By Abayomi Elias
L-R: Sanitarian Akindunbi Comfort, Chief Learning Officer Mrs Oluwagbami Olayinka, Sanitarian Olofite Ojo Temitope.
Since there is a nexus between the health of a child and education, Great Marvable Schools in collaboration with Oreyo Life Medicare Center, Community development associations and APOGEE organized a community health awareness day in promoting health.
Newsconnect reports that the event dubbed ‘health is wealth’ organised by the aforementioned school didn’t focus on academics but rather health workers, sanitation workers were invited to sensitize participants who are either students, parents and community members.
The Chief Learning Officer of Great Marvable Schools Mrs Oluwagbami Olayinka in an interview with Newsconnect at the event talked about the significance of the event and the message she expected participants to take home.
In her own words, she said;
“We realize that there is serious relationship between the health of a learner and his education. It is only a healthy child that can learn. It is only healthy child that can come to school. When a child is sick, he can’t come to school. Even if he comes to school, he can’t learn.
“The teacher would have extra work to do on that child having to bring that child to meet up with other students. Parents will pay so much for hospital bills, at that time, we will be compassionate. We won’t have the audacity to ask for school fees, all we want would be for the child to recuperate before thinking of our money.
“Apart from that, there is psychological effect on the family members. The father may not be able to go to work depending on the severity of the sickness. The mother may also have to stay back from work.
“So many things put on hold because of the health of a child. We now look at it that we should not just be concerned with the academics, their health also should be of great importance to us.
“Since the beginning of the term, we’ve been talking about health issues, how our learners can adopt healthy practices, and we have also upgraded our health practice in the school.
“We have challenge of indiscriminate waste disposal. As we train our students to promote good hygiene, the community they reside can’t be left out, we decided to take this advocacy to the community.
“Since we are not health officers, we are just educators, so we decided to partner with an hospital . They help with free health check-ups and consultations to the community members, parents and the learners.
“After now, we believed their mind set must have changed and we expect a cleaner community. When we have a cleaner community definitely it will be a healthier community”. She concluded.
A consultant and mental health specialist who interact with parents and children on voluntary basis Dr Daniel Kolawole talked to participants on mental health and 21st century teaching and methodology.
In an interview with this medium at the event, he said;
“Our mission at APOGEE is to have, good students, good teachers and qualitative education. We spoke to them on things they can avoid that causes mental illness. Anger is a product of mental illness. Depression, shouting, Loneliness promote bad health.
“We address teachers and parents to address students through creativity. Not shouting at them. These are things that promote bad health among the teachers.
“We told teachers not to shout at children. It translates to loneliness. A lot of these children decide on their own in classes, homes. Many of them resorted to suicide, pre-marital sex because they seek a refuge or a confidant in a place where they won’t get the right results.
“Some of them get pregnant, maybe abortion, premarital sex and their education is truncated along the way. So as part of the things to promote health care today, we address parents and teachers on the need to avoid mental illness. When there is mental illness, then we need provision of mental wellness”. He said.
Sanitarian officers from Lagos waste Management Authority LAWMA in Igbogbo-Baiyeku LCDA and a nutritionist at the event sensitized participants on good hygiene, the standard practice of washing and responsible ways of managing wastes.
One of the participants Alhaja Bolanle Balogun, from Adebayo Adewunmi street in Oreyo in an interview after the sensitisation exercise said so many important information were in what they learnt today.
She said
“May God continues to strengthen us in this environment with regards to dirts. God will let our people to heed to advise. We have so many dirty people around us, they will leave their compound and dispose their wastes in other people’s compound.
“God will change them because today’s sensitisation is for our own good. God will continue to strengthen Great Marvable Schools and the community at large”. She said.
The Chariman Odumewa Apalura CDA in Oreyo in an interview at the event said;
“We need a very cleaner environment in order to stay healthy. I have charged the sanitary officers of local government that they need to be coming to this place on a regular basis. When Madam Marvable came to our lcda to inform me, i immediately showed interest.
“I am happy bout this intervention. We need this sensitisation and awareness at least twice in a year. This is a very good initiative, i am happy to be here.
“I appeal to our people to spare some money to check for their body systems. Some people will just be going and suddenly collapse on the road, this is because we are not doing enough medical checkup. I thanked them very much for this program”.
Bamisaiye Abiodun, a nurse from Life Spring Hospital Oreyo and Lagos state hospital said it is very important for us to be proactive with our health.
In his words, he said
“Being proactive means seeing dangers ahead and taking precautions to avoid or avert the dangers so it doesnt happen. Prevention is cheaper than cure.
“No your status,go for screening, know your status about HIV and others. We call it no your number. So that wherever you go, wherever you be, you can live an independent life”. He said.