NONE OF THE ZOOMKIDS AFFECTED WITH CHOLERA



Some of the Zoomkids



None of the over forty thousand (40,000) zoom kids was affected with cholera during the recent outbreaks. This was due to the intensification of hygiene promotion activities put up by Zoomlion.

The National Environmental Sanitation Coordinator, Zoomlion Ghana Limited Robert Kwaku Adjei disclosed this at the lunch of the zoom kid’s programme in Cape Coast.

The programme, which was introduced by the zoomlion Ghana, limited in basic schools across the country to raise the awareness of environmental sanitation and hygiene in schools and communities, is also based on the belief that children are far more receptive to new ideas because they can be influenced to cultivate the habits of good sanitary practices and behaviour.

Mr. Kwaku Adjei stressed those children as future role models can be a powerful advocate and agents of change and will grow to become parents. He said, focusing attention on school children has several advantages, such has bringing about knowledge transfer as what they learn now as zoom kids is likely to be passed on to their peers, their households, their community members, and to their own children and grand children in the future.



Robert Kwaku Adjei



According to Mr Robert Kwaku Adjei, schools have to play an important role in  health and hygiene habits. That's why Zoomkids Clubs offer opportunities to talk about sanitary and hygienic practices and their link with disease prevention, "in order that future generations will be better prepared to take care of their families and communities’ health by living in a cleaner environment", as he said. In effect, Mr Kawku Adjei stressed his belief that children are far more receptive to new ideas. "Personal hygiene practices are usually acquired during childhood and that is much easier to change the habits of children than those of adults", he said, "our motto is therefore "catching them young".

As Mr Kwaku Adjei has understood it, if environment awareness is taken for granted in western countries, this is precisely because children have been taught about health and sanitary prevention since their infancy. They have seen their parents threw waste away in street dustbins instead of throw it away on the ground, and they have been told to wash their hands several times in the day, usually before meals, in order to avoid diseases. Thanks to all these habits granted during childhood, since they are adults, cleanliness has become a need, even a necessity whether at home or in every outside area. Conversely, Ghanaian people use to live among waste close to their house and in the streets, and therefore do not seem to be disturbed by visual pollution and stink.

Some zoom kids

However, so that Ghana changes its behaviour about environment and health prevention, the country needs to improve life conditions and to plan a real environmental policy. In spite of Zoomkids Club efforts, poor life conditions, contaminated tap water and the fact that public dustbins are barely existed still persist the lack of sanitary prevention in Ghana and as result fast diseases transmission.

First, the government should improve the refuse collection within Ghana, and encouraged financially awareness campaigns and club like Zoomkids, which take part to sensitize Ghanaians to environmental education and habits.