High five for clean hands!

“I pledge to wash my hands with soap and water before eating, and after the toilet, each and every day. High five!”

Hundreds of children at Lindayiphi Junior Primary School in Mandeni dutifully recited this simple pledge, at the Global Handwashing Day event last week.

The colourful, exciting event was hosted by Unilever and Lifebuoy and was attended by Lifebuoy brand ambassador, South African singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka and socialite Zanele Mbokazi.

Brand manager Sphelele Mjadu said Lifebuoy is proud to partner with Mandeni, as part of the partner-a-community global programme.

“We aim to improve hygiene standards in the community by providing hand washing education programmes to the 35 schools and eight clinics located in the area, with a special focus on pupils, nursing staff, patients and new mothers.”

She also shared some sobering statistics, including that 1,7m children under the age of five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases.

“Hand washing with soap has proved to be the single, most cost-effective way to prevent diarrhoeal-related deaths and disease,” she said.

Unilever chairman Peter Cowan said they are about creating a bright future.

“Hand washing with soap could help a lot more children reach their fifth birthday,” said Cowan.

Sister Nozipho Ntuli from the Sundumbili Community Health Clinic said they have seen a 1,5% reduction in infant illness since partnering with Unilever.

Unicef was also part of the event, with Marisol Gutierrez saying they were proud to join millions in advocating hand washing from as young as possible.

Chaka Chaka performed a medley of songs and handed over prizes to five schools that collected the most Lifebuoy soap wrappers leading up to the event.

They were Kwasolwa, Emacambini, Tugela, Nkomidli and Mathonsi Primary Schools, which received computers and printers.

Watch Yvonne Chaka Chaka’s energetic performance below!

And…one of the highlights was a quirky song about Lifebuoy, composed by the boys of Lindayiphi!