New Delhi, Oct 15: Sesame Workshop India, the Indian arm of global educational non-profit Sesame Workshop, and Planet Water Foundation are joining hands to reinforce the life-saving habit of handwashing. Sesame Workshop India has been working to meet the developmental needs of young children in India for over 15 years. As schools reopen and the number of COVID-19 cases drop, it is important for children and caregivers not to let their guard down and continue the safe practices like hand-washing, wearing masks and social distancing.

Spotlighting the awareness on hand-hygiene especially amongst young children and their families, Global Handwashing Day serves as a critical reminder to people in India and beyond as an effective means to prevent life threatening diseases.

A special song Chhapa Chhap is being released featuring children’s favourite muppets Elmo, Cookie Monster and Abby with the message of handwashing using soap.

Planet Water Foundation is supporting Sesame Workshop India to amplify handwashing videos, e-books, and posters which have been developed as part of a global initiative, Caring for Each Other. To encourage children to adopt these healthy behaviours, Sesame Workshop India has also reached out to social media influencers popular amongst children and caregivers with the intention of making handwashing a safe and cool behaviour.

Kristen Steele, Vice President, Education and originator of Planet Water Foundation’s water-health and hygiene education materials and school implementation platform said that “Handwashing is a cost-effective, healthy hygiene habit that can prevent many diseases amongst people and save lives. While the pandemic has led to an increase in the levels of awareness about handwashing, we aim to continue to emphasize upon the sustenance of this hygiene behaviour with Sesame Workshop India’s content originally developed under the global initiative Caring for Each Other”.

Supporting the health and hygiene needs of young children of India, Sonali Khan, Managing Director, Sesame Workshop India said that “Via our partnership with Planet Water Foundation, we aim to further boost messages on handwashing with Elmo and Chamki to children who are at a higher risk of suffering from the preventable diseases like diarrhoea, any kind of flu, etc. and achieve positive health and hygiene outcomes to meet their developmental needs.”

Sesame Workshop India has been engaging with vulnerable children and families in communities to have a measurable child health outcome by harnessing the power of partnerships. The collaboration between the two organizations is going to add scale to the non-profit’s work on delivering critical health lessons.

About Sesame Workshop - India
Sesame Workshop - India is the Indian arm of Sesame Workshop, the internationally renowned nonprofit media and educational organization behind Sesame Street, the pioneering television show that has been reaching and teaching children since 1969. We reach kids in their earliest years to provide them access to life-changing early education, critical health lessons, and helpful tools for tough situations via a combination of television, radio, digital media, mobile technologies, and community outreach across 11 states in India. Since 2006, Sesame Workshop India has reached children through mass media including Galli Galli Sim Sim, the local version of Sesame Street, and now reaches children with engaging and educational content featuring the beloved Muppets of Sesame Street. For more information, log on to sesameworkshopindia.org

About Planet Water Foundation
Planet Water Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on bringing clean water to the world’s most impoverished communities through the installation of community-based water filtration systems and the deployment of hygiene education programs. Planet Water Foundation projects are focused on children, schools, and rural/peri-urban communities across Asia and Latin America. Since 2009, Planet Water has deployed more than 1,500 projects that provide clean water access to more than two million people across 15 countries. For more information, visit www.planet-water.org