Mathare community joined the rest of the world in celebrating Global Handwashing Day in Mathare on 15th October 2011. The day was marked at Kiboro Primary school where about 400 community members from Mathare Valley gathered to wash their hands together. The event was strategically organized at a school to attract the participation of children and the theme was Wash your hands and save your life. The event that started at 10am was celebrated with entertainment, a community Baraza (meeting), roadside hand washing of passengers and distribution of IEC materials on WASH. This was done until about 2pm when the event ended with a speech from the chief guest Ms. Modesta Maitho, the provincial Medical Officer and the WASH coordinator who emphasized the message.

The outcome of the event was great creating a buzz of hand washing in the community and attracting more partners to urban CLTS. What was amazing was the fact that public health officers were easily able to say ‘shit’ and use the term without hesitation.