“Awareness sessions on the use of good hygiene practices in schools, such as those organised by NRC, greatly helped children understand the danger associated with Ebola and hygiene measures to be taken to protect themselves”, Okoin Pokou Clément, a teacher at the Public Primary School in Youampleu says.
During the school year of 2013-2014, 47 students at the primary school participated in nine Children Hygiene and Sanitation Training (CHAST) sessions. The sessions have focused on various topics such as hand washing, environmental hygiene and conservation and water treatment.
By using case studies to demonstrate the importance of hygiene, the children learned, amongst other things, how to wash their hands properly before eating. “We learned that it was necessary to cover the containers with food and water to prevent contact of flies and dust - the source of many diseases. Now I regularly wash my hands and I also speak with my brothers and friends in the neighbourhood about this," 8 year old Segoulin Nayouma Marceline says.
Currently 776 primary school pupils in the departments of Toulepleu, Bin Houyé and Zouan Hounien in the western region of Côte d'Ivoire, are enrolled in the program.
