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Teaching simple acts, such as handwashing, has impact on region
Vulnerable Schools Focus on Hygiene
Photo: Counterpart International
Thierno Dauda Tall provides deworming medicine to his students as part of the USAID-
funded vulnerable schools program.
“I am very proud and happy to have my school benefit from this program,” said Senegalese schoolteacher Thierno Dauda Tall.
Blustery desert sands and contaminated hands bring sickness to the people of Senegal, one season after another. For the affluent with running water and a steady supply of soap, it’s easier to fight off infection. Those less privileged are often the ones who fall ill.
Informing people about hygiene is a sure step in curbing the spread of disease. For students benefiting from the USAID-funded vulnerable school program, health and hygiene educational seminars and sensitization campaigns target not only students but entire communities and their leaders.
Thierno Dauda Tall, the teacher at Bode school near the border with Mauritania, sees the direct benefits of the program. “In our hygiene and health program, we have seminars that address different themes and permit students and the community to understand and change their behavior,” he explained. “Positive behavior change is good. For example, students now conscientiously wash their hands before eating. In addition, the distribution of mosquito nets has reduced cases of malaria, and health sensitization campaigns have helped the entire community make concessions and become healthier through their actions.”
The USAID program works closely with nine schools to facilitate improved health and hygiene for students. Through educational seminars focused on health-related messages, posters of local community leaders participating in specific health-related activities, deworming of students, and a focus on health and hygiene to improve living conditions, the program has had a successful and positive impact on over 3,800 students and their representative communities.
The vulnerable school program works in northern Senegal to improve the living and learning conditions of students. Primary activities also include school feeding; school, dormitory and latrine rehabilitation; and literacy, numeracy, and vocational training for students.
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