has focused on provision of non-food items such as soap, sanitizer and containers for tippy-taps in order to ensure that handwashing is possible. At food distributions across Africa, JAM’s teams have also provided WASH training in order to drive home the importance of handwashing.
In vulnerable populations such as refugee camps and poor communities, many already suffer from weakened immune systems so hand hygiene is essential.
More than four billion cases of diarrhoea cause 2.2 million deaths – mostly children under the age of five (UNICEF)
This is preventable.
JAM remains committed to providing clean water and promoting hand hygiene in all our areas of operation.
We cannot do it alone and we must urgently expand our reach.
Ann Pretorius
Global CEO and Co-founder
JAM international
Click here to download the publication
