Everyone should have a latrine

New Malawi. Everyone should have a latrine.

That was the text message I got from UNICEF on my cell phone this morning. There are a lot of health issues in Malawi and other developing nations, and with the poor infrastructure it is always a challenge to get the public health messages out. NGOs have started working with local cell phone companies to get the word out through text messages. It only costs money to send texts here-- receiving texts is free. Not everyone has a cell phone yet, but even in remote villages you will find many people with them. And those people can share the messages with others.

UNICEF also sent a message a while ago that read, "Washing hands with soap at critical times, helps protect your family from germs that cause diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, typhoid and pneumonia."

Both of these messages are important to get out here in Malawi. During PST I attended a ceremony honoring our Village Headman for his work with the Open Defecation Free League. In many areas of Malawi people still defecate out in the open. Also, washing hands after defecation is an issue here due to the lack of running water and people being unable to afford soap. When they do buy soap, the priority is to use it for washing clothes and dishes. So there is still a lot of work to be done.

igienă personală

The next chapter i'm teaching about in my health class is about personal hygiene - hand washing, teeth brushing, bathing, clothes washing, room cleaning, etc. So to kick it off i created an introduction lesson which gave a brief overview of all the above mentioned stuff. Then i presented Ștefan. 

(Quick back story: Ștefan Cel Mare, aka, ”Ștefan the Great” was prince of Moldova for 47 years between 1457 and 1504. During his reign he fought against the Ottoman Empire, Poland, and Hungary. Because of his dedication to protecting his country, he is considered a hero in Moldova and his statues, face, and name are EVERYWHERE.)

So, back to the story...Ștefan is a little boy who admires Ștefan Cel Mare and wants to grow up to be just like him. But 1st he needs help with his personal hygiene...

From there the students removed the dirty parts accompanied by the items needed to clean those dirty parts and placed them on a table i drew next to the poster that was separated into columns for how often those dirty parts need to be cleaned - several times a day, daily, several times a week, weekly, several times a month, or monthly. 

All the classes really enjoyed this activity. My 5th and 6th grade classes were even good and cooperative! Which was kinda funny and cute ;op

Here's Ștefan after he was all cleaned up!

To wrap up the lesson i did a word search, which they also LOVED! 

They took turns coming to the front of the class where i gave them a sentence to read with a missing word that they had to find in the puzzle. It ended up being another great activity! 

YAY for awesome FUN lessons!!! ...Now if i can just keep em coming... ;op