Every 4 months the All Ears team comes to the M’lop Tapang clinic to run ear checks and address any problems children in the area might be having with hearing or infection. We went yesterday and had a few follow up cases from the last visit, along with a number of new cases. The team are always wonderful with the children making them feel very comfortable and teaching them about proper ear care. Its is a great help to have their support!
Today M’lop Tapang came to our center to teach our students about child abuse. They were brilliant at breaking down the topic, getting the students to realise the many ways abuse can occur (both physical and mental) and the people and institutions that allow it to happen. They also spent time discussing how, when out selling bracelets, can collecting or begging, children put themselves into vulnerable positions which they must be aware of. The lesson was summed up by reminding the students of signs of abuse to look out for in themselves or their friends and who they can tell about these things to get help.
Our progress with the Eco-Soap Bank continues and we are now able to supply bars of soaps to many organisations throughout Sihanoukville. These bars are then given out (and kept in for use in centers etc) to the local communities. The most important step at this point is to make sure that the importance of hand washing is understood in regards to preventing illness. Therefor while handing out the bars, hygiene lessons are given on the proper ways to wash hands and the effect this has.
We ran a session at the center recently where we ran different activities with our students. Firstly brainstorming together everything they knew about bacteria and germs and filling in any gaps. We then did an experiment using glitter to represent the germs and getting children to shake hands and touch objects around the rooms to see how far the glitter (or germs) could spread from their original source. After this we did some hand washing training and made posters about how and why it is important to use soap.
The students seemed to understand its importance and all got soap to take home. It is the hope of the project that as it grows across Cambodia it could have a real impact into combating the number of illnesses and deaths in the country from caused by preventable diseases.
Last week we were joined at our center by Orin, a short film maker. He asked if he could make a little video about our school and Cambodia. He got some lovely shots of the kids so its well worth a look!
Yesterday we were joined at the center by M’lop Tapang’s outreach team to do a drug awareness session with the children. Sadly here substance abuse can be a real problem, especially in children from poorer families. This often starts from the misuse of glue (which when inhaled can lead to feelings of numbness from loneliness, hunger and cold) and can progress into full blown addictions.
We went through reasons people might start trying drugs and what problems this may then lead to in life. We also went through other options for people finding themselves in situations where they might feel the need to try drugs, as well as what to do if they suspected a friend or family member may be using.
It was very valuable for the children to listen to and they seamed to take a lot from it. Thank you M’lop Tapang!
