Day 4 - school visits!

Posted by Sadie - Friday, April 18, 2008

I’ve had a bit of an upset stomach since last night so I really wasn’t feeling great this morning. Dragged myself out of bed for the 5.30am start again – this morning we were going to visit a school which I was really looking forward to.

Hiwane elementary school has 1400 students. The Sanitation Club had prepared a play for assembly, plus a special one in English for us. The kids were all laughing and enjoying it but I could tell the message about sanitation was taken seriously. The Sanitation Club office was a sort of mud hut built onto the end of the rest of the school, nice to be sat down and out of the sun for a while. Serge asked the class some questions. It was clear that the sanitation and hygiene messages that the club worked hard to spread were actually having an effect. Sometimes they struggled to convince parents, but it seemed that once the effects were realised they were persuaded.

It wasn’t just the Sanitation Club that learn the messages about hygiene - Grade 1 (age 6 and 7) sang us their sanitation song and when we asked them ‘who washes their hands before they eat?’ and other similar questions they all put their hands up.

Teacher Guddi who ran the Sanitation Club (only 24, same as me, and had been a teacher for 7 years!) explained the lengths he goes to with his job. After school he visits families directly to spread the word. He said he met with some resistance but people soon realise the importance. The school also has a much higher attendance since the water point had been installed – 300 to 400 more pupils.