Guardians at the Interface: Empowering Indigenous Women through the “Wash and Watch” Initiative

In Malaysia’s rugged hinterlands, remote Negrito communities face a unique health challenge: zoonotic diseases that leap from wildlife to unsuspecting villagers. Recognizing this vulnerability, the SEAOHUN One Health Research and Training (OHRT) Awards Program funded the “Wash and Watch” project, spearheaded by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Azlizan Mat Enh of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Spanning July 2024 to January 2025, the initiative aimed not merely to teach hygiene practices but to embed sustainable leadership capacities among Indigenous women transforming traditional knowledge into a frontline defense against zoonotic threats.

Project Implementation Journey

The project kicked off in July 2024 with ethics approval and the finalization of five training modules. Dr. Azlizan’s team loaded curriculum manuals, hygiene kits, and visual aids carefully translated into the Negrito dialect onto four-wheel drives bound for Kuala Lah village. There, under a makeshift canopy, participants gathered with JAKOA officials and village elders to co-create ground rules for the workshops and nominate 50 local women as potential health champions. Early budget delays meant only 30 Negrito women and eight support participants could be trained initially; persistent dialogue and village visits, however, built momentum and trust.

By November, receipt of 60 percent of project funds enabled expansion to Gerik and Lenggong. In each locale, 38 attendees—32 women and six men—spent five intensive days rotating through stations on soap-making with local ingredients, hands-on demonstrations of water filtration techniques, and role-plays of 48-hour disease-reporting drills. When seasonal downpours flooded the training ground, trainees themselves rearranged community halls sweeping floors and repositioning benches to ensure sessions continued uninterrupted. This collective effort fortified both logistical resilience and communal ownership of learning.

Enhancing One Health Knowledge and Skills

Baseline assessments revealed that fewer than 20 percent of participants could describe a zoonotic transmission pathway. After training, this figure soared above 80 percent, with many women confidently explaining how pathogens in bushmeat or contaminated water led to illnesses like leptospirosis and avian influenza. Pre- and post-test questionnaires showed a 60 percent increase in regular handwashing and a 75 percent adoption rate of safe food-handling steps, including proper cooking temperatures and storage practices. Importantly, 10 women emerged as peer instructors, demonstrating strong facilitation skills in small-group discussions and simulation exercises. Their ability to mentor new cohorts promises to anchor One Health practices long after the project’s close.

Advancing One Health Education and Practice

For faculty at OHUN member universities, “Wash and Watch” has become a living laboratory for curriculum innovation. By integrating project case studies into toxicology, veterinary, and public health courses, students gain firsthand exposure to the complexities of community-centered interventions. Field practicums now send trainees to Negrito villages to observe peer-led workshops, conduct focus group discussions, and assist with 48-hour reporting drills. This transdisciplinary approach melding anthropology, environmental science, and epidemiology ensures graduates are not only scientifically adept but also culturally sensitive and adept at stakeholder engagement.

Anticipated Impact on Target Communities

The immediate legacy of “Wash and Watch” is already measurable: within weeks of project completion, the trained surveillance network flagged three suspected zoonotic events, triggering prompt health authority responses that likely averted larger outbreaks. Weekly peer-support circles established by the local instructors keep hygiene stations stocked and refresh risk-communication messages. Neighboring villages have requested their own training cohorts, reflecting the model’s organic appeal. Over the next six months, we anticipate these ripple effects will expand to at least five additional communities, embedding a culture of proactive disease prevention and reinforcing women’s roles as health stewards.

Contributing to One Health in Malaysia

By positioning Indigenous women at the core of zoonotic prevention, “Wash and Watch” offers a scalable blueprint for national policy. Meetings with the Ministry of Health and JAKOA are underway to formalize community-driven surveillance in Malaysia’s official zoonotic preparedness frameworks. Partnerships with NGOs and academic institutions have secured letters of intent for multi-year support, while draft MoUs outline collaboration on future train-the-trainer programs. This convergence of grassroots leadership and policy engagement promises to narrow the persistent gap between health mandates and community practice.

Lessons Learned and Good Practices

Reflecting on the “Wash and Watch” experience, we discovered that genuine engagement hinges on cultural resonance. In our early workshops, purely technical language and generic hygiene demonstrations fell flat. It was only when facilitators began interweaving Negrito conservation stories drawing parallels between ancestral stewardship of forests and modern disease‐prevention practices those participants truly connected with the material. By framing handwashing and safe food handling as extensions of ancestral wisdom, we turned abstract health messages into tangible community values.

Another pivotal insight was the power of peer‐led facilitation. From the outset, we invited Indigenous women not just to attend but to lead role‐plays, guide small‐group discussions, and co‐design activity stations. As these women stepped into co‐trainer roles, attendance and participation soared. Their deep understanding of local norms allowed them to translate concepts into relatable examples, fostering a sense of ownership that proved essential for lasting behavior change.

Flexibility in logistics also emerged as a key good practice. When sudden monsoon downpours rendered our open‐air venue unusable, trainees and facilitators sprang into action—relocating equipment, rearranging benches, and preparing village halls for uninterrupted sessions. This collaborative problem‐solving not only kept the curriculum on track but also strengthened communal bonds and demonstrated that health interventions must adapt to environmental realities.

Finally, embedding a rigorous, mixed‐methods evaluation framework allowed us to fine‐tune the program in real time. By pairing quantitative pre- and post‐training assessments with qualitative focus group feedback and field observations, we tracked both knowledge gains—such as the 60 percent increase in handwashing frequency—and nuanced shifts in attitudes toward disease surveillance. These insights guided mid-course adjustments to content and delivery, reinforcing the project’s credibility and ensuring its relevance to participants’ lived experiences.

Sustaining and Scaling Forward

To ensure long-term impact, the ten certified instructors are formalizing village health committees, slated to convene quarterly for refresher drills and peer reviews. A hybrid reporting network—merging SMS alerts with community radio bulletins—is being piloted to bridge connectivity gaps. Academically, UKM is institutionalizing “Wash and Watch” practicums within its One Health modules, ensuring future cohorts carry the torch of community engagement. Meanwhile, policy dialogues aim to embed this grassroots surveillance model into national planning documents, backed by budgetary provisions for equipment and ongoing training. Through these layered strategies community, academic, and policy, the project is charting a sustainable, scalable path for Indigenous women to remain guardians of Malaysia’s communal health.

Conclusion

The “Wash and Watch” project has demonstrated that effective zoonotic disease prevention emerges when science, tradition, and leadership converge. By transforming 30 Negrito women into peer instructors, embedding surveillance networks, and engaging policy stakeholders, we have not only mitigated immediate risks but also built a replicable, enduring framework for One Health resilience. As these Indigenous guardians continue to champion hygiene and early detection, they stand as living proof that community-driven solutions are our strongest defense against emerging health threats both in Malaysia and beyond.

Team Leader: Assoc. Prof. Dr Azlizan Mat Enh, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)

Team Member:

• Professor Dr. Hidayatulfathi Othman, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)

• Professor Dr. Fazal Mohamed Mohamed Sultan, Universiti