Many people throughout the world lack access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene. But these are the biggest contributors to slowing the spread of COVID-19, which is why Thorsten made an accessible comic to show everyone how to WASH.

The mission of the social enterprise before Corona:

Promote hygiene in a fun way & solving existential health issue by doing so. 

Thorsten harnesses the role model status of sport superstars, the power of fun, interactive gaming experiences, and cutting-edge communication to tackle persisting taboos and face the “ugly” issues of sanitation and hygiene with positive emotion.  

The key element of Thorsten’s work is that instead of working with the typical top-down health-based messaging traditionally used in the Washing, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) sector, Thorsten consistently makes toilets and good hygiene aspirational behavior, something “cool.”  

Using simple, fun, easy to implement, and effective messaging combined with buy-in from stars as role models, he creates a broad movement under the roof of his WASH United Club, allowing children and other key stakeholders to become members when proving knowledge and commitment. 

What changed with Corona?

The Coronavirus crisis has raised the awareness about hygiene as it helps stop the spread of the virus and people are understanding that good hygiene saves lives. 

Many parts of the world do not have adequate access to safe drinking water, sanitation, or hygiene, but hygiene is the best way to stop the spread of COVID-19. How can this be solved in the midst of a pandemic?  
 
Beyond that: although children and adolescents are not likely to become seriously ill with COVID-19, they are nevertheless massively affected by the pandemic. Instead of playing outside, going to school, participating in sports and meeting friends, many are now trapped in confined spaces with their parents all day long.  

WASH United has teamed up with the German NGO Welthungerhilfe (= World food aid) and an expert from Charité(biggest hospital in Berlin) to develop fun ways to understand the role of hygiene in this pandemic: they developed a comic and complementary video that helps children and adolescents understand what the corona virus is and what they can do to protect themselves, their family and their friends. The comic will be available in more than 25 languages and is free-to-use for anyone. 

Encouraging everyone to use WASH principles is a major way to fight the spread of COVID-19. Making this information fun and accessible for various audiences—including children and youth—is paramount.