Under the Resource Access and Equity (RAE) programme, Development Alternatives (DA), along with its partners, conducted a school-based hygiene campaign on 15 October 2026 to mark Global Handwashing Day. Organised under the Water Resilient Bundelkhand initiative, the campaign reached 1,989 schoolchildren across 35 schools in 27 villages in the Orchha and Prithvipur blocks of Niwari, Madhya Pradesh.

Through interactive, practical demonstrations, students learned the seven steps of proper handwashing with soap and water, alongside the critical daily times that require hand hygiene. By turning awareness into hands-on practice, the sessions highlighted how regular and thorough handwashing serves as a first line of protection against preventable diseases, supporting better health and hygiene.

Recognising educational institutions as vital platforms for wider behavioural shifts, the initiative empowered school children to safeguard their own health while acting as advocates for good hygiene who carry these lessons home, inspiring their households and neighbourhoods to practise handwashing with soap at critical times.

By integrating school-led Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) education into its rural outreach, this initiative underscores Development Alternatives’ broader commitment to healthier community practices. Lasting water security goes beyond physical infrastructure; it requires cultivating informed, health-conscious generations whereevery day hygiene becomes an enduring household norm rather than a one-day observance.