Keeping Clean and Healthy

1Germs: the dirt you cannot see

Some things are too small for your eyes. Germs are like that. They are tiny living things — much, much smaller than a grain of sand. You cannot see them, even when you look hard.

That is the trick. Ishimwe's hands look clean, but germs from the dusty ground are sitting on them right now.

If he picks up his bread, the germs go onto the bread. If he eats the bread, the germs go into his tummy. Then they can make him sick — a sore tummy, running stomach, or a bad cough. Nobody wants that.

2Why water alone is not enough

Try this and see. Rub a little oil on your hand. Now rinse it with water only. What happens? The oil is still there, sitting on your skin!

Now rub soap on it and wash again. This time the oil comes off.

Germs are like that oil. They hold onto your skin. Soap is the helper that lifts them off, and then the water carries them away. So the rule is: soap AND clean water. Not water alone.

3How to wash your hands, step by step

1. Wet your hands with clean water.
2. Rub soap all over them.
3. Scrub between your fingers, and under your nails too.
4. Rinse the soap away with clean water.
5. Dry your hands on a clean cloth, or shake them in the air.

4When must you wash?

• Before you eat, and before you help with food.
• After you use the toilet — this one is the most important of all.
• After playing outside, or touching a goat, a cow or a dog.
• After you cough or sneeze into your hands.

5Brushing your teeth

Brush two times every day: once in the morning, and once at night before you sleep.

Put a little toothpaste on your toothbrush. Brush the front of your teeth, the back of your teeth, and the flat tops you chew with. Brush your tongue gently too. Then spit the toothpaste out — do not swallow it.

Eating many sweets makes small holes in your teeth, and holes hurt. Drink water instead. Water is free and it is kind to your teeth.

6Other habits that keep you well

• Bathe with soap, and wash your face every morning.
• Cut your nails short. Long nails are a hiding place for germs.
• Wear clean clothes and comb your hair.
• Wash fruit before you eat it. A tomato from the market has been in the dust.
• Always use a latrine or toilet.
• Cough or sneeze into your elbow, not your hand. Why the elbow? Because you never shake hands with your elbow — so the germs stop there and go no further!
• Eat different kinds of food, drink clean water, run and play, and sleep well at night.

Try it yourself

Answer these, then tap Show answer to check.

1. Ishimwe has just come back from the toilet. What must he do before he eats?
2. How many times a day should you brush your teeth?
3. Uwase feels a big sneeze coming. Where should she sneeze?
4. Keza drops her mango in the dust. She still wants to eat it. What should she do first?
5. Gatete washed his hands with water only, with no soap. Is that good enough? Why?

Answers

1. Wash his hands with soap and clean water. Washing after the toilet is the most important wash of the day.
2. 2 times — in the morning, and at night before bed.
3. Into her elbow. Then the germs do not travel to her hands and on to other people.
4. Wash the mango with clean water. Dust carries germs.
5. No. Water alone leaves germs stuck on the skin, like oil. Soap is what lifts them off.