Hand Washing and Community Health Education

The hand washing campaign has continued with 78 high school students participating.

I was given a very challenging task of educating high school students at the local Kiruhura Christian College on health topics. This proved to be a challenge because of the language barrier and lack of resources- the students had no text books and there is a very limited supply of pens, paper, and chalk.   Nonetheless, the task was accomplished successfully and  I was asked to teach during Biology for the Senior 3, Senior 4A, Senior 4B, and Senior 5 classes.   In these classes students range in age from 15 to 38 years of age.   Biology class meets for two hours per week, one hour on Tuesdays, and one on Wednesdays. I chose to teach the Germ Theory of Disease with hand washing during the first two classes.  To evaluate understanding and effectiveness, they took a quiz whereby six of the eight students scored perfectly, and two answered three out of five questions correctly.   I believe that the students understood the topic well and their incorrect answers were due to language barrier.  

The second week, I taught the same students about HIV/AIDS. This discussion included general information including how HIV is transmitted  and ways to prevent transmission.

Because of attending an organizational meeting in Kigali on June 2, I have not given the HIV quiz yet. I plan to do so during next week’s class. I was pleased that the students asked many questions and I plan to continue teaching about HIV/ AIDS next week.  Handouts and quizzes were kept simple due to language and cultural barriers.   Also, printing resources are limited so materials were limited to one page or less.  

For the General Paper classes, I asked each student to choose from a list of health concerns in the community, or to propose a health related topic of their own.   The list provided included Malaria; HIV/AIDS; hand washing and hygiene; clean water; food contamination, and community safety. They were to include definition of the problem, causes of the problem, importance, how to prevent the problem, and any personal experience they have had with the problem.   These classes meet for two hours per week, but it is common in Rwanda for students to be absent frequently.   I left materials with the teacher of each class to give to absent students. These students were required to take quizzes and turn in assignments the following class.

Despite these challenges, I  anticipate excellent results from these classes.  These students are the future of Rwanda  and educating them on health will improve the health of the community for years to come.  I also expect a ripple effect as the student share their knowledge with their family and friends outside of school. I have no means of assessing this ripple effect, only the assessments of the individual student’s knowledge after each education session. These assessments are the quizzes given in the biology class and the essays written in the general paper class. I plan to continue teaching on health topics in the school.

Bio-sand Water Filtration

On June 4, the Rwandese Health and Environment Project Initiative (RHEPI), installed five bio-sand water filters and educated those who would be using it on proper use. At the advice of RHEPI representative James Rubakisibo, three filters were installed at the Faith and Hope Children’s Home, one at the girls boarding quarters at the Kiruhura Christian College, and one in the school cafeteria. 

There are currently thirty girls and no boys at the school’s boarding quarters.    I am happy to report that all the students will now be able to drink clean water at lunch due to these filter systems.  Installation of these filters is the product of my research, contacting filter providers and on-going communication since December 2009.  This began with researching types of filters with  Bio-sand filters removing 95-99% of bacterial, viral, and protozoan contaminants. If you are interested,  you can learn more at http://www.biosandfilter.org/biosandfilter/index.php/item/301.

While bio-sand filtration is not very effective in removing chemical contaminants, the primary concern in the community of Cyegera is microbes.  Bio-sand filters are very simple to use and require little maintenance and for these reasons seemed the best choice for this community.  I then began contacting organizations that build bio-sand filters; CAWST of Canada responded to my request for information with clarification to determine if bio-sand filters were truly the best option for Cyegera.

Once they were satisfied, they referred me to RHEPI and  James Rubakisibo. James and I discussed pricing, when the filters would be available for the instillation, education, and other details of a contract.

The filters require one month of daily feeding before the bio-layer is completely functioning. RHEPI provided education about bio-sand filters prior to installation to those who would use them.  Staff of both the school and children’s home assisted in the installation so that they have an understanding of how the filters function.  Unsafe water has been a serious problem in this area, and I look forward to seeing a reduction in water-related illness at the school and children’s home.

Other  activities

In addition to the health education and water filtration, I have been busy with community and organizational events.   As mentioned, I went with the site administrator, to a meeting in Kigali. The meeting was a strategy and information-sharing meeting among administrators of various sites. I also participated in a government mandated community work day.  These work days occur the last Saturday of every month. This work day was spent breaking ground for an additional building at the local school. 

Metrics     

I have reached 259 participants in my hand washing education campaign; my original goal was 300 participants so I am well on my way to meeting this objective.  I met my objective concerning environmental analysis and interventions during the first week and described in my May 25 report. I have also educated a total of 112 students on several of the major health concerns of the community.

I have met the objective of installing five bio-sand water filters and will continue to look for opportunities to expand these objectives as most have already been achived.  

Please view the chart below for a  summary of the work the Hope Through Healing Hands Foundation and the Niswonger Foundation are helping make possible in Rwanda.

 

Date	Intervention/ Education	# of participants or people affected
May 25-26	Germ Theory Education    (	8
May 26	Hand washing	8
May 26	Topics of Concern in Community Health	34
May 27	Topics of Concern in Community Health	36
May 29	Community work day	n/a
May 30	Prenatal vitamin education	2
May 31	Topics of Concern in Community Health	34
May 31	Hand washing education   (class S4A)	34
June 1	HIV/AIDS Education	8
June 2	Organizational meeting	n/a
June 3	Hand washing education   (class S5)	36
June 4	Bio-sand Water Filter Installation and Education (Children’s Home)	29
June 4	Bio-sand Education (Girl Boarding Students)	30
June 4	Bio-sand Water Filter Installation and Education (School Cafeteria)	112
June 7	Topics of Concern in Community Health	34
Daily since June 4	Bio-sand Water Filter Feeding	59
Daily since May 19	Meal logs for future analysis	26