This year was the third year for our hygiene management project in Cambodia, and again this year we implemented programs in various locations in Cambodia as a collaborative project with our local partner, Sunadai Khmer. This year, at the request of the members of Sunadik Mail, we visited several remote villages in the mountainous areas of northern Cambodia, which revealed a different situation and reality from the rural villages we visited last year, and forced us to consider issues prior to hygiene education. Including these experiences, this year's activities were relatively steady, but we were able to steadily expand the scope of our activities and develop a fuller range of activities.
<Program Implementation>
The hygiene program, which is implemented every year, distributes two types of original posters to encourage basic hand washing and tooth brushing, and provides easy-to-understand illustrations of the minimum first aid measures to be taken in areas with limited access to medical facilities.
In addition to this, we taught the children how to brush their teeth and also made a simple slide show called "Let's learn about teeth" for parents to watch together with their children. In addition to this, we also made a simple slide presentation called "Let's learn about teeth" for parents as well as children to watch.
In the northern mountainous areas of Priavihia, Ratanakkiri, and Mondulkiri, people are living in poverty, and food, clothing, shelter, and hygiene are of secondary importance. We collected and brought as much food as possible, including picture books, toothbrushes, stationery, noodles, water, seasonings, and old clothes. The on-site hygiene class was held in an open-air classroom, using posters and picture-story shows, under the watchful eyes of the teachers and curious villagers. I am not sure to what extent we were able to convey the importance of hygiene and tooth brushing, but we were encouraged by the happy smiles of the children and had a friendly exchange with the teachers and villagers, who were very appreciative of our efforts.
<Battambang Province HOC Orphanage Evaluation Visit>
We delivered new toothbrushes and stationery to the orphanage that we visited two years ago, as part of our previous evaluation visit. The orphanage is managed and staffed by Japanese people, so it was easy for us to convey our intentions to the children and learn about their condition. The children seemed to have managed to continue washing their hands and brushing their teeth, but some children only did so after being encouraged by the staff, while others brushed their teeth together when they bathed, rather than after eating.
<Program Implementation Results and Future Development>
Thanks to the full cooperation of our local partner, Sunadik Mail, we were able to expand the program to even more locations this year. On the other hand, it became clear that the living conditions in the remote villages in the northern mountainous areas were so poor that they could not afford sanitation education, and as mentioned earlier, we had to consider issues before sanitation education. However, no matter how impoverished the situation may be and how important it may be to obtain food first, sanitation to protect people's health is still important and must be continued, even if it is difficult. As we set a goal for this year, we have renewed our determination to continue to work steadily and repeatedly to raise parents' awareness of hygiene. With the cooperation of various people, we will continue to aim to raise awareness of hygiene and health management.
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