Good clean fun with the Little Doctors

Continuing Field base's health and hygiene awareness project with the local secondary in Jayapura, myself, Anna, Dr Josse and Polly B went along to the school on Thursday to test the whole school on the seven steps on handwashing.

Armed with bars of soap as reward for every pupil who successfully displayed their handwashing knowledge we arrived at the school to the usual intrigue and excitement from the school kids.

After a quick refresher course with our 'Mini Medics', they were split into three teams to test the rest of the school.

The seven steps of handwashing:




Wet hands

Apply soap and lather

Step one: palm to palm
Step two: between fingers

Step three: base of thumbs

Step four: fingernails

Step five: back of hands

Step six: centre palm



Step seven: wrists

It was slight pandamoniom as the pupils descended on us keen to show off their hygenie skills and claim their bar of soap.



Even though it was all good clean fun we hope the serious message has also been got across. Simply by handwashing with soap – especially before preparing food and after using the toilet – is among the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent diahrroeal diseases which cause thousands of avoidable deaths in India every year.

All text by Polly Carpenter and photos by Polly Baldwin http://www.dynamicpictures.co.uk/ (unless stated otherwise).

Mini Medics get arty

Earlier this month Raliegh India forged a relationship with the local to Field Base secondary school in close by Jayapura village, to introduce a Health Education Program to the students.

Raleigh is introducing a number of initiaves to help improve hygiene standards at the school, including the training of 'Mini Medics' - a group of class represenatives from across the school who will be sharing their new hygenie skills with their fellow pupils.

Continuing India 10E expedition's work with the 'Mini Medics', last Friday Anna and Deepak took Medics Charlotte and Laura plus Polly in Comms to visit the school to start the next project.

After Introducing the new Raleigh Volunteers to the 'Mini Medics', we recapped the seven steps of hand washing that they had learnt the week before. The students all recited the routine perfectly (putting some of us Raleigh volunteers to shame!)

We then started them on their next project which is to design and paint a mural to go on one of the school's walls to remind all the students the importance of hygenie.

Split into three groups the 'Mini Medics' sketched design ideas around the themes of hand washing, protecting their feet and personal hygenie.

Too quickly our session with the 'Mini Medics' came to an end but we did have time to grab some photos of the students with the visiting Baloo the Bear who's come all the way from Castle school, Walsall in the UK to meet them. John, our Logistics Manager's wife Bobbie works at the school and has got her children to write to the kids at Jayapura.

  

Next time we're going to pull all of their design ideas into one big mural design and get started on painting it on their school wall with them. We'll also be presenting them with all the donated flip flops and school materials the VMs have provided. We then hope to do the same with all the donated items the Ventueers will hopefully bring in a couple of weeks time.

For more information on the Jayapura School Health Education Programme, including the donated flip flops and school materials intitative we'd like all India 10k Ventueers to support us with before they arrive here, please click here.

Raleigh recruits "Mini Medics" at Jayapura School

Here at field base we know that charity begins at home, and with that in mind Vijay, our host country venturer coordinator, and I, field base medic Louise, visited the local school here in Jayapura to start a programme of health education with the students.

The work has already started to improve hygiene standards at the school.  Last weekend Vijay took 12 potential host country venturers (HCVs) to the school as part of their selection weekend, to dig out the clogged drainage ditch where the children wash their plates after lunch. The children and their teachers were very pleased with the results.  Further plans to install a scraps bucket, so that unwanted food can be fed to the local cows instead of clogging the ditch, are now underway.

The pupils gather to show us their newly cleaned drainage ditch (bottom left of picture)

The local cows are ready to help us out with our waste disposal problem!

Today's aim was to introduce the idea of "Little Doctors" or "Mini Medics" to all the students at the school.  Two children from each class will receive training in health and hygiene, plus a mini hygiene kit containing soap, scrubbing brushes, nit comb, and a Raleigh "Mini Medics" T-shirt.  They will be responsible for teaching the other children in their class about hand-washing, keeping clean, cutting nails, combing hair, disposing of waste hygienically and keeping the environment around us clean and tidy.

The school assemble to hear our talk

The thought of speaking in front of 360 students would normally fill me with fear, but I received such a warm reception from the pupils and teachers that all my nerves were blown away with the enthusiasm for the project.  The pupils listened attentively as I introduced myself and suggested our ideas for the "little doctor" project, with translation provided by their teacher Mr Vaidhyanath.  When I asked for volunteers just one brave girl stood up at first, then other students joined, and soon there was a sea of hands raised in front of me.  The teachers helped us to choose 10 volunteers to become the new "Mini Medics", who came up shyly to meet me on the stage.  I'm looking forward now to our next meeting in two days time, when their training will begin!

Mr Vaidhyanath and I explain the project

Our new team of "Mini Medics"

In a few days we are expecting our 10E groups back to field base for the final wash up, a review of their time here, and the all important end of expedition party.  Venturers and volunteer managers alike are already signing up for the 10km fun run which will take place this Friday to raise money for the work we're planning at Jayapura school. 

So far the runners are:

Yvette Hutcheson

Jason Greenwood
Taylor Eve
Carole Griffiths
Will Whyles
Paul Mohan
Renjith
Daniel Cabral
Shona Bradford
Sacha-Li Franks
Anna Lavelle
Tom Pearce
Kyle Sharpe
Stuart Aitken
Boas Schraven
Louise Hyde
Anna Tate
Pete Diamond
Jenny Shotton

If you would like to sponsor us please visit our just giving site at http://www.justgiving.com/raleighindia to make a donation.  Thank you!