Healthy School Project - an integrated approach

PROJECT CONTEXT

Bending off the main highway that runs through the Northern Province of the Department of Santa Cruz are hidden dirt roads that lead deep into sugarcane fields.  As you wind around the muddy pathways, over the bumps and across the rivers, you’ll find small, forgotten villages buried in the vast agriculture. Although some of the villages are as many as 60-years old, most communities still do not have basic sanitary infrastructure and people’s health continues to suffer from poor hygienic norms. Diarrhea, stomach aches, headaches, and skin rashes are part of the everyday norm; almost always children suffering the worse consequences.

The majority of schools in rural villages throughout the Integrated North of the Department of Santa Cruz are without functioning bathrooms or sinks, and the Departments of Education have very little resources to provide schools with potable water or other necessary infrastructure to ensure a healthy school environment. Several studies highlight the potential for inadequate hand washing and sanitation facilities in schools to contribute to the spread of gastrointestinal infections among children. Chronic diarrhea is associated with and contributes to chronic malnutrition as well. Studies show that provision of potable water and sanitation facilities can reduce deaths from diarrhea by 65% and overall childhood mortality by 55%. 

Making Change….

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

Etta Projects has teamed up with the local water cooperative and local municipalities, ensuring that the participating schools receive the necessary improvements in infrastructure in order to practice and sustain hygienic habits. 

To combat the pervasive malnutrition in all these villages, we modeled our gardens initiatives after our 2009 Betania pilot project. Schools will plant, nurture and harvest an organic school garden. The garden will support improved nutrition, income generation, business skills and agriculture skills. Vegetables from the garden will benefit the school meals and leftover produce will be sold to the community. Students will learn about organic fertilization and how to care for and respect the resources from the earth.

ETTA PROJECTS EDUCATION AND FACILITATION

The Healthy School Project takes an integral approach towards development by combining holistic, interactive education with school gardens and improved infrastructure. All teachers as well as school directors and committees receive intensive training on how to transform schools into healthy environments and how to engage children to participate in a thoughtful process intended to modify unhealthy hygienic behaviors. Teachers and education workers learn how to encourage children to analyze current habits and then to assimilate the knowledge in different ways so that the students learn to make their own healthy decisions. Students develop strategies and methods to care for their own wellbeing, the environment, and the community at large.

We will keep you updated on the new developments and milestones of this exciting effort.
For more information on the Healthy School Project or other Etta Projects' projects, please call 360.876.7487. Thank you!!!

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