IRD/Blumont’s Syria and Iraq Regional Assistance (SIRA) program Hygiene Promotion activities aim to: 1) foster hygiene culture; 2) increase target community’s awareness; and 3) improve living environment and health conditions for target community.
The program’s recent Hygiene Promotion activity covered Tal Hamis, Tal Brak, and Ein Issa areas in Al-Hasakeh and Ar-Raqqa Provinces. The team, consisting of two Hygiene Promoters in Ein Issa, organized Hygiene Promotion sessions in Ein Issa town and Markaz Aqtan IDP Camp.
IRD/Blumont Hygiene Promoter explains how to store and disinfect water.
The main topics covered during the sessions were: Hand Washing with Soap (after using the latrine; before and after food preparation; and before and after eating and feeding a child), Storing and Covering Drinking Water, Covering Food, Covering Garbage Bins, Collecting Garbage Correctly and Personal Hygiene.
Fatima, age 25, participated in the Hygiene Promotion sessions in Markaz Aqtan IDP Camp, where each session lasted one and a half hours. The impact of the training was significant enough that it changed Fatima’s attitude toward hygiene, and she started practicing what she learned in the sessions.
She said, “The area surrounding our tent was full of garbage as there is no cleanup system by Municipality or any other entities. We as camp residents had not even thought of taking this responsibility to be part of the camp cleanup, until IRD/Blumont team explained the diseases and infestations that might afflict people: Diarrhea, Hepatitis A, Scabies, Leishmania and Lice.”
Fatima cleaning up the tent surroundings.
A few days after the sessions, the camp residents including Fatima started to clean up their environment to improve their living and health conditions and prevent disease. Thanks to IRD/Blumont training sessions, some residents even launched voluntary cleaning campaigns, and disinfected drinking water using solar methods as shown in the photo below.
One of the session participants disinfecting drinking water by solar method outside the camp.
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