On The Ground - July/August 2023

Club of Leaders (CoL)

The CoL has spent the last few months in the community raising awareness about good hygiene practices and the difference that students can make when empowered. In July, 10 groups, of four students each, went into the community surrounding Hebrone in order to present their research on hygiene practices. They shared how they created a safe and private toilet at the school using local assets, such as bamboo, recycled bottles, and sand. They also shared the importance of washing hands using soap, if available, or ash. Mr Dany, a CoL mentor, shared “I am very happy with this awareness activity because it allowed club members to resolve certain challenges in the community.” Also, the students worked together with a local painter to create eight different posters that will continue to raise awareness within the community about various hygienic practices, such as when to wash hands and the length of time and materials required to remove germs.

The work of the CoL has gained the interest and recognition of other entities. On August 8th, five CoL students were selected to prepare a presentation, which included testimonies, poems and skits, for a local Baptist church that is interested in starting a CoL within their church community. Isaac shared this about his experience with the CoL, “I want to tell you a little about the contribution of the club to me. We learned a lot of skills that helped us observe and identify assets and challenges in our community. We did research about personal and environmental hygiene and discovered the best way to use the toilets, hand washing and waste management which we are already practicing at Hebron School.” Because of the students' research and implementation of hygienic practices, Hebron school has been selected by PAEV and the Education Ministry to be part of the Clean School Program. This program will partner with UNICEF to bring opportunities for the school and surrounding community.