HELP US HELP HER

Parasitic diseases remain the major killer of children between the ages of 0 and 5 in the developing world. (Source, WHO)

One of the days in Villa Hermosa we put on a health fair. This was a day where we taught the children of the village how to wash their hands, brush their teeth and wash their vegetables.

I was placed at the teeth brushing station, equipped with hundreds of toothbrushes to give to the children. The first wave of children eagerly came to our station. I handed a little 5 year old girl her new toothbrush with toothpaste on it and assumed she would just start brushing her teeth. She looked down at the toothbrush, looked up at me, then put the toothbrush in her mouth like a sucker and held it there.

I suddenly realized that it was this precious child’s first time to brush her teeth. She didn’t know how to brush her teeth because she had never had a toothbrush. That moment changed me. So often we think of luxury as satin sheets in a penthouse suite or the grandest of cars. Seeing her brush her teeth for the first time completely and instantly broke my heart. -Lauren Steele

Together, safe water and a critical health training are more beneficial than any remedy alone. It’s a fact! The Her Initiative through Healing Waters International is making a strategic investment in the lives of young women and children with our 12-lesson health and hygiene education program called “Clothed with Strength and Dignity”. Help us help her. Let’s alleviate poverty, improve health and strengthen the role of women where it is needed most!

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