The YES alumni association of Bangladesh had the honor this year of organizing a two-day event commemorating Global Handwashing Day for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO-UN), which is currently working to address food safety in Bangladesh. Since Global Handwashing day, October 15, fell during holidays and religious festivals, the nine YES alumni who organized the event, celebrated on October 6 and 7. They visited five different schools and spent time with students at each school. The alumni reached approximately 900 students during the two-day event.

In preparation for the event, some of the YES alumni met with the FAO staff to plan the activities. They also went to various schools in the city of Dhaka as representatives of the FAO and delivered letters to the institution heads seeking permission to organize a Global Handwashing Day event at their schools. While some schools were not able to participate, due to exams, most of the schools responded positively.

The alumni then held a training day on October 5, the day before the event. Since there were multiple schools to cover each day of the event, the alumni designated groups to manage different the regions where schools were located. The target audience was students in grades 3 to 5. Preparing materials for this age range of students was a challenging task. However, the alumni came up with 30-minute sessions that included interactive activities and PowerPoint presentations, images, short video clips and brief speeches to promote awareness about proper handwashing techniques.

On the first day of the event, alumni groups started visiting the schools at 8:00 a.m. They asked the students various questions in order to evaluate their knowledge of hygiene and found that a significant number of students were aware of the importance of washing their hands. Students were confident enough to come forward and speak in front of their classmates about the ways they washed their hands. The alumni used PowerPoint presentations to further the students' understanding of the dangers of not washing hands properly, as well as the benefits of keeping their hands clean. Students then took a pledge that they would always wash their hands properly. Dr. Sridhar Dharmapuri, International Food Analysis Expert, and Mr. Hasan Ahmmed Chowdhury, National Advisor of Food Safety Policies and Food Control Management in Bangladesh, both from FAO, attended the day's events at SeeBreeze International School and BAF Shaheen English Medium School respectively. 

The alumni plan to return to the schools to lead a second phase of the event once the schools reopen after the holidays.