The document discusses a sanitation and hygiene drive in Muzaffarnagar, India led by Abhinav. It aims to improve sanitation conditions and educate school children about hygiene practices. Specifically, Abhinav launched an initiative called "Flush n Pride" to convert dry latrines into pour flush latrines and build new toilets to provide sanitation access for all citizens. They have also distributed sanitation and hygiene kits to school children and aim to curb childhood deaths from poor sanitation and hygiene by educating children who can then influence their families and communities.

1. SANITATION AND HYGIENE DRIVE
MUZZAFARNAGAR, UP
FEBRUARY, 2014

2. INTRODUCTION
Worldwide, every year nearly 11 million children
die before reaching their fifth birthday, most from
preventable causes that is approximately 30,000
children per day. Another 300 million children
suffer from illnesses caused by lack of clean
water, poor nutrition and inadequate health
services and care. In India, the combined effects
of inadequate sanitation, unsafe water supply and
poor personal hygiene are responsible for 88 per
cent of childhood deaths from diarrhoea. Poor
sanitation and unsafe drinking water cause
intestinal worm infections, which lead to
malnutrition, anaemia and retarded growth among
children. Sanitation is thus one of the biggest
challenges in India.
Hand-washing with soap before eating and after
defecation, has been one of the major
interventions on hygiene practice, which is being
promoted among children in India through the
school hygiene programme and mass media
campaign. A survey on well being of children and
women, conducted by UNICEF in 2005, had
shown that only 47 per cent of rural children in
the age-group 5-14 wash hands after defecation.
Abhinav is aggressively working towards this
cause for improving and educating school going
children in the villages about sanitation and hence
reducing the number of deaths due to the same
reason.
SANITATION AND HYGIENE DRIVE
FEBRUARY, 2014
ABHINAV’S INITIATIVES
Flush n Pride is a recent initiative launched by
Abhinav to do away with the practice of
defecating in the open in urban and rural areas
with the objective of converting the existing dry
latrines into low cost pour flush latrines and to
construct new ones where none exist. What was
just an initiative has now turned into a rigorous
campaign having the objective of availing every
citizen of India access to toilet to develop the
sanitation scenario in the country.
This initiative is aimed at EWS section of the
society as they constitute the significant portion
of the society. Abhinav, till now, has been
successful in removing 10,000 dry latrines in
urban and rural area."

3. They have important roles in the household,
taking care of younger brothers and sisters. If
children are brought into the development
process as active participants, they can become
change agents within their families and a
stimulus to community development. They are
eager to learn and help, and if they consider
environmental care and their role in this as
important, they will take care of their own
health and the health of others. Being
tomorrow’s parents, children are also likely to
ensure the sustainability of a programme’s
impact.
TARGETS FOR THE FUTURE
Abhinav has taken the responsibility to curb the
increasing mortality rate in villages due to
inadequate sanitation and hygiene facilities.
Sanitation and hygiene kits will be distributed
among the primary school students in the
villages of Muzaffarnagar, UP. The kits will
include the following items:
 Tooth brush and toothpaste
 Hand sanitizer
 Nail cutter
 Bathing soap
 Shampoo
 Hair oil
 Comb
 Talcum powder
 Moisturizing cream
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO FOCUS ON
SCHOOLS?
After the family, schools are most important
places of learning for children; they have a
central place in the community. Schools are a
stimulating learning environment for children
and stimulate or initiate change. If sanitation
and hygiene education is necessarily imparted
in schools, it is for the betterment of the whole
village community. Through their students,
schools are in touch with a large proportion of
the households and thus can strongly influence
them.
THE IMPACT ON CHILDREN
A survey among school children in India
revealed that about half of the ailments found
are related to unsanitary conditions and lack of
personal hygiene. Such survey results show the
need for a focus on children. Children spend
long hours in schools. The school environment
will partly determine these children’s health
and well–being by providing a healthy or
unhealthy environment. Compared to adults,
children are often more receptive to new ideas
and can more easily change their behavior
and/or develop new long term behaviors as a
result of increased knowledge and facilitated
practices.
Also, it is generally recognized that childhood
is the best time for children to learn hygiene
behaviors. Children are future parents and what
they learn is likely to be applied in the rest of
their lives.