The Daniel Ogechi Akujobi Memorial (DOAM) Foundation recently held a healthy living programme for pupils and teachers of Ideal Primary School and New Town Primary School, Festac Town, Lagos as part of efforts aimed at improving the health of Nigerian students.
The Programme Officer (Health), Mrs. Sarah Numa said the event was organised in view of the just concluded world hand-washing day.
“The objective of the programme was to give access to appropriate hand washing materials and hygiene education to supplement residual knowledge and ultimately reduce absenteeism from school due to preventable illnesses.â€
She added that behavioural change towards better hygiene practices is a gradual process that involves working closely with the communities and designing appropriate communication tools and finally encouraging practical steps towards positive practices.
The programme, which started with a short lecture on the dangers of poor hygiene practices by a medical doctor, featured a quiz competition between the two schools and prizes were presented to the winners, while the pupils participated in a hand washing demonstration to ensure that everyone had a first-hand experience of the proper way to protect themselves and others around them.
The foundation also provided communal hygiene kit for the two participating schools and personal hygiene kit for each pupil to further motivate them to be hygiene heroes.
The excited pupils promised to take the task of being heroes seriously to enable them get their badges of honour in subsequent programmes.
