Give children the gift of good health

Pupils lack adequate knowledge of health issues

The lack of knowledge about health issues contributes towards high levels of illness and children miss a lot of school, which means academic performance remains low.

A lack of sanitary protection often forces older girls to drop out of school as they do not have the privacy they require as they get older. Teenage girls miss on average five days of school per month due to menstruation as families are simply unable to afford sanitary protection for them. 

In many schools there is also a lack of opportunity for children to play sports and games, which are important for boosting school enrolment and attendance. Sports and games are also important in improving health and fitness, as well as teaching children vital life skills such as teamwork and leadership.

The solution

There are effective and practical solutions we can implement to ensure that basic health issues do not pose a threat to the children's chance of getting a quality education. In the long term, the benefits of educating children on health issues have been well-documented and include positive impacts on fertility rates, child mortality, HIV rates and lifetime earnings.

Educational materials:

Informative booklets covering health issues such as HIV and AIDS, drug abuse and pregnancy will be supplied to schools, increasing knowledge of health issues.

Sanitary protection:

Training on menstrual health will be undertaken with the older girls at schools and sanitary towels will be provided, ensuring that girls are staying in school. 

Sports facilities:

To complement the sports equipment we provide schools with, we will level playing fields and install netball and football posts. Teachers will also be trained to increase their ability to successfully implement sporting activities at the schools.

Savings and loans groups:

Joining a savings and loans group will enable households to earn interest from their savings as well as take out small, short-term loans to invest in income-generating activities. The interest earned on savings, as well as increased investments in these activities, can then be used to pay for basic health services. In addition, all groups put money into a welfare fund which gives members access to loans at 0% interest for medical emergencies. This is fundamental to ensuring that we move towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal of reducing mortality rates amongst under-fives by two thirds by 2015.

How you can help

We urgently need people to sponsor health clubs, sports facilities and savings and loans groups, giving the gifts of information and access to basic health care to children and their families.

• A £144 donation would supply a health club with the educational materials it requires.
• A £263 donation would pay for training on menstrual health and re-usable pads.
• A £360 donation would allow us to conduct sports and play training for games teachers, with emphasis of developing the use of local materials to enhance games
• A £500 donation would support a savings and loans group for one year, giving families access to safe financial services and helping them pay for the basic healthcare their children need.

If you are interested in sponsoring a particular school and community to improve the health of children, please get in touch today.

Contact gavin.salmon@build-africa.org.uk or simply fill in this form and we will get back to you.

If you would like to make a donation now, please click the Donate button.