DAKAR, Jun 7 2011 – Think hand washing can t be fun? Think again. In Senegal, a unique water system offers people an easy, cheap and environmentally friendly way to wash their hands frequently, reducing the spread of hand-borne transmittable diseases.
Students learning how to use the canacla: 30 seconds of hand washing while singing and dancing. Credit: Benoit Vanhercke
It is recess at Clair Soleil elementary school in Dakar. Young boys and girls are chasing each other around in over-sized, faded blue vests, playing in the sandbox, kicking up dirt and pushing their classmates on swings. It is just another school day in what could be any other schoolyard around the world. And then he walks through the front gates.
The kids go wild. Like a celebrity, Dr. Benoit Vanhercke is swarmed by an onslaught of children, who jump up and down and start clapping their hands in tune with a song they have obviously sung countless times before.
It has not been that long since Dr. Benoit, as he is known to the children, paid a visit to the school, and yet the kids are ecstatic. They lead him over to three colourful wrought-iron boxes that are filled with water and hang from a mosaic-tiled wall. A young girl named Anta grabs a small bar of brown soap and lathers up her tiny hands with suds. A classmate pulls up and down on the lever three times and a shimmering line of water comes shooting out. The kids cry out with laughter. Canacler ! Washing up has never been so fun.
Canacla is the name of the unique ceramic and wrought-iron hand fountains that are popping up in schools, restaurants, hospitals and even outside mosques throughout Dakar. Its name is derived from the word canari , which refers to the earthenware jugs commonly used to store water in many parts of Africa, and clapet the French word for valve .
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It is the brainchild of Dr. Benoit s eldest son, Jacques, who one day pulled his father aside, and with a finger in the sand drew out the design for a system that could help Africans around the continent overcome issues of water scarcity and hand-borne transmittable diseases, while reducing environmental impact, using local resources and employing local artisans.
I had been mulling over this problem for 30 years, admits Vanhercke, a retired Belgian doctor who specialises in tropical disease and has been working throughout Africa. I wanted to address issues of public health and sanitation in Africa in a way that is convenient, cheap and good for the environment.
The Canacla system may possibly offer such a solution. According to Vanhercke, because the canaclas are strategically placed in convenient places, people do not need to think twice about washing their hands at the right moment . But they also have to make lathering a conscious act. Dr. Benoit says it takes 30 seconds to correctly free the hands of the bad bacteria.
But the water doesn t stay running at this point, says Vanhercke as he scoops up a chunk of Marseille soap and begins vigorously rubbing his hands together. Normally we use up to three litres of water every time we wash our hands, he explains. The amount of water it takes to wash with the canacla is 30 times less than with a tap. This is important because it means water conservation, but it also reduces the overall cost and is more hygienic.
When his hands are rinsed, Vanhercke shakes them about in the air and brings them up to his ears as he quickly rubs his fingers together. A squeak, squeak sound rings out.
The sound of happy hands, he says letting out a big grin.
The kids follow suit, each passing the soap around and taking turns lifting the lever. They dry their hands in the air flecking drops at one other. Leonie Sadio, assistant director at Clair Soleil, looks on in approval. She says since they brought in the five canaclas, in 2007, she has already seen a change in the kids habits.
For us, the main issue is educational, says Sadio. Today we talk a lot about sustainable development and water plays an integral part in this process. The lack of water in Africa is a problem that we have to tackle, and one of the ways we can do this is by educating them about the importance of water conservation. It s also about hygiene, and if we start them young they have a greater chance of continuing these habits when they are older.
* Published under an agreement with Street News Service.
