RKF initiated the WASH (Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) program to address the lack of importance being given to personal hygiene in the schools we work with. We ensure students have access to soap and running water; amenities that should be available to every child. Instilling good habits of maintaining basic hygiene from an early age can be crucial to a child’s well-being, especially in an environment where they are considerably more likely to fall sick.

According to a study carried out by KCEN (Kisumu County Education Network) in 2014, sanitation is a major problem for ECD Centres and their host primary schools where only 52% of the schools had water points near the toilets for children to access after visiting the toilet. Furthermore, only 25% of the schools provided soap together with water to children after accessing the toilets.Started mainly to curb the habit of students not washing their hands after using the toilet, the WASH program also ties in with our Feeding Program as teachers see to it that all students wash their hands before and after meals. This also extends to teachers and cooks, with the latter being expected to wear gloves and hairnets when cooking and serving meals.