Hygiene Workshops

This week the emphasis of our workshops was on personal hygiene. This is the first in a series of health and hygiene workshops that will be continued after the school holidays. Teaching children basic hygiene techniques is very important in the prevention of various illnesses as many can be easily avoided by simply washing effectively.We first showed the children pictures of different parasites, asked them to identify them and then asked them where they lived and how they could affect us. We then inquired how they could help prevent getting these parasites or, if this is not possible, how we can get rid of them. Explaining the illnesses that can be caused by bugs such as lice and fleas is particularly important as many of these diseases affect school children.We invited the children to label a diagram with the most important places on the body to wash. Once they had labelled these areas we went through and discussed how often each place should be washed and why. The lower classes were given basins, soap and towels and were practically shown how to wash effectively. For the upper classes Henna (Finland) described some natural alternatives to soaps, for example how to make a natural toothpaste out of salt water and eucalyptus.The workshop was devised and researched by Henna and was carried out throughout the week by various Smiles volunteers, Henna, Stefan, Karina, Jemma, Sara, Elliot and Ali and our translators Emmanuel and Dennis.

19. Apr. 2008