HAITI / HANDWASHING

A two-week campaign is underway in Haiti by UNICEF to incorporate handwashing lessons and deliver 300,000 bars of soap to schools, health centers and hospitals. UNICEF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:41
• Production Date: 19 October 2011
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: HUMANITARIAN RELIEF; REFUGEES; DISPLACED PERSONS; DISASTER PREVENTION; DISASTER PREPAREDNESS; DISASTER RELIEF
• Geographic Subject: HAITI
• MAMS Id: U111019e

Description

STORY: HAITI / HANDWASHING
TRT: 1:41
SOURCE: FRENCH / NATS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 14 OCTOBER 2011, HAITI

Shotlist

1. Med shot, children singing
2. Close up, girl singing
3. Close up, boy drumming
4. Close up, children’s feet
5. Med shot, woman speaking at lectern
6. SOUNDBITE (French) Francoise Gruloos-Ackermans, Haiti Representative, UNICEF:
”We have two themes this year: one for the adults, and one for the children. For the adults, wash hands with clean water and soap, block cholera. And for the children: Good morning, water! Good morning, soap! Goodbye, microbes!”
7. Close up, girls with backpacks
8. Close up, boy washing hands
9. SOUNDBITE (French) Joseph Erold, director, School Health, Ministry of Public Health and Population:
”Hand washing is a simple exercise. But at the same time, it can be complicated. Complicated when a school has no soap; complicated when a school has no clean water. Fortunately, with UNICEF and other partners, they are providing us with water and soap. With their help, hand washing becomes an easier exercise.”
10. Wide shot, UNICEF truck next to warehouse
11. Close up, man in vest standing next to truck
12. Wide shot, people standing on platform festooned with balloons
13. Med shot, soccer match
14. Med shot, stack of cardboard boxes
15. Med shot, men passing cardboard box down the line
16. Close up, men loading cardboard box into back of truck
17. Close up, girls’ hands being washed at outdoor handwashing station

Storyline

A two-week campaign is underway in Haiti by UNICEF to incorporate handwashing lessons and deliver 300,000 bars of soap to schools, health centers and hospitals.

At this particular event, which is a part of the campaign, school children sing about the importance of washing their hands to protect themselves against cholera and other potentially deadly infections.

Media reports are saying that according to one of Haiti's most prominent health experts, the country's cholera outbreak is now the worst in the world.

Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health and Population says that more than a million children under five die each year as a result of diarrhoea. It is the second most-common cause of child deaths worldwide.

The campaign is expected to extend to 1,500 schools, 10 hospitals and more than 160 county health centers.

”We have two themes this year: one for the adults, and one for the children,” she said. “For the adults, wash hands with clean water and soap, block cholera. And for the children: Good morning, water! Good morning, soap! Goodbye, microbes,” said the UNICEF Haiti representative Francoise Gruloos-Ackermans.

“Hand washing is a simple exercise. But at the same time, it can be complicated. Complicated when a school has no soap; complicated when a school has no clean water. Fortunately, with UNICEF and other partners, they are providing us with water and soap. With their help, hand washing becomes an easier exercise,” added Joseph Erold, who is the Haitian government’s director of school health.

This year, UNICEF is being joined by nearly 200 non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations in its efforts, which include incorporating handwashing lessons in between breaks at community sporting events.

All told, UNICEF is distributing more than 300,000 bars of soap to schools and health centers, along with a simple message: handwashing with soap saves lives.