Dawasamu

Hub
June 2014
Objective: Education Enrichment / WASH

BRIGHT SMILES BRIGHT FUTURES

GVI joins hands with Colgate-Palmolive to facilitate oral hygiene lessons as part of
GVI WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene) initiatives.

Objectives

- Educate students on the importance of oral hygiene
- Inform students on the importance of caring for tooth brushes
- Insure students are aware of how many times a day and why brushing our teeth is important
- Successfully introduce the initiative as stage one of the GVI WASH initiative
- Supply each pupil with a Colgate provided dental pack that includes a tooth brush, tooth paste and
hygiene information so they can practice dental hygiene at home

Summary

A general lack of awareness with regards to the importance of
oral hygiene was identified as an issue at Navunisea Primary
School. During week four of the second term of 2014, GVI ar-
ranged education sessions in response to this concern as part
of a new GVI WASH initiative. GVI was extremely fortunate to
have received generous support and education materials from
Palmolive Colgate. These materials formed the core resources
for these informative and successfully conducted awareness
sessions.

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Initiative Results

The majority of the students that attend Navunisea Primary School have received limited, and in
many cases no, education on the importance of oral hygiene. In recognition of this issue GVI ap-
proached the Colgate-Palmolive headquarters in Fiji for support. Colgate-Palmolive provided a gen-
erous donation that included a dental hygiene kit for each child and supporting lesson materials and
guidelines for lesson delivery.

GVI volunteers used this support to facilitate informative oral hygiene education lessons for all stu-
dents in the school (from kindergarten to class 8). Information sessions ensured the students under-
stood the importance of dental hygiene and could demonstrate the knowledge to maintain healthy
dental hygiene practices.

The sessions were comprised of demonstrations, a variety of interactive learning strategies, question
and answer time and the distribution of oral hygiene kits. The goal was to teach through demonstra-
tion correct brushing techniques, the importance of daily practice and the detrimental long term
effects if you dont brush your teeth. GVI distributed Colgate-Palmolive oral hygiene packs to ensure
children had adequate initial means to brush their teeth with and practice correct techniques. Stu-
dents were all very enthusiastic to learn and there were many very surprised looks when the classes
learned about tooth decay and the importance of regular hygiene. All classes wanted to show the
GVI volunteers they now knew how to brush properly using a demonstration model of a large set of
teeth. The student response to the sessions was overwhelmingly positive and everyone involved
enjoyed the sessions. The long term benefits will potentially help ensure fewer tooth decay cases
(usually dealt with once a year during the annual visit of a dentist to the school), less developmental
teeth issues and help ensure brighter beautiful Fijian smiles!






Over the following weeks during morning tooth brushing sessions it was rewarding to see the impact
the sessions had on the students. Follow up questions were posed to the students a few weeks later
to ensure the information had been retained and the results were very positive. One mother of six
boys attending the school said she was both grateful and surprised that all six boys are now brushing
their teeth with new enthusiasm, more often, and for longer periods of time. GVI would like to thank
Colgate-Palmolive for making this valuable primary school workshop possible.

GVI Fiji

To find out more about our Fiji programs please visit

www.gvi.co.uk
To make a donation to our programs in Fiji please visit
www.gvi.org
For more information on our global impact please visit
www.gviworld.com

@GVIFIJI

GVI Fiji Islands