Amref Health Africa F&E School Game TOT

Melese Dubie---SBCC officer

Dec 23 – 24, 2021
Aysaita
 School games for Health
and Hygiene

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 Content
Session 1: purpose of the Training
Session 2: Preventing Disease & Changing Behavior
Session 3: Storytelling to Build Connections in Early Childhood
Session 4: Games for Motivation & Goal-Setting
Session 5: Planning
 The purpose of this training
• To promote good health and hygiene amongst students.

• Games are not only for fun during break times--- they can also
be an important tool that teachers can use to motivate and
engage students in the classroom and during school activities.

• Games promote peer learning, exploration, competition, and

collaboration.

• To go beyond merely learning the healthy behaviors and to

also motivate them to practice them and share with others.

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 Game for health
• The games and activities in this manual focus on behaviors that are
important for preventing diseases that are spread due to a lack of personal
hygiene and environmental cleanliness.

• The main focus is on preventing the spread of blinding trachoma and

reducing the risk of intestinal worms and schistosomiasis.

• These diseases are all neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that are common
in poor areas that lack safe access to water, sanitation, and hygiene
(WASH).

• While medicine is important for treating these diseases, people may

become re-infected if they do not make the necessary changes to their
daily hygiene practices and environment.
 Neglected tropical diseases
• At least a quarter of the world's population suffer from
neglected tropical diseases
• These diseases do not usually cause death, but they may result
in suffering, blindness, disability, and delays in physical and
cognitive growth that impact a person’s ability to go to school
and work.
• Fortunately, it is relatively cheap and easy to prevent some of
these diseases.
• Medicine in combination with simple changes to hygiene
practices and improvements in environmental health can
break the cycle of disease and poverty.
• This manual is designed for communities with a prevalence of
trachoma.
 Health Behaviors
Key Messages Personal behaviors
Clean hands Wash hands with soap and water at
key times
Clean face Wash face with soap and water
when dirty; Do not share face
cloths
Clean environment Use the latrine; Do not defecate
outside or near water sources
Clean Space Clean latrines, rooms, and yard
Healthy Friends and Share the healthy messages with
Family others!
 Session one

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• Who was your favorite teacher during your
school years?
• What characteristics did this teacher have that
made him or her a good teacher?
• What qualities make an effective teacher?
• What are good ways to motivate students to
learn?

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 Trachoma
• Trachoma is most common in young children and also
amongst women who are their caretakers.

• If it is not treated and prevented, then this disease can cause

lifelong disability and problems.

• Fortunately, it is fairly easy to prevent trachoma with simple

healthy changes to behavior.

• These healthy habits can significantly reduce the risk of illness

and protect both children and their families from trachoma
and other hygiene-related diseases.
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 Cont
• Ethiopia has the highest burden of trachoma globally, with 657
weredas endemic for trachoma and nearly 75 million people at risk
of infection.

• These numbers are troubling as trachoma is the leading infectious

cause of blindness in the world.

• Trachoma is caused by a bacteria which spreads through contact

with nasal and visual discharge of an infected person, via eye-
seeking flies, touch, and sharing of cloths.

• The disease is most prevalent in rural communities where there is

often a lack of adequate sanitation and clean water.
 Risk Group
• Children (ages 1-9) are especially vulnerable to infection from
trachoma, due to their practice of unhealthy hygiene habits.

• However, the disease progresses slowly, and the more painful

and disabling symptoms may not emerge until adulthood after
repeated infections.

• Women suffer blindness from trachoma at four times the rate

that men do, as they are exposed both as children and then
later again as adults while taking care of children.
 Signs & Symptoms
• Trachoma usually affects both eyes, and the symptoms are
often more severe in the upper lid.
– Itching and irritation of the eyes and eyelids
– Discharge from the eyes containing mucus or pus
– Eyelid swelling
– Light sensitivity (photophobia)
– Eye pain
– Blurred vision

• Following repeated infections during childhood, a person's

eyelashes turn inward and scratch the cornea while blinking.
This leads to scarring, diminished vision, and eventually
blindness.
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 Transmission

• Trachoma is contagious and spreads through contact with

discharge from the eyes or nose of an infected person via
various modes of transmission.

• An unclean face and an unclean environment (due to open

defecation) serve as the settings for trachoma transmission.

• In what ways can trachoma make school more difficult for

children? How can the advanced disease make life more
difficult for adults?

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 The main pathways of trachoma
• Feces attract the flies and provide a breeding area for them to
multiply. Having feces in close proximity to living quarters or
schools raises the risk of infection.
• Nasal and eye discharge contain the bacteria that can be
transmitted to other individuals.
• ‘Eye seeking flies’ carry bacteria from the discharge on an
infected person’s face to healthy people’s eyes, thus
spreading the infection.
• Sharing towels/cloths between infected and healthy people
may transmit the bacteria to the healthy individual and infect
him as well.
• Touching an infected eye with your fingers and then coming in
contact with another individual (for example by hand shaking)
can transmit the bacteria.
Session Two
 Energizer
• Stand if you enjoy reading for pleasure (and not just for work).
• Stand if you have a good sense of direction and can find your
way easily in new places.
• Stand if math or statistics is one of your favorite subjects.
• Stand if you like drawing and consider yourself good at it.
• Stand if you like to tell stories.
• Stand if you work best alone.
• Stand if you work best in teams and with other people.
• Stand if you can remember the words and tunes of songs very
easily.
• Stand if you like to play sports.
• Stand if you like to spend time in nature and can identify many
different types of plants and animals
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 Safe Strategy

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 Q&A
Currently, most trachoma elimination programs only focus on the first two
components—surgery and antibiotics. Why don’t they also focus on the
prevention components, such as the behavior aspects and WASH
improvements?
– People will see immediate results from surgery and medicine, which
helps show impact to donors and governments. However,
environmental improvements to WASH often require extra resources
and money, and behavior change (such as face-washing and hand
hygiene) can take a long time to see results and is often harder to
monitor.

Most people get better after taking the medicine. However, after a period of
time, they may get sick again. Why?
– Antibiotics kill the bacteria in their body at the time. However, people
get re-infected because they continue to do the unhealthy habits that
got them sick before. For this reason, this health program focuses on
the behavioral and environmental as a way to break the cycle of
infection.
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Prevention behavior
Clean Environment: One of the most important facts to teach
students is that feces can cause and spread disease. We do not
want these to spread to our water, our children, or ourselves. For
this reason, it’s extremely important that students use the latrine
• Teachers have a very important role in disease
prevention. It is more than teaching students
the material since they will need to actively
change their habits and behaviors to healthier
ones.

• How can educators demonstrate the

importance of these behaviors to their
students?

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Intelligence
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 Strategies for early childhood
• Model the behavior- Children learn behaviors by seeing and copying others. You
can show them how to wash their hands and faces and then let them practice as
well.
• Build an emotional connection- Storytelling is a good tool for teaching young
children, as they can connect to the fictional characters and become invested in
their actions.
• Ask students to be teachers- Responsive storytelling asks students to take part in
the fictional story. How can they help the characters achieve their goal? Ask them
to model the behaviors for others and act as the teacher in spreading important
health messages.
• Nurture imagination and creativity- Imagination is an important tool for children’s
cognitive and social development. Through imagination, students can play with
new ideas and create scenarios where they can experiment with what they learn.
• Address multiple intelligences- Engage the students through drawing, singing,
acting, and playing. They will be more engaged and have more ways to internalize
the material.
• Create a routine- Children will remember the behaviors if it becomes a part of
their daily lives. Teachers can schedule a set time for handwashing each day or
checking face cleanliness, so students know to expect it and be ready.
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SESSION 3
 Early Childhood
• Young children are highly vulnerable to infection from the
disease. Repeated infections at a young age can lead to
blindness in adulthood.
• Activities in early childhood are designed to create and
establish certain behaviors and habits from a young age.
Behaviors and habits that are adopted early are more likely to
be sustained over the years and prevent future infections.
• Young children are more malleable and adaptable to change.
They can learn and adopt new habits quicker and more easily
than teenagers and adults.
• Children have the ability to influence others by passing on the
information they learn, thus encouraging behavior change in
their families and improving hygiene practices in the
household
 Child Development
• Early childhood (0-8 years old) is considered a critical period of human
development, in which dramatic changes occur in all areas of life
including physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development.
• This period is a crucial formative period that shapes who a person will
become.
• Studies have shown that early childhood education has far-reaching
effects on intelligence, character, and future employment opportunities.
• For this reason, the United Nations and other policy makers have begun
to promote early childhood education as an important investment for
health, economy, and a country’s development.
 Areas of development in early childhood

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What are some new behaviors that young children
(Grade 1) learn when they first come to school?
 Activity Book

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SESSION 4
 Handwashing Demonstration

• Do schools in your community have access to

water for handwashing?
• If they don’t have access, what are some
solutions they can use?

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 Games for Learning
Goal setting skills- A game can provide the students with the
chance to set individual or team goals and plan ways to achieve
them. Goal setting promotes ownership of the content as well as
independence.
Interpersonal skills- Through teamwork and competition,
students will gain valuable experience in working with their
peers in different ways. Peer feedback will inform their actions,
social development, and behaviors.
Self-learning skills- Students can gain more confidence through
game play by experimenting with new knowledge and skills
throughout the game.
Leadership skills- In a game, students have the opportunity to
lead at different points and impact the game for themselves and
others.
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 Games for Motivation & Goal-Setting

What games do children play in your community? What

skills do they learn from these games?
• How can you adapt the song to also be good
for kinesthetic (body smart) learners?

• You have a lot of visual learners in your class.

How can you teach the prevention behaviors
to them?

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 Effective use of Games

Attention- Will this game keep the students engaged and

interested until it ends? For this reason, games should be age-
appropriate. If the game is too juvenile, then students may get
bored. If the game is too difficult, then students may be
overwhelmed and feel lost and unmotivated. Using competition
or collaboration between peers can also encourage more
engagement from students.

Relevance- Does this game fit into the learning content and goals
for this lesson? The game should match what the students are
currently learning in school and give them an opportunity to
practice the content in a meaningful way.
Confidence- Will the students be able to practice the new
information and skills during game play? Through game play,
students can experiment with the new information and
behaviors in a way that reinforces the correct way through peer
feedback. Through this experimentation, students can gain more
confidence in sharing key messages and performing target
behaviors.

Satisfaction- Will the students feel satisfied during and after

game play? Students will feel more satisfied with a game if they
clearly understand the rules and feel that the game is fair. The
game should not feel like work or a burden for them to do.
Instead it should be entertaining and fun.
• Which multiple intelligences did this game use?

• Do you think this game answers the four questions about

attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction?

• How could you change or improve this game?

 SESSION FIVE
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 What next
• Create awareness
• Cascade the training for school teachers and
students
• Implement the game
• Assess the change(behavioral,facial and
Environmental)
Environmental
• ……………..

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 Reflection
• Which of the games (activity book, board
game, challenge poster) do you think will
work best in your community?
• Do you feel comfortable to cascade this
training to the school level?
• What new skills or information did you learn
during the ToT?
• What do you think should be improved?

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 Brainstorming
• How will you encourage attendance at your training?
• How will you monitor the progress of the program in the
school(s)?
• What will you do if a school (or teachers within the school)
are not using the games?
• How can we make sure there is water and soap for
handwashing at school?
• Do you have ideas for engaging parents in the program?
• What are challenges that you see with implementing the
program?

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 Gada Geya
THANK YOU፡፡

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