Child to child scheme improves hygiene

'Child to child' school hygiene project in Burkina Faso initiates 'the beginning of a revolution in primary schools'.

Children in Burkina Faso are being encouraged to get involved in improving the hygiene and sanitation in their schools. A 'child to child' approach has been adopted, with children helping and teaching each other.

Pupils have set up teams of 8 to 12 members with the assistance of their teachers. Elected by their peers, the members of the teams coordinate activities initiated by all the pupils.

Alongside improving hygiene in the schools, the aim is to build children's sense of responsibility, enabling them to learn to organize themselves and take action to find appropriate solutions.

So far results are encouraging; children have acquired the habit of washing their hands with hand washing posts, which are large concrete jars with a tap where water is stored.

In the school of the village of Mongodin, the borehole edges and surroundings are cleaned up every morning by a group of pupils, the latrines and school compounds every week.

"Almost everyone understands that dirt entails diseases such as diarrhea, skin diseases. For the sake of our health, we need to always think about our own hygiene and cleanliness of our foodstuff"said Ouango Salfo, a pupil from the village of Boala.

In this school, encouraged by the initiative, the children have now started to grow vegetables for their school canteen. With parental support they have produced vegetables that have been used throughout the year.

School students have also got involved in the canteen in other ways, working with the cooks to impose hygiene and sanitation practices. In addition to cooking conditions, they have looked into the way food is shared out, and taken charge of distributing it. They take turns in distributing the food, and no one who has injured their hands takes part.

A teacher stated "the Child to Child approach sounds like the beginning of a revolution in the primary schools in the Namentenga province."