On The Ground - Sept/Oct 2023

Club of Leaders (CoL)

A new school year has begun at Hebron and the CoL welcomed 130 students to its first meeting. For the first meeting of the club, several students presented club achievement and personal testimonies. Sixth grade student, Kelenda Gloire, presented a comparison of Hebron in the past and present. “Before the arrival of the Club of Leaders, we had no concept of waste management and we did not manage waste correctly. We threw bags, papers and everything we ate everywhere. We were not blamed for any of this. Behind the building was the jungle where we relieved ourselves with ease. It was the same problem throughout the community. The big challenge we discovered was the use of toilets, proper hand washing, and waste management. We built toilets with our local assets that meet the standards. The school playground is clean as you see it, waste is well managed, the school is sanitized and there is zero waste.”

In October, the students planned and completed a community walk where they distributed and explained hygiene posters to various households. The message shared on the postcards was how to avoid germs specifically in regards to hand washing. Community members were happy to see students again and congratulated them for their courage and for knowing these things even at their young age. They asked students to continue doing this and to consider widening their area of action because many people need this information.

In preparation for the partnership with PAEV and UNICEF to become a certified clean school, the stakeholders at Hebron school met in a community learning circle. All members agreed that despite the aid and support from UNICEF, it is imperative that the students' research and resulting work on the toilets be celebrated and acknowledged as viable options for community members that wish to install toilets at their homes. Even as UNICEF provides toilets, the students must be involved in the research and implementation of these modern toilets. As our country director, Dr Jerry Kindomba, stated “our mission is to make children actors, servant leaders, accompanying them and above all support students’ initiatives”.