Promoting a Hygienic Structure: Introducing The India Project

In our current, modern world, hygienic infrastructure, such as sewer systems and waste landfills, is lacking in low-income and developing nations. While we often focus on how to develop a stronger infrastructure which benefits the population to live more hygienically due to the resources we are provided with, several nations within our world are unable to receive access to those resources to ensure their infrastructure is developed safely and effectively. With an unstable hygienic infrastructure, this can lead to detrimental effects of the world population serving from pressing health problems to ineffective regional development 

Water, sanitation, and hygiene (also referred to as WASH) is considered to be a key factor into developing healthy living conditions for individuals around the world. According to Ballard Brief, a nonprofit organization which focuses to solve complex challenges faced by people worldwide through research efforts, expressed how “inadequate WASH structure leads to contaminated soil and water which increases the likelihood of contracting diarrheal infections and diseases” which has resulted in the deaths of individuals worldwide. Adequate WASH infrastructure defined by the Ballard Brief involves the buildings, personnel, funding, and resources to sustain and maintain systems of water, sanitation, and hygiene in an area. These types of diseases are only one of the numerous issues faced with a lack of a strong hygienic infrastructure. Ballard Brief focused their hygienic infrastructure research within the article on the Pacific Islands Region (PIR) to their developing nations. In an effort to improve their health measures, the entirety of the region still needed to continue to increase their stability in WASH practices as the nonprofit continues “the region as whole still needs to improve WASH practices to promote healthy human development, especially in rural areas.” Unfortunately, this is not an issue secluded into one region of our world, but expanded worldwide, one of the places being India, a developing country in today’s world. 

Many schools in rural Andhra Pradesh, India, lack basic amenities such as clean restrooms, which affects the health and wellbeing of students. Girls, in particular, are disproportionately affected, often missing school during their menstrual cycles due to inadequate facilities. The India Project by TeenClean aims to improve education for children by ensuring they have access to basic hygiene facilities in institutions. Hygiene is a fundamental right, and every student deserves a safe learning environment. By teaching the importance of healthy hygiene practices, this educates future generations to make an impact on the development of water, sanitation, and hygiene practices. By focusing on gender equality to ensure both men and women in rural Andhra Pradesh are offered educational values in regards to hygiene practices, this initiates the impact we can make to ensure all individuals are provided a safe learning environment as we at TeenClean focus our values among. Additionally, this project aims to construct a restroom facility with Western toilets at a school in rural Andhra Pradesh. Western toilets are essential compared to Indian bathrooms as Ballard Brief describes how adequate sanitation infrastructure is defined as facilities that safely empty, transport, and treat human waste, such as a composting toilet. Ultimately, our goal for this project is to oversee the construction of a restroom facility to promote hygiene standards in rural regions of India. 

Building bathroom facilities and promoting hygienic infrastructure in rural areas can promote other areas of the world to start applying these principles to their region and infrastructure. Through TeenClean’s global reach and initiatives, this project can be advertised to create a global impact on low-income or developing regions. Without creating a mark on fixing this pressing issue, how will future generations be able to thrive without serenity in the region around them? A healthy lifestyle along with important educational values about one’s health can create a difference which can spread worldwide through the India Project by TeenClean.