Health and Wellness Club takes Chikungunya awareness to Belle West School

Sep 26, 2014 News

– Suicide and domestic violence also gets attention

Parents of students of the Belle West Primary School have agreed to join forces on Sunday to clean the school’s environment. The decision was made on Wednesday following a health talk on the Chikungunya Virus during the school’s first Parent/Teacher Association (PTA) meeting for this term.
The health talk was delivered by Nurse Joan Barry, President of the Region Three Health and Wellness Club, a Non Governmental Organisation which has as its mission to raise health awareness throughout the Region.

A section of the gathering at the Belle West Primary School on Wednesday

Moreover, those attending the meeting were exposed to extensive information on the virus which has in recent months been plaguing parts of Guyana.
Barry, in her talk with the gathering at the meeting, pointed out that while efforts have long been engaged by the Ministry of Health to reduce the prevalence of the virus, citizens can also play a role by keeping their environment clean and reducing the breeding sites of mosquitoes that transmit the virus to humans.
She explained that while the virus was formerly prevalent in parts of Asia and Africa, the Caribbean as of last year recorded what is believed to be its first cases of the virus. By May of this year, the virus, which is transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito that is prevalent in many sections of Guyana, was detected here.
The mosquito, according to Barry, is able to breed in stagnant water such as those contained in water tanks, drums and buckets and even in containers strewn around the yard. Tyres can also provide suitable breeding grounds, Barry noted.
It is for this reason she told those in attendance that they should not only seek to cover their stored water properly, but also to ensure that they remove from their environment discarded containers in which the mosquito can breed.
But according to one parent in attendance, while many residents of Belle West have been working towards keeping their yards clean, they have been discarding their waste along roadways and other sections of the community.
This practice was deemed unacceptable by Barry, who told the gathering at the PTA meeting that they must take responsibility for keeping their community and by extension, help to reduce the prevalence of the virus.
Another parent made the recommendation that parents collaborate to clean the school yard and its surroundings, thereby setting an example for their children on how to help keep their environment clean.
A decision was therefore made during the meeting to conduct the clean-up activity Sunday at 14:00 hours. Also addressing the meeting on Wednesday was Ms Juanita Cameron, Guidance and Counseling Officer attached to the Region Three Education Department.
She spoke on the issue of suicide, another health challenge, which she described as “everybody’s business.”
World Suicide Prevention Day was observed earlier this month and, according to Cameron, this challenge is one that is often brought on by stress. She made a point of informing the parents in attendance that children too can suffer from stress. She also listed abuse and other traumatic events in life such as death that can force persons along the suicidal path.
Cameron said that persons will rarely intimate, even to their loved ones, their thoughts about suicide. As such, she noted that there are warning signs that can be observed. Among these, Cameron said, are constant disclosures by persons that “I don’t even want wake up.” Another warning sign she mentioned was that of persons cutting themselves; a practice that she said is quite common among school-aged children.
The Guidance and Counseling Officer said that once a person attempts suicide, they are likely to try it again.
“The essence of suicide is that persons are seeking a permanent solution to a temporary problem,” she asserted, as she highlighted the need to teach children in particular “how to solve problems.”
She also spoke of the need for persons to access professional support to address concerns about suicide.
“Please seek help…while Pandits and Pastors are all well and good, you need to seek professional help too,” said Cameron, even as she urged the parents in attendance to as far as possible seek to have domestic violence-free homes. Domestic violence in the homes, she noted, can cause psychological abuse to children.
In addition to the health talks by Barry and Cameron, Help and Shelter’s Kevin Massiah offered a presentation on domestic violence. The issue was also amplified by Head Mistress of the School, Ms Glenda Boucher, who encouraged the gathering to “speak out” on the issue of domestic violence and not condone its prevalence.
The health talks came as part of the Health and Wellness Club’s effort to participate in the ongoing celebration of Education Month and were therefore coordinated by Senior Guidance and Counselling Officer, Ms Sharon Dyall. Dyall is also the Chairperson of the Education Committee of the Health and Wellness Club.
Recently the Club hosted similar talks at Greenidge Park Primary School, East Bank Essequibo, and Cornelia Ida Primary School, West Coast Demerara. There are plans to facilitate yet another such talk at the Two Brothers Primary School, West Bank Demerara, next week Tuesday (September 30).