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Name of organisation: Sukaar Foundation
Address: Sukaaar Foundation Head Office, Near High School Cricket Ground, Mithi City, Tharparkar, Sindh, Pakistan
Tel: 92-2322-61913
E-mail: info@sukaarfoundation.org
Website: www.sukaarfoundation.org
Contact name: Mr. Ashok Suthar
About the programme
Sukaar Foundation (SF) started Child-to-Child activities in 2007. This took the form of 3 pilot Health Action Schools established by AKU-IED in Tharparkar. Currently, SF has replicated the work in 23 government primary schools. In addition, SF has mainstreamed the Child-to-Child approach in its regular programming. SF community mobilization efforts are taken under its theme of Interactive Communications; which takes Child-to-Child as a key element in its mobilization processes. The approach is practiced in the entire programme area of SF in district Tharparkar.
Child-to-Child activities
The main purpose of activities is promoting health/hygiene education with children and communities in schools, village streets, public places and households. In addition, SF also uses the approach in attaining its overall programme objective that is: “Improving the public health of the communities in Thar Desert of Pakistan by their increased access to potable water supplies, appropriate sanitation facilities, improved hygienic practices and better livelihoods”.
Encouraging child participation
The activities are introduced through schools and children’s groups. The methods used include games, study circles, story telling, surveys, theatres, video movie shows, art exhibitions etc. In schools teachers use the four steps approach of Child-to-Child as they have been trained by the AKU-IED health education team.
Involvement of schools and communities
The programme started in 3 Health Action Schools and currently it is scaled up to 23 schools. The programme has a good response in communities and is gradually being scaled up.
Child-to-Child activities are part of:
Teaching and learning in: Language, science, maths, social study, and health education itself.
Co-curricular activities, including: School game programmes, campaigns, rallies, art exhibitions, study circles, speeches & singing programmes and other programmes celebrated by schools.
Assemblies in schools.
The links between school and community include the fact that Friday is declared health education day in schools and on this day children go into villages and to public places of villages in groups. The aim is to mobilize communities on the importance of health education, particularly nail cutting and hand washing campaigns etc.
Most of the community activities done out of school are organised jointly by children and their parents.
Parents and community members are involved in the school programme and particularly at step three of Child-to-Child approach “discussing and planning to take action”. Children involve parents in discussion about issues for solution and take these ideas on board in their future actions.
Evaluation
SF has one staff member with specific responsibility for facilitating and monitoring Child-to-Child activities and the health-education programme. Indeed, SF believes in involving children and their parents in all monitoring related activities.
SF monitoring reports witness significant changes in hygiene practices of children and their parents particularly that nail-cutting and hand-washing practices are adopted. The diarrhoeal cases are reported to have been significantly reduced in the programme area.
Delivery of Child-to-Child
The teachers, children, SF staff and community activists have been trained in the Child-to-Child approach. The AKU-IED health-education team delivers the training. In addition, the SF health-education team gathers the Child-to-Child material through the internet and other sources to share it with teachers, children and communities for their refreshers. Training content areas or themes cover children’s participation, active methods, life skills etc.
Child-to-Child Materials
We use the Child-to-Child Trust regular newsletter, the health-education related booklet designed by Save the Children UK and other materials downloaded from the Child-to-Child Trust website and other sources.
SF publishes briefs about Child-to-Child related activities in our regular newsletter.
AKU-IED team has conducted a thorough review recently. But we have not got the report yet. We will share it later.
Date: May 2009
Source: Mr. Ashok Suthar
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