Fiji Hub Achievement Report

July 2016
Objective: WASH Awareness

Integrated Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Education

Full Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programme completed for Year 1-8 . This works towards a long
term goal of reducing preventable illness where possible in the Dawasamu District
Hand washing falls down the list of priorities when rebuilding a community, but its importance is just
as relevant if not more so post cyclone. And this is where the WaSH programme comes in; to
educate, motivate and protect people through a greater understanding and regular practice of good
sanitation and hygiene practices.
Full Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programme completed for Year 5-8
In the last month a WaSH programme has been underway in Dawasamu District. WaSH (Water,
Sanitation and Hygiene) plays a key role in a communitys health and has become even more vital
since Cyclone Winston. The cyclone took buildings and belongings but it also took many sources of
clean water and left many villages in a dangerous and dirty state which is a haven for bacteria and
disease.
Hand washing falls down the list of priorities when rebuilding a community, but its importance is just
as relevant if not more so post cyclone. And this is where the WaSH programme comes in; to
educate, motivate and protect people through a greater understanding and regular practice of good
sanitation and hygiene practices.

The local primary school has been one of the main focuses for the WaSH programme. Units for every
year group have been made with a pack of 8 lessons for years 1-4 and a pack of 12 lessons for years
5-8 being planned and completed so that they can be taught over the next few months by the
education team based at Navunisea District School (NDS). This longer term and regular teaching is
beneficial for the children because it provides a consistent source of information on something
seemingly simple but so important. This works towards a long term goal of reducing preventable
illness where possible in the Dawasamu District.
Whilst planning the WaSH lessons there was a particular effort to ensure they were fun, educational
and could follow the curriculum already set out for the school. The lesson plans were designed to be
integrated into PEMAC lessons (P.E, Music, Arts and Crafts) which are some of the most popular
lessons for both students and teachers and allow important information to be delivered in an
engaging context.

In the process of designing lessons for each PEMAC criteria many varied teaching styles have been
used giving children lots of opportunities to learn in a way that best suits them. It gives them a time
in the school day to be creative or take part in active P.E lessons. Examples include relay races to
drop 'poo' (a ball of paper) in the 'toilet' (a bucket) to stress the importance of using the toilet and
reducing open defecation, and island tag to demonstrate the effects of soap and how germs have
safe 'islands' to hide on, on your hands.

One of the most memorable ways to teach basic concepts about using soap, washing hands and
pooing in toilets is through songs. Lyrics were written or altered to familiar tunes so that they were
easy to pick up and videos were made so that future volunteers and teachers can watch them and
hear the words and see the actions together. These worked well in Music lessons and gave them a
dual purpose.

A reoccurring theme when talking to people

about their current hand washing behaviour is
that people will wash their hands if they are
visibly dirty but not otherwise. A key part of
teaching has been highlighting that germs are
microscopic and even though we may look
clean we aren't. Part of the challenge with
teaching WaSH is making it relevant and
comprehendible, especially for the children. To
make the invisible visible for the youngest
children (years 1-4) a story was written and
illustrated. Titled the 'Land of Hands' the story is set on the hand of a Fijian boy called Josefa, a small
village lives on his hand with good and bad germs. the bad germs treat the village badly and make
Josefa feel ill, to combat this he washes his hands and the bad germs are washed away and everyone
lives happily ever after.

It's often quite difficult to engage children when teaching WaSH, hand washing isn't the most
interesting subject, but with well-planned
lessons and enthusiastic teaching the lessons
have been a great success. All age groups have
received the lessons well and even the
volunteers look forward to teaching them.
WaSH covers a wide range of topics and often
dips into others, by starting with a WaSH
programme we can progress into other areas
like Rain Water Harvesting, purifying drinking
water, First Aid and preventing infection.

Many of the resources are locally relevant with hand drawn pictures allowing children in rural areas
to relate to the content. The lesson packs, like all other GVI resources, are open source and will be
presented to the Fiji government with the option to disseminate to other schools. The programme is
also being shared with other GVI hubs worldwide with an aim to adapting to other local contexts.