LAOS, Hygiene Habits: Tough to Break
"There is a problem with diarrhea in my village,' says Phone, a young woman of 20. 'We don't have proper toilets here, so we have to go in the surrounding bushes."
Through the efforts of UNICEF and other agencies, individuals like Phone have received training sessions on hygiene and hygiene-related diseases.
Following her training she has spent time passing on her knowledge to the other villagers, and Phone says that hygiene behavior has improved. 'In the past, children from my village would die of diarrhea. But over the last two years people have been told why this can happen, and there have not been any deaths. However, there are still many people who get diarrhea.'
Phone often struggles to make her fellow villagers understand the importance of hygiene.
UNICEF/ HQ05-1674/Josh Estey
"I think that most people now wash their hands after going to the toilet. But we need proper toilets. There are flies around which can spread diarrhea," she says.
Phone says that while she knows how to protect people from hygiene related illnesses as much as possible, passing on this information is the hard part. "It's easy for some people to change, but difficult for others – they don't always believe what I'm telling them. People sometimes say that my advice is only words, with nothing to back them up."
Hygiene-related behavior change amongst rural populations can be difficult. Habits tend to be deeply ingrained and it can be very challenging to make some understand why they should change something they have been doing for their whole lives.
Encouraging good hygiene behavior in children is relatively straightforward, but can be more difficult in older people.
Phone says that the people in her village who have never been educated present the biggest challenge. "These people are often only worried about their work – they can't see the importance of hygiene," she says.
Despite the difficulties, Phone is clearly proud to be doing something for her village. "I've been given practical training which is useful for all the villagers here," she says.
