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Child friendly schools in Sri Lanka: How children can learn the importance of safe drinking water
15 Aug 2008 07:14:00 GMT
 Source: Malteser International - Germany
Katrin Rehfuss

Website: Website: http://www.malteser-international.org

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Within the childfrinedly schools project, the children in Gallandala learn much about water and hygiene
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Within the childfrinedly schools project, the children in Gallandala learn much about water and hygiene
photo: Malteser International

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When Kaushalya Walgama arrives in Batuwanhena primary school (in Elpitiya zone) with her team, lots and lots of children come running to her. They don't stop jumping up and down; they scream and gather around her. The visits of Kaushalya and her teams always mean that something special will happen. The pupils are excited and curious what they will happen this time. Today they are going to decide on the design and location of their new sanitary facilities. Kaushalya is a Health and Hygiene Promoter for Malteser International, the worldwide relief agency of the Sovereign Order of Malta for humanitarian aid. When the "welcome ceremony" has found an end, 20 pupils out of almost 1,000, some teachers and several parents assemble in a classroom where Kaushalya starts her session. The idea of this "Child Friendly School Project" is to include the whole school community into decisions concerning the construction of new latrines and washing points. "Especially the pupils are encouraged to express their wishes and needs, as they are the ones who use the facilities and as they are also expected to maintain them", Kaushalya explains. "We want the school community to develop a sense of ownership", she points out, "we hope the children in the end say: This is my toilet, and I'm going to take care of it." This might work more easily when pupils, teachers and parents are involved from the beginning. As in Batuwanhena most schools in Sri Lanka have neither satisfactory water supply nor adequate sanitary installations. The existing sanitary facilities are often dilapidated. They are not separated according to sex und thus do not ensure privacy. This situation has many impacts on the pupils, as Kelvin Shingles points out: "All children need a sanitary and hygienic learning environment. However, the lack of sanitation and hygiene facilities in schools has an even stronger negative impact on girls than on boys", explains the Malteser International Project Manager. "Girls need safe, clean, separate and private sanitation facilities in their schools." After having explained to the children and adults in Batuwanhena primary school the idea of today's session, Kaushalya asks them to meet for discussion in three groups: pupils, teachers and parents. "The children speak much freer when they are with their peers", the 34-year-old explains one advantage of this method. All groups start discussing why they are not satisfied with the existing sanitary facilities and how they want their new latrines and hand washing points to look like. Making 20 pupils discuss is no easy task, but finally, they express their worries. The boys complain that they do not have a feeling of privacy in their urinals, and the girls mention that the taps are broken. All of them would like to have garbage bins in the classroom and enough water in the water tank so that they do not need to bring bottles from home or ask for water in the neighbouring houses. Amazingly, girls and boys agree easily on the colour of their new latrines: the girls want theirs to be painted in light yellow, while the boys prefer dark green. And they accept the suggested health messages to be written on the walls, so that they do not forget to wash their hands after using the toilet etc.

The "child friendly concept" has been developed by Malteser International and UNICEF for 53 schools in Galle, Matara, Hambantota and Ampara Districts. Around 16,000 pupils have already or will soon get access to child friendly water and sanitation facilities. The need for this intervention has been identified by the Sri Lankan government, and thus Malteser International works closely with the Zonal Education Officers. According to Kelvin Shingles, the approach is based on the idea that children who participate in efforts to create a safer and more hygienic environment, learn about health and hygiene by doing: "This is an effective way to help young people to acquire the knowledge, attitudes, values and skills needed to adopt healthy lifestyles." Another important measure to hit this target is the strengthening of existing school health clubs and support for the establishment of new ones. Furthermore, the Malteser International team gives lessons on health and hygiene education following a life skills approach. The pupils learn for example how to test, if the water at school and in their homes is safe for drinking. The three groups in Batuwanhena all meet again in the classroom to finally decide on the location of the new latrines and hand washing points. Kaushalya has painted a plan of the school grounds on a big poster. She asks the representatives of the school community to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the different possible locations. The parents want the latrines to be close to the school building, so that the teachers can easily monitor the children. The pupils pay attention that the girls' and the boys' latrines are not too close together. Most of the participants are engaged in a lively discussion, and finally everybody agrees. During the school visit Kaushalya needs to clarify several times who Malteser International is and what the organisation aims for: "Many parents are worried that an organisation which is based in Europe could want to evangelise the kids." Kaushalya explains over and over again that this is not what Malteser International's approach is about. She points out that the organisation provides help without distinction of religion, race or political persuasion. Kelvin Shingles adds: "The humanitarian principles of impartiality and independence are the foundation of our work." It is important for the aid workers to stress this issue during school visits, as teachers and parents are sometimes concerned that Malteser International might cooperate with the LTTE. After a while, Kaushalya can convince the families. At the end, the participants of the meeting even invite the Malteser International team to join the Parents Teachers Association for their next meeting and to present their work there to all the other parents. At the end, all sides are very satisfied with the session: "Everybody was very much interested and motivated to participate in the planning process. Even the small children, who are often too shy to express their opinions, were involved in the decision making", says Kaushalya. During the next weeks, UNICEF is going to construct the sanitary facilities exactly as the school community has decided.


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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