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Two of the little ones at the Teddy’s Den Crèche wash their hands in a bucket of water during the Department of Social Development’s visit to the ECD centre. PHOTO: RICHARD ROBERTS
RUGBY: HYGIENE, DROUGHT AWARENESS CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED
Hygiene focus for ECDs RICHARD ROBERTS @richardjohn_rj
H
ygiene and saving water are values one should instil in children from a young age. This is the sentiment of Judy Philand, principal of the Teddy’s Den Crèche in Rugby, where the provincial Department of Social Development launched a hygiene and drought awareness campaign by handing out over 30 hygiene packs to the learners. The campaign aims to raise awareness about the need for children to maintain good hygiene practices even while saving water.
Children in crèches can be susceptible to illness and disease if good hygiene practices are not followed. Some of the most common illnesses at crèches include colds and flu, diarrhoea and rashes, Sihle Ngobese, a departmental spokesperson, says. Minister Albert Fritz handed out the hygiene packs to the little ones during the department’s visit on Wednesday morning last week. The packs, generously donated by the non-governmental organisation Al-Imdaad, consisted of a toilet roll, toothpaste, toothbrush, Vaseline, lotion, a bar of soap and facecloth. Philand told TygerBurger in an interview
that the centre welcomes the support of the department and that they have always had a good relationship with the minister. She says the crèche teaches children continuously about good hygiene and how to save water. According to her, this is something they encourage the children to implement at school, as well as at home. “It took us nearly seven days to get them to save water and for us that was quite a milestone,” Philand says. She says the challenge for them was to change the children’s behaviour. The centre, which cares for 25 learners, recently installed a mini greywater system in
its water-saving efforts. Other measures that have been implemented include cutting water usage by having children wash their hands in a basin with disinfectant and reducing the amount of toilet flushing. “We commend them for their efforts to help save water,” Ngobese says. The visit to the Teddy’s Den Crèche was the first of many such campaign visits by the department to Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres. “One of the issues we are really concerned about is the drought and the impact it has on the safety and health of our children. V To page 2.