Higene promotion ivent inZa’atari camp!

A new year, new activities!  JEN’s Za’atari camp hygiene promotion team is starting a new activity this year that focuses on children.  With close to 40% of the camp’s population of over 110,000 being children under the age of 11, there is a dire need to increase activities that target children.  As many of these children are affected by the ongoing situation in Syria, activities need to focus on not only promoting good hygiene behavior, but also providing psychological care for the children.  In other words, they need to be FUN!

On 16 January 2014, JEN’s hygiene promotion team organized an all-day kick-off event at JEN’s tent in District 4, inviting children from all over the camp to participate.  This is part of JEN’s monthly activities designed to reinforce hygiene promotion messages from the previous month.  Based on the key message of December 2013, the kick-off event this month focused on “water conservation.”

The day turned out to be windy and cold, so the team was worried about a low turnout at the event.  To attract children to the event, some hygiene promoters dressed up as clowns and danced along the streets, which received much positive attention from the camp residents.

[  HP staff dressed up as a clown attracted children to the event]

Activities at the event included sing-along to songs that relate to water, a skit about a trial of people who waste water, a quiz corner about water, and a poster contest.  All activities engaged Syrian children at the camp and even identified six rising stars of Za’atari who participated in the skit.  As actresses, they completed many hours of practice with JEN staff leading up to the event, and put together a wonderful show.

[Syrian children dance to show the importance of water]

[Children enjoyed talking about water through quizzes]

During the poster contest, children were divided into groups and were provided with drawing materials to create posters with the theme “What does water mean to you?”  JEN’s team found out that there are many artists among the children too – all posters were really well done.  Through these interactive activities, JEN works to reinforce the hygiene promotion message from within the children’s minds.

[Children showed their creativity through poster making]

And of course, you cannot end a party without gifts!  JEN believes that effective behavior change starts with people having a positive impression of the message.  All children who attended the event received toys like whistles and balloons, as well as personal hygiene items like toothbrushes, soaps and toothpaste, all leading to January 2014 key message of “personal hygiene.”

The kick-off event was also a great team building exercise for JEN, as the hygiene promotion team from host community joined camp team too.  JEN is looking forward to the next event in February 2014 – for sure, children are looking forward it too!

[ JEN’s hygiene promotion team at Za’atari Camp]

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