Washing hands and brushing teeth are some of the very basic skills most of us are taught at a very young age. They become so much part of our daily routine that we never think about them. For the children in the brick kilns, this is not at all so.
They live with their parents in temporary make shift accommodation in a very dangerous, dirty and polluted environment around the kilns. There is no running water or proper sewerage. Their parents, being so burdened by the work of making and carrying bricks, have little time to make sure their children are well cleaned, let alone fed. This, of course, leaves them exposed to sometimes dire health problems.
UEMS, who are promoting good hygiene practices in the brick kilns, are very enthusiastic to use our art program as a conduit for this. Mime and clowning became the obvious tools to convey simple health messages.
Subarna Thapa gently shows this young clown how to wash hands.
In developing mime routines I realised very quickly that the children's ways of trying to keep clean are very different from the normal ways of cleaning oneself. There is no bathroom, no sink, nor a tap with running water.
Playing the clown, being ridiculous, and creating laughter are great ways to gain the children's attention. I usually start with a silly routine, making washing hands as playful as possible and then they do it with me.
This session cannot bet just about having fun. We are trying to instil an important practice that will improve their health and may even save their lives.
We carefully mime all the steps with the help of the UEMS health workers. Then out comes the real soap, a jug of water, and all the children line up to wash their hands.
It is a similar process with brushing teeth. Tooth decay is very prevalent through out the kilns community and is especially alarming in young children's their milk teeth.
I encouraged the process of brushing teeth, into a very over the top mime routine, almost a dance, which brought gales of laughter from the children. UEMs have toothbrushes and paste for the children, and in the nest session we will be handing them out and helping to instil this valuable health message.