Students of Village-based School Learn about Water and Sanitation

Written by: Le Thu Trang
 
Responding to questions about water and sanitation related issues, and decorating a corner of their classrooms to highlight the topic were main activities of a festival held on January 15 for primary students in the northern province of Thanh Hoa.

“I’m so surprised when students are able to show their good knowledge about environmental sanitation at the festival. They are also aware of keeping their classrooms and their school clean,” said Le Thi Lien, Principal of Binh Luong Primary School in Nhu Xuan district.

The festival was among activities under World Vision-implemented Water and Sanitation project. The event aimed to improve the students’ awareness about water and sanitation and to build up their habits on keeping their personal hygiene and protecting the environment.

All students including many ethnic minorities and their teachers enjoyed the event. Passionately, the children drew drawings to express their own ideas and pasted them on a corner of their classrooms. They created colourful collage with paper trees and flowers to make the corners more vivid and eye-catching.

“Teachers and students were busy with preparing for this festival for over a week,” said Quach Thi Muon, a senior teacher. “Students grew flowers outside their classrooms. They also found pot plants and brought them to their classrooms for decoration.”

Binh Luong is one of the farthest and poorest areas in Nhu Xuan district. To reach a local village-based primary school, someone needs to manage a long and roundabout road skirting deep mountain sides. When rainy season comes, the road turns as slippery as grease. There are two ways to travel there: one is to walk and the other is to ride a high-engine motorbike of which, tires are wrapped with chains to grip the road. Due to poverty, children are unable to gain access to recreation activities while local people still keep unhygienic practices.

“I am very happy to see World Vision staff visit us,” said Diem, a girl of Thai ethnic minority group. “With their support, we don’t need to bring water when we go to school anymore. Especially, we receive a lot of gifts at the festival. I love it. I hope World Vision will organise more activities for us.”

The Water and Sanitation project aims to enhance awareness about water and sanitation of local community members, especially, primary students at mountainous areas. More than 3,000 people, including 740 children, in Nhu Xuan are expected to benefit directly from the project.