Yemisi Dada
In preparedness for this year’s rainy season which is usually associated with flooding and cholera, WaterAid Nigeria has conducted a five-day Hygiene Behavior Change training for the Lagos State Emergency operations center for cholera control.
The training organized by WaterAid Nigeria, in collaboration with PepsiCo foundation, Kimberly Clark, Microsoft, Cummins, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Armani, was held from Monday March 10th to 14th at Shoregate Hotel, GRA, Ikeja, and had over thirty five participants from the Lagos State Primary Health Care Board, Health Districts one to six, Health education officers at local government level and Ministry of Environment and Water Resources.
The Project Manager, Mr Dare Oduluyi, described training as a training for trainers with objectives to familiarise facilitators with WaterAid’s Hygiene Behaviour Change approach and priorities, train facilitators on the context specific and behaviour centre designed HBC intervention package, as well as walk participants through the process designing the HBC intervention package in Lagos.
Mr Oduluyi stated that with increased facilitators’ skills to effectively manage HBC events and follow up visits, the expected outcome is to ensure improved hygiene behaviour practices by the target population as a result of quality facilitation of HBC sessions in community and schools.
Mr Oduluyi told the participants who will become trainers at the different locations with foot soldiers to put in place personal readiness as a facilitator with willingness to serve, learn, participate and work without complaints, serve as good examples and motivation to the group they are working with.
“Dressing should suit the audience/participants and do not let your personal problems interfere with the task at hand, with a call on them to observe participants’ noting that if participants are tired or bored, energiser should be introduced.”
He appealed to the Lagos State government to provide the needed logistics for the trainers when going on the field to propagate the HBC campaigns to get across to more people at the grassroots.
One of the facilitators, Mrs Olajide Uzoaru, who is the Health Education Officer for Ojodu LCDA, emphasized the five key hygiene behaviours which include regular hand washing with soap and clean water, using clean and inclusive toilet facilities, good food hygiene, drinking of clean and safe water as well as menstrual hygiene management, which of well adhered to would prevent spread of diseases and germs in the society, especially cholera.
Another facilitator from WaterAid Nigeria, Mrs Bassey Aniema, reinforced the five key hygiene behaviors to the participants using different games like Suwe, hot potato card, story telling, wheel of Hygiene, face cards, among others with display of HBC jingles in different languages with a slogan “Clean family, Happy family.”
Highpoints of the training was field work as participants were divided into three groups and taken to different communities, Abule Oja in Yaba, Abule Ijesha in Surulere and Ipodo in Ojodu, where they engaged in practical from all the theoretical teaching on the field, reinforcing the five key hygiene behaviors using games, opening ritual, community commitment through pledge to uphold and cascade the knowledge gained to others.
The visibly elated participants who commended WaterAid Nigeria for the training, called for support of HBC campaigns materials from WaterAid to use going forward at their different locations with Action plan drawn at the training center for documentation and monitoring for implementation.