CHESS organized and run its first workshop in health and hygiene directed to 63 teachers of primary and preschool grades. The teachers came from 12 different schools of which 10 are from rural areas (unpaved roads, many with no electricity, a few with no water in the schools to which students have to bring the water they will drink during the school hours).
The main objective of the workshop was to learn or remember the most important measures of hygiene in keeping water, food, ourselves and the environment in which we live as clean as possible in order to have healthier lives. Most importantly our goal is that washing hands before and after recess, after using the latrine, collecting, selecting and getting rid of waste correctly in the schools becomes a habit practiced everyday and that these and other habits become so natural in children that they would bring them to their houses. It was chosen to start with this topic because it was considered a good introduction to the topic of water filters which will be our next one followed by the purchase of enough filters to put in each classroom.
To reach these objectives, the trainer Ms. Marlene Suarez, a nurse with more than 10 years of experience in community health projects covered five topics during the 4 days of training:
- Hygiene of water
- Hygiene in handling and consuming food
- Controlling and getting rid of garbage
- Personal hygiene: human waste, bathing, parasites, and other important habits.
- Illnesses caused by bad habits of hygiene or unsanitary measures in handling food and water.
What enriched the workshop the most was the enthusiasm and participation of teachers. They participated in different activities throughout the workshop. Here are some pictures to give the reader an idea. In the last session some agreements were reached such as:
- Teachers will recuperate the habit of washing hands with students
- Teachers will hold short workshops with students and parents about personal hygiene and care of the human body.
- Teachers will periodically check the children, to see whether they have parasites or other illnesses that can spotted easily.
- Teachers and directors will coordinate closely with MINSA (Ministry of Health) to hold campaigns to deworm (desparasitar) the children.
 |
May 8th, 2007 Director of Gustavo Carrion Zamora Institute |
| |
 |
May 18, 2007 Teachers in role play talking about how to treat typical diarrhea in children. |
| |
 |
Marlene Suarez, the trainer, and Ligia Diaz, CHESS coordinator reviewing with teachers the techniques on how to brush teeth. May 18th, 2007 |
|
