When Global Aid Network (GAiN) provided a deep-capped water well for Kpakpalakpenou, children were able to fetch accessible and safe water within their own village for the first time.

Emannuela is one of the youth from the village who was directly impacted by the water program. For her and others, not only is clean water now easier to get to, but a total of 201 people, including 140 children, learned basic hygiene practices and the importance of sanitation through a GAiN-led hygiene and sanitation training. 

When the world was turned upside down by COVID-19 earlier this year, global health authorities stressed the importance of hygiene and sanitation, including frequent hand washing and sanitizing in order to prevent the spread of infection. 

In countries like the ones we work in, access to safe water and soap can be hard to come by. In fact, one in three people do not have access to safe drinking water¹ and two out of five people do not have a basic hand-washing facility with soap and water.² 

While many countries are in the midst of a second wave of the coronavirus, lacking access to clean water and soap can put these communities at major risk when it comes to managing the pandemic.