Hiwane's Sanitation Club

Posted by Sadie -

Hiwane Elementary School has a Sanitation Club to teach the children messages about hygiene and sanitation. The Sanitation Club hold regular meetings with their members. They were made up of 10 children from each class, from grades 1 to 8. There are 73 members in the club – 3 teachers and 70 children - 39 girls and 41 boys in the club.

We asked the children some questions about what they learnt - it varied from simple messages to understand why washing hands was important to more in depth education about HIV. One of the children said, “first of all I became a member of this club to know about hygiene and sanitation and to teach my family.” The messages are then spread amongst their fellow students and finally, in their families. One of the ways they tell the students is to perform a play each week , which we were lucky enough to see.

One teaching method was a model house, showing the different areas and how they should be separated – for cooking, washing, sleeping. The sanitation club learn here so they can teach their friends and parents the importance of keeping food separate from waste, and the latrine away from the house.