Lack of access to some of the basic daily needs is a significant challenge for children, often affecting their health, education and ability to prosper. Most of the children in our projects come from remote and poor areas. Humana People to People has played a vital role in coming up with programs that helps children maintain good health and hygiene practices and that they attend primary school ready to learn. All the preschools teachers have undergone training on how to teach preschool children and the trainings also include hygienic practices. Through continuous training of both parents and preschool children both parties  learn to understand the importance of washing hands before eating or after using the toilet. Preschool teachers have it as part of the lessons to train preschool children to clean their hands, face and teeth. Preschool teachers learn that oral health care for children is essential and that lack hereof can affect their overall health situation, school performance and their ability to thrive. Humana People to People supports school based programs where both children and parents are educated on issues pertaining to health and hygiene.

(Dentisit giving demonstration on how to brush teeth to the kids)

As part of promoting oral health the Project Managers for ‘Kawadgarbo Initiative’ Minority Area Early Childhood Education and Development Project invited a dentist from Kunming to give a 12 days training to the parents, preschool teachers and preschool children. Training was given in Shangri-la, Deqin and Heqin . A total of 520 parents, 534 preschool children and 29 teachers attended the training. Dr. Xia Xin gave training on how to take good care of your teeth and the importance of brushing them every day after every meal. She explained that cavities are the main problem found in children and that it is good to see the dentist early, before the problem becomes big. She also demonstrated how to use the toothbrush using the proper brushing technique. Later she handed out dental floss to the preschool children as a gift. She explained that parents should not miss out the opportunity to promote good oral habits to their children and that parents have a key role in developing a proper oral hygiene routine in the first years of their life. Parents, as consistent role models, are keys for setting a daily routine and to make their children understand the importance of oral hygiene. Tooth brushing should be presented as a habit and an integral part of the daily hygiene routine. The doctor made a routine check of the children who were part of the training. During this check more than 200 children out of the 534 were found to have tooth problems, most of them with decayed teeth.

(Dentist giving traiing to teachers)

(Kids practising how to brush teeth correctly)

This training was also good for the preschool teachers as it made them understand more about children’s health and therefore why to put effort in encouraging children to good health- and hygiene practices.

Brief introduction of the project:

The case story comes from Yunnan Kawadgarbo Initiative Preschools of the Future project. The project is implemented in the North West of Yunnan and is supported by UBS Optimus Foundation with cooperation from China Social Welfare Foundation and Right to Play (China). The project aims to establish an effective early education system in remote rural areas, so that to promote integrated development of the early child education in local.

Disclaimer:
This project is funded by UBS Optimus Foundation (www.ubs.com/optimus), the foundation has a strategic partner - China Social Welfare Foundation.
Content in this article reflects the views of the authors and not those of the funder.