HYGIENE

I mean no disrespect to anyone nor will I say it affects everyone, but when it comes to being clean or adopting the habit of keeping ourselves and environment neat, we the Africans tend to disregard this issue very well. There is a popular saying here in Nigeria which is very common among almost any unserious person who doesn't care about theirselves or well being especially when it comes to hygiene, you hear them saying "Disease no dey kill Africans", though am not sure if it's the same thing in other countries.

This is a very disturbing situation and I find it very uncomfortable. Because how can someone disregard basic health safeties just for a notion that is not true at all. If we are to look at the continent with the highest mortality ratio, Africans has the highest number of mortality rate in the whole world (I stand to be corrected) compared to other continents, but we just swagger around claiming invincibility over nothing.

Today while I was at work, I saw something very disturbing that prompted me to write this. I saw some kids today fetching water from a stream that pass below a culvert and filling their gallons with the water, but that was not the issue here, the problem was, at the other side of the culvert, other children claim to be swimming on the shallow water, while others were bathing there with sponge and soap as they further contaminated the water, but the kids at the other end where not just fetching the water, they were also drinking it like that.

I was uncomfortable about it and I approached the kids and asked them why they were drinking the water, they replied and said that's the water they normally drink and cook with. I was surprised at first but I later understood that it was the only source of water in the village that was usable. That is the condition they found theirselves in, but what about you? Yes, you living in the urban area with electricity, clean water and a house.

We neglect basic and simple things like washing our hands before eating, because you must have definitely touched a contaminated surface or even counted money which has exchanged different hands, and at times we drink water that has been exposed to dust and even eat food that was left open for flies to play with, and then most of all, we throw dirt all around our surroundings making it unhealthy for us.

Let's learn to keep ourselves neat, eat balanced diet, keep our environment clean, wash our hands always before eating or drinking anything, and then always drink clean water.
Thank you for your reading