Every year, World Health Day (7th April) focuses on the resilience and safety of health facilities which highlights a chronic shortage of health workers as a result of decades of underinvestment in their education, training, salaries, working environment and management, these are the current crisis from which no country is entirely immune. World Health Day is a call for all societies and organizations to do more to protect three of our greatest assets; health, children and environment.
Emed team in Services Institute of Medical Sciences Lahore (Simsonians) including Qurat ul Ain Khan, Kheyal Azam Khalil, Khadija Asif, Azka Batool, Afshan Mehwish, Ramsha Javed, Zznish Amin, Ayesha Aqeel, Hafsa Rauf, Sadia Iqbal, Rubina Aslam, Asima, Ibrahim Naeem and Usman Zakir conducted an extensive, promotional, educational and outreach activity for children at SOS VILLAGE Lahore on 16.5.2010.Team coordinators used World Health Day as a springboard to encourage all members with an interest in improving children’s health to bring attention to the grave threats posed to children by unhealthy environment and to incite community to implement measures to ensure that our children grow up safe, healthy and happy. Emed members produced a number of dynamic and promotional items to reinforce the World Health Day’s message and slogan.
A World Health Day slogan “Healthy Lifestyle in School Going Children”
was featured on World Health Day Activity in conjunction with material
colored and in black and white to galvanize the branding of all World Health
Day’s products and messages around the building playground.
The activity was dedicated to healthy environment for Children at SOS - VILLAGE, to potentIate emed members into bringing about a positive change in the society. An estimated one hundred students and their teachers (mothers), participated in the event. Emed members made event memorable by bringing lot of fancy materials, like, stickers, banners, tray-mat, a colorful child’s measuring tape, posters (depicting positive and negative messages to be used as both an educational and informational tool), catering of more than 20 drawings (made by all members) on three different priority corners of SOS building, an eight- minute video on laptop (focusing on oral-hygiene) was played, quiz competition was raised and given bumper-prizes to the winners, puzzles for all children (which were given one by one), more than 20 pretest (along with Emed newsletters for April) for teachers had been distributed to asses children’s lifestyle.
World Health Day Activity had been held in presence of Director General of SOS, Ms. Almas Butt, who highlighted the importance of the day and highly appreciated the efforts of the motivated emed team from SIMS.
Children shared their visions of healthy environment through poems, role-plays, and statements. A lively Panel discussion was held with children role playing as representatives (CR, GR) of different levels. The morning closed with all participants joining with the slogan “HEALTHY LIFESTYLE IN SCHOOL GOING CHILDREN”. Finally SOS children were invited to create and portray their drawings of healthy environment for children. The momentum generated by World Health Day Activity at SOS, will continue to grow and be built upon through many other events and activities in different regions.
Emed Core Committee is invited to use the round table discussion to make output oriented recommendations for policy and action in ensuring many other events and activities at all local and national levels. It will shape the future of Emed itself and its all members as perfect and powerful as we expect.
(By Qurat ul Ain Khan, Coordinator emed, 4th year SIMS).
Plan of Promotion of Health Education and Prevention of Common Conditions through Interactive Learning …… in SOS Village Lahore
PHASE 1: First, go there and take pictures with banners before kids come and it’s too late (before it gets dark), hide the items for hunt game, call kids. Introduction as to who we are and what we will teach and the benefits of it (good health, respect amongst peers and society)” and the harms of not learning these things (sickness , not able to play or study, peers and society will detest, visit to doctor , injections , ‘karwi’ medicines).
PHASE 2: Activity : Find items that you have been given a picture of and bring it to us. This will ‘warm up the kids’ and make the event more exciting in their minds and acceptable.
PHASE 3: When the kids will bring the items then divide them in three batches according to what they find (kids who don’t find anything should be adjusted in any batch) related to the three major topics. Then an interactive lecture of the topic(S) should be given , this will include telling them things , allowing them to ask us questions , then tell them to possibly do some simple role playing , then each group should be made to ‘teach’ the other group what they learned so that we can assure that they themselves have learned. This will be effective as they will tell each other , they will retain it easier then AND not get bored , and role playing should be encouraged whilst the kids tell each other. If they tell each other correctly and almost completely , this will show information from us to the kids was passed properly , so it will be OUR ASSESSMENT ! So please make sure you pass on the information properly ! (If you don’t then you’ll have to repeat , no leniency in this , we HAVE to make sure they retain a major portion of it !)
PHASE4 : kids will be given markers , color pencils , drawings to color , paper to draw . They will then draw/color the things related to the lectures (namely the items e.g. soap , tooth brush , tooth paste , clean teeth , bad teeth etc) . They will stick these on poster papers. Then they will hang/paste these on the walls of their ‘kitchen/cafeteria’ , bathrooms , dorms/bedrooms etc so that they will keep them as a reminder , they will hopefully stay there for at least 3 days , it will be easily retained as they will remind them of the whole event as well , and since they made the posters they will feel good. And of course , we will leave something for them like this that will have an effect after we are gone. We could preferably decorate the place next to the poster so that they will feel good (e.g. with balloons , stickers etc) to make it look good for the kids.
PHASE 5 : Conclusion , pictures with the kids (should also be taken during the event) and thank them and say goodbye. SIMPLE , PLEASANT AND EFFECTIVE !
(By Usman Zakir, Coordinator emed, 4th year SIMS).