DENGUE

AWARENESS
PROJECT
GATEWAY COLLEGE NEGOMBO

SCHOOL SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CLUB

Basic Project Details

Project Name: Dengue Awareness Project

School: Gateway College, Negombo

Address: No. 62, Negombo Road, Kurana, Sri Lanka

Telephone: (94) 31 2227772 / 0312227722

Fax: (94) 31 2227878

Email: gnis@gatewayworldwide.com

Project Contact: President - Mario Fernando stephenmario7@gmail.com

Project Period: 06 Months

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Problem Statement: What were our Objectives for this year?

Objectives

Generating Awareness of the Identifying the Importance of

Dengue Illness, symptoms Environmental cleanliness in
and hazards and patient care eradicating dengue

The SSR Club launched the Dengue Awareness Project with two objectives in mind.

Understanding the Disease and Management

Our first aim was to educate the school community regarding the Dengue disease. Our
concern in this regard was for patients of Dengue. We aimed at gaining and distributing
information regarding patient care and first aid and to obtain , information regarding
the dangers of the Dengue endemic, how to identify dengue patients and how to care for
those infected by the disease, Also for gaining awareness of the symptoms and hazards
pertaining to the dengue illness and spreading this awareness to the outer community .
Many events organized for the project were for this purpose.

Making the community aware of the importance of Cleaning their

surroundings and engage actively with them in cleaning the environment

Our second aim was to work in the community for the purposes of making them aware
of cleaning their surroundings that the Dengue Mosquito cannot breed thereby
effectively preventing the spread of Dengue could be eradicated. To achieve this
objective, we met with a host of individuals, government and private agencies to make
the communities aware of this and worked in many locations cleaning the environment
to destroy the Dengue mosquito.

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Flow Chart depicting the Community Service Project

SSR Club of GCN

2014/2015

Community Service

First we had to educate ourselves!

School Level Organization to meet objectives

The Foundation School held a general assembly where the KG students

(Aged 4 to 5 ) explained the importance of recycling.
Students of the Kindergarten school organised and held an assembly to discuss recycling.
Through this assembly students became aware of the disease and the need to keep the
environment clean in order to avoid Dengue. During this assembly, the teachers ensured
that our younger brothers and sisters were taught and experienced what recycling was,
how to recycle and why recycling is important. .

Year One (Children aged 5 to 7 ) held an assembly to discuss

reduce/reuse/recycle.
With the help of the SSR Club, the students and teachers of Key Stage One organized
and held an assembly to discuss the precepts of reduce/reuse/recycle. Through this
assembly they too became aware of the Dengue illness and how important it was to keep
the environment clean. They learned how to reuse discarded material and also how
discarded material could be recycled through various means. By reducing the amount of
trash that is being collected, not only are we beautifying the environment but also
destroying mosquito breeding ground, thereby preventing Dengue.

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 Primary Section Recycling Project where students learnt the importance of recycling
and reusing paper.
The teachers and students of the primary school of GCN with the support of the SSR
Club, organised a recycling project within their classrooms, By contacting a recycling
corporation, the students of Grade 4G obtained recycling bins in which to place
discarded paper. At the end of each week, students from this class will go to other classes
and collect the trash and place all the paper items in these special bins. At the end of the
month, members from the company will come and collect these bins and purchase the
discarded paper. By utilizing the money earned by selling paper for recycling, the
students of Grade 4G hope to further improve and develop their recycling initiative.
Photos are attached.

Key stage 3 and 4 Assembly and presentation by the regional Medical Officer of
Health
The regional Medical Officer of Health (MOH) was invited to the school to deliver a
presentation on Dengue prevention and destroying mosquito habitat for students and
staff of Gateway College Negombo. He also spoke at length on the services provided by
the Municipal Council of Negombo to keep the city clean. Following his informative
presentation, members of his office distributed leaflets and brochures on preventive
measures to all students.
Photos are attached.

Presentation by Center for Clinical Management of Dengue and Dengue Hemorrhagic

Fever (CCMDDHF) of the District General Hospital of Negombo regarding dengue; its
cure and prevention, for Advanced Level students.
We visited the Dengue Unit at the Negombo Base Hospital to learn more about the
disease, how it is spread, how to identify if a person has been infected, what measures to
take if infected with Dengue, curative methods, and finally effective methods of
prevention. The delegation from Gateway College Negombo was met by Dr. Praneeth De
Alwis who delivered an informative presentation on Dengue. Subsequently, the
delegation was taken into the ward to observe firsthand the conditions of the hospital
and how patients were being taken care of.
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 Following this presentation, members of the SSR Club along with Advanced Level
students organized and held presentations systematically in school using the information
they gathered from the CCMDDHF to educate all our sisters and brothers in the school
regarding the illness.

Photos are Attached

Creation and distribution of leaflets to educate students and parents on Dengue and
how the infected should be cared for.
Students of the secondary school of GCN were educated in depth regarding Dengue, the
dengue mosquito, how the disease is spread and also regarding patient care during the
assemblies mentioned before. Armed with this information, the we designed and
distributed leaflets in all three languages to parents of the schools student body.
Through this exercise, we made use of our knowledge and also educated others.
Photos are attached.

The members of the SSR Club met with the Naturalist of Jetwing Hotels to learn about
keeping the coast of Negombo clean.
Members of the SSR Club along with the teachers in charge, met with the Naturalist of
Jetwing Hotels Mr. Hemantha Gunathilaka to learn about keeping the coastal region
clean and also how doing so would help prevent the spread of Dengue. Many people
believe Dengue mosquitos cannot breed in saltwater. However the problem is the plastic
and other trash items that are strewn along the coastal line. Mosquitoes tend to breed in
the plastic items left on the beach. The Dengue illness can spread through these
mosquitos. It was our aim to help the employees of Jetwing Hotels clean up the beach
for the purpose of preventing the spread of mosquitos. We also discussed the possibility
of members of the SSR Club joining with Jetwing Hotels for the purposes of cleaning up
the coastal area. A plan of action was then drawn up as to how students of the SSR Club
could work together with members of Jetwing Hotels to achieve this.

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 Presentation by renowned speaker Scott Friedman on leadership for our
neighbourhood schools.
Scott Friedman, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional), is a renowned and much sought
after motivational speaker and author. He was president of the National Speakers
Association during the years 2004-2005 and further is the current CCO Chief
Celebration Officer, at Friedman and Associates. Mr. Friedman is a motivational humorist,
he has combined improvisational comedy, the art of storytelling and relevant content, to
reach audiences of all ages. His presentations help people to become more self-aware
and reach their full potential in life.
Mr. Friedman is also an author, writing such books as Celebrate-Lessons learned from
the worlds most admired organizations, Happily ever after-how to engage any
audience and Using humour for a change. He is also co-author of several additional
books. Apart from speaking, Mr. Friedman is also engaged in philanthropic efforts
through an organization co-founded by him, Together We Can Change the World
(twcctw.org). This is a non-profit organization that helps women and children throughout
South East Asia live a more fulfilled life.
Significantly, we also invited prefects from the neighbourhood schools to join in and
reap the benefits of Mr. Friedmans presentation. It was our hope that by doing so, we
could strengthen ties between schools and form new bonds of friendship with other
students from Negombo and through this we would be able to reach our goal.

Photos are attached.

Then we were ready to go to the community!

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Community Level Organization
Blood donation campaign to collect blood for the Ragama Hospital for the treatment
of patients requiring blood transfusions.
The secondary school of GCN organised a blood donation campaign to coincide with the
Dengue awareness project. While the main concern of this effort was to collect donations
for the blood bank of the Ragama hospital, n on the values of giving. It is only when we
give of ourselves that we truly learn the importance of
After we achieved the objective of learning about Dengue and its prevention and we
were concerned with educating the students of the secondary section of the school
generosity towards our neighbours. It is this sentiment that our students learned on the
day of the Blood donation campaign. As a school, we were able to collect blood from 80
donors for the hospital. This effort is also linked to Dengue awareness project as patients
of Dengue Hemorrhagic fever lose blood and thus require transfusions. It is our hope
that through our campaign, the hospital is able to help such patients.
Photos are attached.

Coastal Clean-up to preserve the cleanliness and beauty of our greatest asset; the
beaches of Negombo.
The GCN SSR Club joined hands with Jetwing Hotels to clean up the coastal region of
Negombo. Negombo is a famous coastal city. It boasts a stunning beach that is
renowned for its scenic beauty. As such, the Negombo beach forms an integral part of
our community. The beaches of Negombo are also the main factor in the rise of tourism
in the area. Although the prevailing theory is that mosquitos cannot breed in salt water,
unfortunately due to pollution, plastic and other types of garbage could be found along
the beach. Such items provide ideal breeding grounds for mosquitos.
Thus on the 1st of October, 37 students of the SSR Club of GCN arrived at the beach and
alongside personnel of Jetwing, proceeded to help with the coastal cleanup. Students
worked from 6.30AM to 8.00AM collecting and dividing the trash into bags marked
according to their recycling category (glass, plastic, paper etc.)
We hope to continue our partnership with Jetwing for the foreseeable future and add our
efforts to keep the city of Negombo and its vicinities clean and free of diseases such as

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 Dengue. Students of the SSR Club have formed an action group that will be working with
the members of Jetwing Hotels every month to clean up the beach.

Photos are attached.

Building of the Grotto to discourage members of the surrounding community from

discarding their trash in the lagoon bordering the school.
Close to the school premises, lies a bare land of approximately one perch which those of
the vicinity used for disposing their trash. Despite requests from the health officers of
Negombo to stop disposing trash in this manner, the practice continued partly as these
villagers had no alternative. This caused hygiene issues as garbage collected in the water
and polluted the lagoon. It also provided a breeding location for mosquitoes, leading to
the high prevalence of dengue in the area. The SSR Club realised the gravity of this
situation and proceeded to build a grotto encompassing a statue of Mother Mary on the
bare land. Using all their skills of diplomacy, the students managed to make this area a
religious one due to the presence of the statue. Being an area with a majority of catholic
inhabitants, it was expected that out of reverence for the statue, people would not throw
their garbage in that location, and so would maintain the sanctity of the surrounding
land. As was predicted, the village community now looks after the grotto and maintains
cleanliness in its surroundings as a mark of their respect for the statue. In their respect
for the grotto, members of the village also respect the surrounding environment. Further,
the SSR Club is also involved in organizing the feast at the grotto for these villagers as a
sign of our continued efforts to keep the environment clean with the support of the
surrounding community.
Photos are attached.

Dengue Walk to create awareness regarding the eradication of dengue and also to
strengthen ties between the school and the wider community.
Map of the route and video of the walk attached
The main focus of the Dengue walk was to create awareness pertaining to the prevention
of dengue. As we have realized that it is always better to prevent a disease rather than

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cure it, it was our aim to educate the community of the dangers of dengue and how to
avoid it.
For the purpose of our walk we selected ``the red alert`` for Dengue an area , where
many dengue patients were found and this area was dangerously close to the school. We
targeted this area understanding the importance to increase the awareness of this
community . It is significant that previously in this area an officer from the PHI office was
assaulted by the home owners, during a routine inspection for dengue mosquito
breeding grounds.
Although awareness was our primary concern, the SSR Club was also working towards
inspiring action and igniting the passion of members of the GCN family as well as the
outside community. We hoped that our efforts would promote unity and solidarity
amongst members of the community. It is for this purpose that drivers from the three-
wheeler park in front of the school were invited to join hands for the success of the walk.
Additionally, members of Nanda Mawatha and Thotupola Mawatha, close to the school
in the immediate vicinity participated with equal vigour and enthusiasm. It was the goal
of the SSR Club to reach the grassroots of our immediate society and build bonds of
brotherhood and cohesion in the face of a dreaded illness.
The walk was held on the 4th of October 2014 and commenced from the school grounds
at 8.00am. All students from year 4 upwards, took part in this walk. We are indeed proud
to note that many students from the foundation school to year 3 , along with their
parents also joined in. The participation of many of our students parents provided much
needed support to the school. The Rotary Club of Negombo along with the MOH, were
also present. The walk was divided into sections, with each grade depicting a key element
in the prevention of dengue. At the head of the walk was a mobile sound station through
which students gave advice in Sinhala, Tamil and English on how to prevent contracting
Dengue.
Following this vehicle were the students and staff of GCN along with the banners and
leaflets aimed at reaching the community. Students distributed these leaflets door to
door during the walk.
The procession of the walk turned inland from Wijeya Road about 1km from the school
grounds. The purpose of this was to reach the grassroots community in the vicinity of the
school. We believed that it was more practical to speak to members of the community

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 rather than to travel on the main road away from the area in which the school is situated.
The procession travelled within the neighbourhood and returned to the school grounds.
We are also proud that members of the community as well as three wheel drivers from
the three wheeler park near the school with their three wheelers enthusiastically joined in
the walk.
Through this effort we built a strong bond with the individuals from the surrounding
areas. We have established a working symbiosis where we as a school do our part to
protect the community and they do their part to protect the school. We are proud that
we have been able to achieve what adults could not; we managed to reach the
community with our message through our empathetic endeavour. To further our efforts,
the SSR Club has formed an action committee with the villagers to monitor the entire
vicinity every fortnight for dengue breeding grounds.
At the end of the walk, a meeting was held in the school grounds, where students spoke
about dengue and the schools dengue effort.
Photos are attached.

Launching of Webpage in support of the brilliant work being done by the Dengue Unit
of the Negombo Base Hospital.

Contribution of the Alumni!

The Alumni of GCN was involved with the Dengue awareness campaign from the very
beginning. Members of the Alumni accompanied the delegation to the Dengue Unit at
the base hospital. At this meeting we found out that the doctors at the Dengue Unit
headed by specialist in endemic diseases, Dr. Lak Kumar Fernando, were performing a
wonderful service for the people of Negombo. They were proud to note that not a single
death from Dengue had occurred since the establishment of the unit. With the aim of
strengthening the efforts of the doctors at the dengue unit, and as part of their
contribution, the Alumni of GCN for the SSR Club, created a webpage that could be
linked to the website of the Dengue Unit of the Base Hospital of Negombo. Through this
project, we learned much about Dengue and statistics of Dengue in the Negombo area.
This webpage was built to contain details pertaining to dengue patients in the area. As
such it helps medical professionals remain aware of the statistics of dengue patients. This
webpage was launched on the 4th of October 2014 after the dengue walk.

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 This webpage can be viewed at: projectelevate.net/gcnssr/index.html
Photos are attached.

Distribution of Mosquito Nets to the less privileged members of the surrounding

community and to members of our schools own support staff in the hope of reducing
the numbers of dengue patients.
By educating the community regarding dengue and its dangers, the SSR Club hopes to
prevent the spread of the disease. As part of this effort, students collected mosquito nets
to distribute amongst the less affluent in the community. It is our hope that through this
exercise, members of the community will also learn about the Dengue disease as we did.
We consider it our responsibility to take care of the community in which we live as well as
its members, we collected over 35 nets to be distributed amongst those who cannot
afford to buy one. These nets were also given to members of the support staff of the
school who have always supported our efforts.
Photos are attached.

The introduction of a new product which is used to destroy mosquito larvae.

During the meeting held after the dengue walk, a new product was introduced to the
school to help clean out the gutters and destroy mosquito larvae. This product is as yet
unavailable in the country and is extremely costly. A sample of this product was donated
to the school by Dr. Ratnasingam Gobith, a medical officer attached to the Negombo
Base Hospital. The way in which this product works was explained to the gathering by Dr
Gobith who is also a parent of a student of GCN. He spoke at length on how the product
should be used and also of its effectiveness in destroying dengue larvae. Understanding
the usefulness of this product, the SSR Club of GCN has now made it their next effort to
raise funds in order to purchase more of this product and distribute to the immediate
community to rid the area of dengue mosquitos.
Photos are attached.

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Our Accomplishments!

Accomplishments

Awareness Skills for Life

Awareness

In the achievement of awareness, we have fulfilled both objectives outlined at the beginning
of this report.

Learning about the disease

Throughout the course of this project, we have grown much in education and awareness. We
learned what dengue is and how to manage dengue fever. It was important for us to learn
about convalescent care because death happens due to ignorance regarding such care.
Students from the Foundation School to the Secondary school of GCN, learned the
importance of keeping the environment clean to aid in eradicating the dengue mosquito. We
also gained expert knowledge from specialists in the medical field.We spread this
information to the community . from our leaflets. community meetings and the walk

Cleaning up the environment

As a school, we at Gateway College Negombo are proud of how much we have achieved
throughout the course of this project. Through the various events we have organized for the
purposes of this project, we have managed to make an impact on our society while working
with members of the community. Given that the region in which the school is located has the
highest rate of reported Dengue cases, we believed that it was our civic duty to do all we can
to counter this widening medical health issue.

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Learning for Life

Through community projects such as the one organized by the SSR Club of GCN, students
gain not only knowledge and the value of selflessness but additionally, life skills are also
developed.

Self-esteem
Throughout the course of the project, seeing how we can change lives through education
helped us understand how we as students can affect change. We went to members of society
and we saw how people living in poverty were affected by this disease. When we witnessed
the state of the less fortunate in our community we were reminded how lucky and blessed
we were. What we saw made us more determined to help the needy as our hearts wept for
them.

Organizational skills by engaging in community service.

For this project, we wrote reports, calculated finances and also managed many details to
ensure the success of our endeavour.

Communication project relied on speaking skills.

We developed persuasive speaking when getting people to support us in our endeavours.
We spoke to the hearts as well as the minds of the people through developing our speaking
skills especially as we spoke in all three languages; English, Sinhala and Tamil. We went
outside the school and spoke to different levels of people from CEOs to fishermen and from
doctors to three wheeler drivers. The mobile sound machine that travelled in front of the
Walk was also operated by members of the club who spoke in all three languages, advising
members of the community on how to avoid Dengue.

We worked as a team and we were encouraged to take decisions and be resourceful in the
organization of the various events.

The SSR Club worked tirelessly throughout the entirety of the project, engaging in many
activities in order to achieve our main goal. Through our efforts, we are certain that a change
has been made in the community and within the school. This endeavour is far from ending,
rather it has merely begun.

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Project Continuity

This has changed us from within and motivated us to make a difference within our
community. Driven by our desire to be of service to our community we are determined to
carry forward all our efforts in this regard.

We do not intend this project to be limited to merely half a year. We hope through our
action committees to continue our efforts to keep Negombo clean and to reduce the
number of Dengue patients. Additionally, we will also be working on clean-up efforts on a
monthly basis to help promote a healthy and safe environment for the community .

As mentioned earlier, this is just the beginning of our initiative. We hope to make more
contributions to furthering our cause. By working with giants such as the Rotary Club and
Jetwing Hotels and especially with the Municipal Council, the Dr Lak Kumara and his team of
Doctors at the Dengue unit of the base hospital , we hope to continue our endeavour to
keep the environment clean and thereby diminish the fatal hold of Dengue.

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