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Mother Pattern College of Health Sciences,
Address: St Theresa Convent, PO Box 10-2472, 1000 Monrovia 10
Tel: +231 226411 Fax +231 226411
E-mail: MPCHS@compuserve.com
Contact: Sr Barbara Brillant, FMM
Organisation
The programme officer writes:
“Our Child-to-Child health education programme began in 1993. It was interrupted by the war in 1996 and resumed in 1998. Child-to-Child health education activities are being implemented through the Mother Pattern College of Health Sciences, with health and science teachers in schools at grades Kg 2-7. The funding for the activities is provided by Caritas of the Netherlands and the Catholic Relief Services. Money for the printing, reprinting and distribution of books and training materials has been provided by UNICEF. At the national level we work with the Ministry of Education. At the local level, Libtralo is translating our books into the 16 local dialects. Catholic Relief Services provide funding for the training of health/science teachers in urban and rural schools. Our partners collaborate with us in various ways: we send them reports of our activities, they keep us in contact with international groups who are carrying out similar activities to us, and they provide us with useful information. ….
“Our Child-to-Child programme is part of the health education programme in all Catholic schools and some government schools. In all, 101 schools are involved in our Child-to-Child programme. We do not have a school health plan, but work with the School Health Division of the Ministry of Education. Health is taught across the curriculum, e.g. in language and social science lessons. 20 non-Catholic schools and 3 non-government schools are also involved The children who participate in our activities live in urban, rural and slum areas. 30,000 children and 225 adults are directly involved in our activities. In addition, 2-3,000 children and adults are involved in the community. These latter people are the indirect beneficiaries of the children and adults who are directly engaged in Child-to-Child activities in their areas. The children are of both pre-school and primary school age and include both boys and girls. The participating children also include disadvantaged children and children with special needs. The adult workers are primary school health and science teachers. …”
Child-to-Child Activities
“The main purpose of our Child-to-Child activities is to make learning fun and to build a healthier nation. We are interested in gender issues, family life education and children's rights.
Child-to-Child activities are introduced through classroom teaching and health clubs. Visual aids, teachers' guides and games are also used to introduce the activities. Children are encouraged to think for themselves, for example, through forming health clubs and creating awareness of unhygienic conditions in their neighbourhoods, schools and communities. We also allocate children a role in conducting health education workshops in schools and communities. During the training process with health science teachers, we use the following methods:
1. Lectures;
2. Small group work;
3. Games;
4. Flash cards;
5. Group discussions;
6. Storytelling/role plays.
The area which we have found most difficult is the minimization of children's and adults’ previous misconceptions about health. Despite this difficulty, we nevertheless encourage the development of a number of key skills in children, including thinking, practical, attitudinal and behavioural skills.”
Health and Education Working Together
“All coordinators are health professionals whose working experience extends from 10-20 years. The Ministry of Education assigned a curriculum expert to work along with the Child-to-Child team (other members are all health-oriented). The health and education professionals work collaboratively. Education officers authorise the science teachers to be trained in the implementation of the Child-to-Child approach. The one disadvantage that we have experienced while using the Child-to-Child approach is that over the period of 10 years in which the approach has been used, teachers have not had enough in-service training for them to be able to implement the approach effectively.”
Monitoring Evaluation and Training
“Health science teachers are requested to send progress reports to Mother Pattern College of Heath Sciences on how they are practising the topics outlined in the Child-to-Child booklets. This information is used by the Child-to-Child programme in order to strengthen activities.
We provide training for health and science teachers. The Child-to-Child training team is composed of two members who are equipped with the knowledge and skills to train others in Child-to-Child. Regarding the content of training, we use the experiential learning format which encourages trainees' participation in the training process.
During training we administer a pre- and post-test. A daily evaluation is carried out at the end of each day's workshop. We visit, monitor and supervise schools and communities on a monthly basis. As a result of Child-to-Child activities, it has been reported that there has been a marked change in the behaviour of children, parents and their communities.”
Use, Adaptation, Translation and Production of Child-to-Child Materials
“We have developed our own materials including a set of Child-to-Child health education materials which is being used in Liberian schools. As indicated earlier, a local organisation, Libtralo, is translating Child-to-Child materials into the local dialects. We have also developed and printed booklets, teachers' guides, training aids such as flash cards, and posters. We have just completed another book called The Healthy Eye ”
Date: 2004
Source: Mother Pattern College of Health Sciences
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