Hand Washing And Water

Your hands touch the gate, the school bag, the cricket ball, the chips packet, and the door handle of the bathroom. Tiny living things called germs sit on those handles. You cannot see them. They are smaller than the smallest dot in your copy. When you eat with those hands, the germs go inside your tummy and make you sick. In Pakistan, two big sicknesses come from dirty hands. One is called cholera, which gives loose motions for many days. The other is called hepatitis A, which makes your eyes turn yellow. Both can be stopped by one boring habit. Washing hands.

When should you wash your hands? Five times every day at least. Before you eat. After you use the bathroom. After you come home from school or playing outside. Before you help in the kitchen. After you pet a cat or a dog or feed the goats. If your school bathroom does not have soap, take a small bar in your school bag. If there is no clean water at the tap, ask your teacher. This is not a small thing. It is the biggest thing.

One last thing. Water in many parts of Pakistan is not always safe to drink straight from the tap. If your home boils water before drinking, that is good. If your school has a clean filter, that is good too. If you are not sure, drink water from the cooler at home that your mother or father has prepared. The same hands that wash before eating will be the hands that take care of your little brother and sister one day. Start the habit now while it is easy.