Children and Healthy Communities, Sustainable Future - Goal 3
Description
Developed in a partnership between INMED Brasil, ENGIE Foundation and ENGIE Brasil, the program improved the quality of life of children and their communities through participatory education on preventive health, nutrition and hygiene. It treats children with intestinal parasitic infection and anemia, providing biomedical diagnostics, treatment and training to their teachers and families. 63% of the local population live in rural areas and face social vulnerability. Only 20% have access to tap water and 14% don’t have bathrooms at home. The program takes place during a year but its trainings become a legacy for the region where the activities occur.
The main objectives of the program are: 1. Improve the health and quality of life of poor and vulnerable communities, teaching them how to use the whole food (stems, roots, etc.) for their nutrition and to make better choices, spending less money. 2. Fight diseases caused by contaminated water through knowledge, helping people get access to potable water using cheap methods and protect themselves through hygiene habits. 3. Disseminate Promote environmental education to communities, teaching them the value of rivers and lands and helping them to become more conscious about their environment. 4. Promote the adoption of healthy nutritional habits among children and communities, showing the importance of a proper diet and the value of what is produced at home and in the community, creating an economically sustainable strategy for a nutritional deficient diet. 5. Establish partnerships with local government, schools, NGOs and private sector to act on a common goal. The interlinkages among the SDGs and targets are: SDG 2: The project contributes to this SDG by its workshops about nutrition, iron supplementation and educational programs. Results are measured by the improvement in the levels of anemia in the children, the reduction of obesity and malnutrition. SDG 3: SODIS (Solar Disinfection of Water) technique, workshops about hygiene and exams to detect diseases caused by contaminated water. Results can be measured by the number of people who started to drink just potable water after the project and the reductions of diseases caused by parasites. SDG 4: Due to the project, the schools in the region have developed their annual programs taking into account themes related to environmental education. As a result, the workshops could be done and the projects could be developed by the students and their families (for example the creation of gardens). SDG 6: Workshops of the SODIS method of water disinfection using solar energy. SDG 17: Partnership between ENGIE (private sector), INMED (NGO with large experience in social projects) and public sector through government institutions. Some difficulties were faced in the project implementation. Firstly, the project was developed in a remote area of Brazil with low human development index and most of the inhabitants depend on rural subsistence activities or government assistance programs. In addition, working with the government in Brazil is always complicated because of the lack of financial and human resources and the weakness or lack of institutions. However, the project has successfully mobilized people about the importance of the planned activities for citizens’ health, especially for children, who could improve their nutrition by learning how to choose their food properly and passing this knowledge for their families.
The main program components are: 1. Research and Evaluation – initial and comparative biomedical exams (height/weight measurement, hemoglobin and feces exams) in children; knowledge tests (initial and comparative); 2. Anthelmintic treatment and iron supplementation; 3. Training for teachers, school canteen workers, community health agents and community members, activities, workshops, actions within the schools and the community like sanitation (sewer, water, trash, etc.). During the two years of interventions, the program has provided useful knowledge for children become agents of positive changes within their families and communities. The project becomes a platform for community mobilization because it approaches a wide variety of health, nutrition and education issues. The health improvement of the children and community members was reached through interventions such as: biomedical diagnosis, treatment with iron supplement and trainings about the importance of healthy eating and good hygiene practices. Effective actions were developed to encourage children and teenagers to embrace good eating habits, showing the importance of eating correctly and the value of what can be produced in their own home and community, in order to create an economically sustainable strategy to avoid a poor diet. Awareness programs at schools are a powerful vector to spread of healthy habits among the population. As part of the program activities, all the students received dental oral health kits (toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss and liquid soap). According to the local program staff, the students in the region did not have basic sanitation material, especially at schools. Since this theme is being developed throughout the year in all the schools, the program included this activity. The coordinator from the school called Eliseu Barbosa said: “We have children that had no access to these type of information before the program and once they learned about these things, it was important to receive the material”. In partnership with the Health Department (dentists and nurses) from the health posts near the schools, they were present during the distribution, to teach children about personal hygiene.
Considering that 32% of the population live with less than 18 dollars per month, what is considered extremely poor, it is easy to understand the high indices of parasitosis and nutritional problems that were encountered on the children exams. One out of every four habitants between 15 and 24 years do not study or work, what proves the high unemployment rates and low education of young adults. On this context, the program accomplished its objective to improve the health of children with iron supplementation; improve access to potable water (with SODIS training), better nutrition trough trainings of teachers, relatives and lunch workers. Participatory education aimed to encourage adequate hygiene, health prevention and good nutrition among students, families and community members. In the long term, the program intended to improve the quality of life of the population through changes in health and nutritional status that breaks the vicious cycle of physical and cognitive compromise of the children, so that they can fulfill their role as agents of positive change in their communities. Between some results, it is possible to emphasize that 1. 38,46% of children have presented improvements in the nutritional diagnosis, changing their BMI (Body Mass Index) ; 2. Almost 1000 students were blood tested to discovered their health state, many for the first time as their families couldn’t afford to take them to doctors and the public facilities weren’t available. These numbers show that the project has changed positively the life of more than 5000 children and 10000 adults in the city of Trairi, who were not adequated assisted by the public government. Now, this community has a chance to improve their quality of life themselves, working together to have a more sustainable and healthy life. There are some testimonials of the closing ceremony of the program. Shool professionals were all very happy with the outcomes: “Children charged the day of the medicine. They avoided attending classes on the day they received the supplement. This was very rewarding for us.” Said Zenaide, a school coordinator. <br />
“The sulfate helped a lot in the reduction of anemia. The students performance got much better after the applications.” Eliza, a school teacher
Program launch http://www.inmed.org.br/noticia.asp?codigo=548 http://www.inmed.org.br/noticias/noticia.asp?codigo=530 Workshop for parents
http://www.inmed.org.br/noticias/noticia.asp?codigo=547 Teacher training http://inmed.org.br/noticia.asp?codigo=551 Testimonial http://www.inmed.org.br/noticias/noticia.asp?codigo=554 Parents workshop http://www.inmed.org.br/noticias/noticia.asp?codigo=553 Training for Health Agents
http://www.inmed.org.br/noticia.asp?codigo=565 Events for the community
http://www.inmed.org.br/noticia.asp?codigo=564 Treatment with Iron Supplement
Links to all posted news (2017): https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/photos/a.295495123821843.66314.292… Educational Activity https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/videos/1462832007088143/ Health related news https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/videos/1462810777090266/ About the program https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/videos/1441459709225373/ - Teacher training https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/photos/a.295495123821843.66314.292… Educational Activities http://www.inmed.org.br/noticias/noticia.asp?codigo=573
Health related news https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/photos/a.295495123821843.66314.292… Educational Activity https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/videos/1516979708340039/ Program Highlight
https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/photos/a.295495123821843.66314.292… Educational Activity https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/photos/a.295495123821843.66314.292… Program Hightlight https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/photos/a.295495123821843.66314.292… Training for Community Health Agents
https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/photos/a.295495123821843.66314.292… Educational Activity https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/videos/1504326419605368/
Health related news https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/videos/1544257855612224/
Educational Activity https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/videos/1550510798320263/
Educational Activity https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/photos/a.295495123821843.66314.292…
Training with Cafeteria workers https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/videos/1560595500645126/
Educational Activity https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/videos/1560598223978187/
Educational Activity https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/photos/a.295495123821843.66314.292… Educational Activity
https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/videos/1569018593136150/
Educational Activity https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/photos/a.295495123821843.66314.292… Educational Activity
https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/photos/a.295495123821843.66314.292… Community Health Agents
https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/photos/a.295495123821843.66314.292… Educational Activity
https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/videos/1573691002668909/ Educational Activity https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/videos/1573686442669365/ Educational Activity https://www.facebook.com/inmedbrasil/videos/1575405699164106/
SDGS & Targets
Deliverables & Timeline
Resources mobilized
Partnership Progress
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Feedback
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Timeline
Entity
Region
- Latin America and the Caribbean
Geographical coverage
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Contact Information
Maria Cristina Ribeiro, Social Responsibility and Sustainability Manager