Feature Article on School Clubs

Just a little feature article on a school club that's making a difference!


Indonesia: Water and sanitation and the ‘little doctors’

The mothers of Banjar Sari in Indonesia beam with pride as they watch their children performing in the primary school play. But the mothers are more than entertained by the young actors, they are also learning valuable lessons about the importance of boiling water, washing their hands before preparing food or eating and throwing away rubbish properly.
The actors are members of ‘Dokter kecil’, or little doctors, a primary school project funded by the government of New Zealand and supported by UNICEF. This school club has 30 students from grades four to six and promotes hygiene through community theatre and other lively activities.
The best thing about the plays is that children bring the lessons home about water, sanitation and hygiene. The mothers say that they are getting the message and are changing their hygiene behaviour.
The students’ work of improving the health of their community goes beyond their plays. They also take charge of the village’s Jum’at Bersih (Clean Friday), a national movement, begun in 1994, that encourages hygiene on Eid, Muslim people’s festival. When the Dokter Kecil club began in 1998, it took the lead in improving the community’s sanitary environment by upgrading drains, clearing debris from around the mosque and working on a school herb garden.
The little doctors are becoming leaders, learning to communicate clearly and effectively, to problem-solve, negotiate and analyse. One day they will be mums and dads so they are making sure the environment is hygienic for children in the future, too. But the benefits are already happening today.
“With a clean environment people don’t become ill,” said 13-year-old Zarkasi. “So our concentration for studying isn’t disturbed and we learn better in school.”
A centre doctor gives health check-ups for the school children and other members of the village, coming weekly to give out free medicine and discuss hygiene issues with the students and the teachers. The doctor’s lessons are used in Dokter Kecil’s newest plays, which are the most effective way for getting the word out about water, sanitation and hygiene.
“People love drama, and parents especially love to see their children perform,” said one of the supervising teachers. “It is a much better way than telling people to just change the way they do things.”From the International UNICEF website