Colgate Grant

I got a Colgate grant!  I decided to start a hygiene program in Polcho, which is the poorest aldea of Antigua, and will be teaching the schoolchildren how to brush their teeth and how to keep themselves clean.  I think a couple of the children might come from families that can afford to buy toothbrushes, but I’ll be getting a toothbrush for each child as well as toothpaste so they can brush their teeth each day after they eat at school.  I’ll be walking once a week to the school to teach them how to brush their teeth correctly and will talk about other hygiene topics as well.

I’m really excited to be working in this community.  The school is the only cinder-block building in the community and the rest of the houses are all made of mud and have either partially tiled roofs or just a sheet of tin to block out the rain.  There is just one teacher for 18 kids from kindergarten to fifth grade and only a couple of the kids will be able to afford to continue with school after they graduation from sixth grade.  Talking about hygiene might be a little difficult, but I’ll be going to the school over a period of six months and will hopefully be able to see a little improvement after that amount of time. I’m taking off for Tegucigalpa next week for our yearly checkups and will be picking up the materials there.  I’m really looking forward to starting this projects and will post more once I start!