An Education in Healthier Lifestyles

Photo: Kimito Mishina/Mercy Corps

Dust and privation have inflicted great hardship on the people of Surhandarya, Uzbekistan. Bordering Afghanistan and Tajikistan, Surhandarya is a desolate and poor region. The lack of fresh water combined with temperatures of 50 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) and poverty has harmed the health of thousands of children.

Far from the capital and sparsely populated, Surhandarya has long been overlooked by the Uzbek government and the international community. The neglect is evident: Surhandarya's schools are in a severe state of disrepair. Leaky roofs, broken water and heating systems, busted windows, filthy latrines, and dilapidated buildings are common sights throughout the region. Inside the schools, many children suffer from Hepatitis A and diarrhea.

More than half of school children come from homes that earn a meager 10,000 soum per month (about $9). Parents must work long hours just to feed and clothe their children. Since the focus is solely on providing basic needs, children's health becomes a secondary concern. As such, bad hygiene is widespread, and there is little knowledge about hygiene rules in general.

To promote the health of Surhandarya's children, Mercy Corps implemented a school repairs and health project. With a grant of $17,400 from the British Department for International Development (DFID), Mercy Corps coordinated repairs and conducted health training in eight schools in Shurchi and Kumkurgan rayons. The program, based on a similar project implemented by Mercy Corps in Namangan, directly benefited more than 4,300 school children and 80 teachers. Mercy Corps selected schools based on criteria including immediate need and enthusiastic support by the school administration and community.

At School No. 68 for mentally handicapped children in Shurchi, Mercy Corps repaired windows, doors, ceilings, bathrooms, tiling, and constructed a new washroom for girls. "Mercy Corps is the first organization to ever help us," says Kilich Hamraev, Director of School No. 68.

Constructing a new latrine or repairing a water system is not enough to promote good health. To encourage long-term behavioral changes, Mercy Corps also provided health training to schoolteachers from each school. The school repairs played a key role as new latrines and cleaner water allowed children to practice good hygiene learned in the classroom. Soap and coloring books demonstrating proper hygiene such as washing hands and brushing teeth were also distributed to schoolchildren to reinforce the message.

The program has been a huge success and impressed the community. In School No. 63 in Kumkurgan the health trainings have gone a long way to promote healthy lifestyles. "The fact that an international organization came to teach children hygiene has made a strong impact on parents," explains Ural Abraykulov, the school's director. "For parents, the Mercy Corps project reinforced the importance of teaching children good hygiene."

According to the director of School No. 12, Mamatkos Abdulaev, in Kumkurgan, "The coloring books and soap provided by Mercy Corps made parents realize that children need to be taught good hygiene." Further adding that, "Our students and the community are now healthier."