Amatola Water, along with the department of water and sanitation and Buffalo City Municipality, launched an awareness campaign yesterday at Pefferville Primary School to promote good sanitation, health and hygiene habits.
Pefferville Primary principal Mason MacKay said the three-year-old partnership with Amatola Water had been well received by pupils.
“Many of the community members have a challenge when it comes to sanitation issues and when our children come to school they might not be potty trained or trained on how to utilise a toilet properly, which becomes a huge task for the teachers.
“About 70% of these children come from shacks and there might not be the best toilet facilities so this initiative is very important for us to help the children practice healthy hygiene habits.
“Because of the situation in our community where people often just litter all over the place, it is important to introduce to the children that a simple thing like washing your hands is important and can avoid serious illnesses,” MacKay said.
He added that they worked hand-in-hand with Amatola to ensure the best hygiene habits are followed to allow the pupils a fair and decent education.
Amatola Water operations director Asanda Gidana, who handed over bulk bags of toilet paper, liquid hand-wash and other cleaning materials, said the three entities who undertook the initiative were happy to ensure good sanitation was being practised at the school.
“We are here to take care of you so that you do not fall ill due to hygiene-related issues.
“Amatola Water made a commitment to the school last year to ensure the pupils at Pefferville are being taken care of.”
Gidana said Amatola Water aimed to roll the initiative out to all schools in the area.
The department of water and sanitation’s provincial sanitation manager, Luxolo Mditshane, said the state was committed to bringing about dignity. “Our objective is to encourage municipalities and learners to prioritise health and hygiene and to highlight that the government is committed to bring about dignity through promoting adequate sanitation programmes.”
Representatives of BCM’s department of health demonstrated a hand-washing exercise to ensure pupils were practising good sanitation.
Phumza Batyi from the department stressed the importance of saving water, saying: “Water is life. We can’t live without it and we need to take care of it.”
She demonstrated with a bucket, a bar of soap and a two-litre bottle of water how to correctly wash hands. — oreillya@timesmedia.co.za
Vital sanitation tips for pupils
Pefferville Primary principal Mason MacKay said the three-year-old partnership with Amatola Water had been well received by pupils.
“Many of the community members have a challenge when it comes to sanitation issues and when our children come to school they might not be potty trained or trained on how to utilise a toilet properly, which becomes a huge task for the teachers.
“About 70% of these children come from shacks and there might not be the best toilet facilities so this initiative is very important for us to help the children practice healthy hygiene habits.
“Because of the situation in our community where people often just litter all over the place, it is important to introduce to the children that a simple thing like washing your hands is important and can avoid serious illnesses,” MacKay said.
He added that they worked hand-in-hand with Amatola to ensure the best hygiene habits are followed to allow the pupils a fair and decent education.
Amatola Water operations director Asanda Gidana, who handed over bulk bags of toilet paper, liquid hand-wash and other cleaning materials, said the three entities who undertook the initiative were happy to ensure good sanitation was being practised at the school.
“We are here to take care of you so that you do not fall ill due to hygiene-related issues.
“Amatola Water made a commitment to the school last year to ensure the pupils at Pefferville are being taken care of.”
Gidana said Amatola Water aimed to roll the initiative out to all schools in the area.
The department of water and sanitation’s provincial sanitation manager, Luxolo Mditshane, said the state was committed to bringing about dignity. “Our objective is to encourage municipalities and learners to prioritise health and hygiene and to highlight that the government is committed to bring about dignity through promoting adequate sanitation programmes.”
Representatives of BCM’s department of health demonstrated a hand-washing exercise to ensure pupils were practising good sanitation.
Phumza Batyi from the department stressed the importance of saving water, saying: “Water is life. We can’t live without it and we need to take care of it.”
She demonstrated with a bucket, a bar of soap and a two-litre bottle of water how to correctly wash hands. — oreillya@timesmedia.co.za
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