This paper introduces WASHtsApp, a WhatsApp-based chatbot designed to educate rural African communities on clean water access, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) principles. WASHtsApp leverages a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) approach to address the limitations of previous approaches with limited reach or missing contextualization. The paper details the development process, employing Design Science Research Methodology. The evaluation consisted of two phases: content validation by four WASH experts and community validation by potential users. Content validation confirmed WASHtsApp's ability to provide accurate and relevant WASH-related information. Community validation indicated high user acceptance and perceived usefulness of the chatbot. The paper concludes by discussing the potential for further development, including incorporating local languages and user data analysis for targeted interventions. It also proposes future research cycles focused on wider deployment and leveraging user data for educational purposes.

翻译：本文介绍了WASHtsApp，一款基于WhatsApp的聊天机器人，旨在向非洲农村社区普及清洁水获取、环境卫生与个人卫生（WASH）原则。WASHtsApp采用检索增强生成（RAG）方法，以解决先前方法覆盖范围有限或缺乏情境化的问题。本文详细阐述了采用设计科学研究方法论的开发过程。评估包含两个阶段：由四位WASH专家进行的内容验证，以及由潜在用户进行的社区验证。内容验证证实了WASHtsApp能够提供准确且相关的WASH信息。社区验证表明用户对该聊天机器人具有较高的接受度和感知有用性。文章最后讨论了进一步发展的潜力，包括整合当地语言以及利用用户数据进行针对性干预。同时提出了未来的研究周期，重点关注更广泛的部署以及利用用户数据实现教育目的。