The Greatest Magic Bullet to Save Lives – Handwashing!

In this special video for Global Handwashing Day, Sadhviji shares the importance of handwashing for healthy bodies and healthy societies. Did you know that approximately 1 MILLION deaths a year could be prevented by proper handwashing with soap? It seems so obvious to most of us living in developed nations but the ground reality in the developing world is quite different. Far too many people don’t have access to either water or soap or both, or they are not aware of the importance of handwashing. Once you have populations that wash their hands before cooking, eating, touching their eyes, their mouths or other people you ensure the health of entire communities.

But, we have an additional powerful opportunity for good every time we wash our hands! We can wash with eco-friendly sustainable soap rather than the chemical-laden synthetic soaps. These eco-friendly soaps are not only good for our hands but they’re good for the planet as they don’t carry toxic chemicals down the drain into our soil, ground water and rivers. And in places like India these soaps are frequently made by rural women’s groups. So it’s a win-win-win situation. Healthy hands, a healthy planet and healthy, empowered women.

Our Global Interfaith WASH Alliance joins together in partnership with UNICEF-India, UNEP-Faith for the Earth and many other organizations to bring awareness of handwashing as well as actual handwashing facilities to schools and communities.