CLEAN HANDS HEAL
It is well known that hand hygiene plays a big part in slowing the spread of COVID-19 and in general, personal hygiene plays a big role in keeping us healthy. Reports like the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) [1] note household cross infection is 10% before hand hygiene and social distancing and lowers to 3% after they’re introduced. At the moment communities all over the world face a major problem; they either cannot get access to or cannot afford to buy effective sanitisers and soaps. Families understandably choose to spend limited resources on food, water and shelter, over sanitation. The more remote a community, the more expensive and inaccessible soaps and sanitisers are.
The program
The core objective of the Clean Hands Heal program is to support communities so that they do not have to rely on external business and supply for sanitation products. Rather, communities can take control of their own health and hygiene through shared knowledge and capabilities.
Clean Hands Heal is a program that gives families and communities the opportunity to learn how to make their own effective soap and sanitisers with locally available ingredients. If communities want to pursue additional economic opportunities, part two of the program works with communities to build local business producing sanitation and soap products.
More than hygiene
The exciting thing about the program is the way it empowers people with knowledge.
The program recognises the ancient culturally based knowledge that is alive in First Nations communities globally, about the properties of natural materials. It is designed using the knowledge of two worlds – First Nations knowledge about the sanitation and health properties of plants, animals and materials, combined with modern soap and sanitation product making techniques. It combines powerful cultural knowledge exchange with science and modern technology.
Importantly, the process is not lengthy or drawn out. The program uses technology communications common to communities all over the world to train and share knowledge and information; the impact is immediate and can be adapted and implemented anywhere in the world.
Forming partnerships for effective implementation
‘Clean Hands Heal’ is a partnership between Yurbay and Community First Development.
Yurbay (meaning seed in Wiradjuri) combine their passion for our natural environment and First Nations culture, to customise programs that immerse people in learning to care for and to understand the potential of our natural environments. Yurbay also provides a range of personal and educational products based on the traditional use and properties of the Australian bush (for more information visit Yurbay's website).
Community First Development provides a framework to manage, administer and measure the impact of the program. Grounded in First Nations culture, their unique expertise is to implement and manage collaborative, transparent, culturally based governance, management and impact measurement frameworks that drive community ownership and success and build an evidence base about what works. Learn more about Our Approach.
Contact
For inquiries from communities interested in participating or funders interested in supporting this program please contact: