Raghad, a third-year medical student at An Najah University, has been awarded a full undergraduate scholarship through our partnership with the Madrinha Trust. Check out her annual community-based project:
Promoting Healthy Eating and Hygiene: A Medical Students’ Initiative in a Kindergarten
As part of our medical studies, my colleagues and I embarked on an outreach project aimed at educating young children about healthy eating and hygiene. Our team, consisting of medical students, visited a kindergarten in Der Sharaf village to engage with children in an interactive and fun way. The goal was to instill basic health habits that could positively impact their well-being.
The primary objectives of our visit were:
- To educate children about the importance of healthy eating.
- To teach proper hygiene practices, such as hand washing.
- To engage children through interactive activities that reinforce these concepts.
We designed our session to be both educational and entertaining, ensuring the children remained engaged throughout. Our activities included:
- Hands-on Demonstrations: We showed the children how to properly wash their hands using soap and water, explaining how germs spread.
- Games: To reinforce the lessons, we played games about hygiene and nutritious food.
- Interactive Discussions: We encouraged the children to share their thoughts on their favorite healthy foods and daily hygiene routines.
One challenge we faced was maintaining the attention of very young children. To overcome this, we incorporated interactive elements such as puppets, colorful visuals, and engaging questions. Additionally, using simple language and repetition helped reinforce key messages.
The project was met with enthusiasm from both the children and their teachers. The children actively participated and demonstrated an improved understanding of the topics by the end of our session. The teachers expressed their appreciation, noting that such initiatives contribute to fostering lifelong healthy habits at an early age.
This experience was both fulfilling and educational for us as medical students. It reinforced the importance of community involvement in health promotion and highlighted the role of early education in disease prevention. Moving forward, we hope to continue similar initiatives to promote health awareness in young communities.
Check the photos below.
