Education Program held in schools across Borba
Throughout the month of November, the Trocano Project participated in the Dengue Awareness Campaign in Borba.
The campaign was led by the Endemic Diseases team of the Department of Health and Education in Borba City Hall. The focus was as a children’s awareness program to combat the dengue mosquito in kindergartens and schools in the municipality of Borba.
Borba is a High Risk Area for Dengue Fever
One of the main factors favourable to mosquito proliferation is hot and humid environments. Because of this, the transmission rate of the dengue disease is high in the Amazon region.
With that in mind, the City Hall Endemics team, students, teachers, and employees understood that everyone should take care of themselves and each other, and collective awareness and prevention actions should be shared on a wide scale, to ensure effective safety measure are taken.
Environmental and Health implications
One of the major problems with dengue is that the aedes aegypti mosquito (Yellow Fever Mosquito) reproduces easily in any container with stored water. This mosquito is responsible for spreading dengue fever. Thus, any garbage that is not disposed of properly, or any water left standing and stagnant serves as a breeding ground for this mosquito.
Dengue Awareness Campaign
The concept behind the educational program was to raise awareness in the proper management of urban solid waste. The idea is to make the correct destination of the garbage. This will include separating each type of material and send the rejects to the sanitary landfill.
With the correct disposal of waste and other safeguarding practices, waste will be recycled. This will be protecting the environment, as well as improving the income of the garbage collectors. Adopting simple measures that help protect the environment also interrupts the cycle of transmission and contamination of dengue.
Training students to be communicators
The program impacted 16 schools and more than 1,000 students attended throughout the campaign. The goal was to train the student as communicators on the subject. The education sessions in their schools provided them with the program information. This then enables them to share the information with their parents and family members, disseminating the importance of preventive care against aedes aegypti.
Raising awareness in this way, will result in a lower rate of breeding sites. It will also reduce cases of diseases caused by the mosquito. Renan Augusto, Worker’s Health Coordinator for the Municipality of Borba said:
“This year with the brigades program, we work intending to multiply our brigade members and volunteers as our students who help eliminate possible creators. Next year we want to work with recyclable material, working educationally and playfully with our children and teenagers.
The Project is extremely important for socio-environmental growth, students as the main volunteers learn while having fun. This project goes beyond the school walls, and into the Borba community, leading students to understand the importance of water and the correct disposal of garbage, and preserving and respecting the environment, in the fight against the Aedes Aegypti.”
Community Involvement and Collective Action
The collective actions of all the people in Borba can make a real and impactful difference. This was a practice that was in the background during 2020 and 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
During this time, the collective partnership of the whole of the population of the Municipality recognised the importance of rescuing each other with care. Now this will be replicated in the fight against dengue. As a joint effort, teachers, students and employees together can intensify actions to combat mosquito outbreaks and identify possible breeding sites for the insect.
A collective project to combat dengue has a unique importance in building the social strength and interaction of the school community.
Dengue Awareness Campaign Education is crucial
The main aspects of the education were to identify the most effective actions that can be taken by everyone involved. This was entitled as “Do Your Part”.
Some simple attitudes help in the fight against the dengue mosquito and in the preservation of the environment. The main Dengue Awareness Campaign actions were:
- Cover the water tanks
- Avoid accumulation of water in walkways, containers etc
- Use sand in potted plants
- Leave bottles and other containers upside down
- Leave the screen taut
- Remove water from tyres
- Dispose garbage and waste correctly
- Keep the trash closed
Support for this campaign and awareness project will be one of the long-term objectives for the Trocano Araretama Project throughout 2023 to help ensure the campaigns success.
