Teeth Brushing Sessions
In Marej, a town in Bekaa – Lebanon, where many informal tented settlements are found, Rana, a Water Sanitation, and Hygiene staff with World Vision Lebanon, gives a hygiene awareness session to Syrian refugee children aged 6 and up, around the proper dental care and how to brush their teeth, as part of the UNICEF-funded WASH project.
Over 20 children gather in one of the tents and are ready to receive this session’s advice and instructions.
“Most of the times, these sessions draw my attention to things I was doing wrong or not doing enough – like washing my hands enough,” says Khadija, 11.
The excitement shows on Mahmoud’s face. The six-year-old made sure to be seated in the front row seat. “I want to volunteer to brush my teeth. I know how to do that!” Mahmoud insists. He was thrilled to use the new toothbrush and paste given to him from World Vision.
Abbas, 9, is known to be the calm, attentive one in the settlement. He sat next to his neighbor Mahmoud and paid huge attention to what Rana was saying.
Bayan, 9, stood the entire session. “It is alright, let the younger children sit in the front”, says Bayan. Bayan is one of the children who are fasting in Ramadan. Even though, she won’t be having breakfast or lunch, she will be applying all the teeth brushing steps whenever she can.
Ten minutes away from Marej, a town in West Bekaa called Qab Elias hosts a big number of Syrian refugees. In one of the town’s settlement, two WV WASH staff were giving a session also around dental care. However, instead of using plastic teeth to demonstrate the steps of teeth-brushing, Maroun and Christelle used cardboards and games.
As the weather was beautiful, the children gathered outside near one of the tents. Not an answer asked by Maroun and Christelle was missed. Children made sure to raise their hands and participate. Maround and Christelle handed out two decorated paper teeth – one male and one female. Bayan, 12, held the female tooth and Walid, 9, held the male tooth.
Bayan and her friend Rim are the eldest among the children. “I like the sessions, because they are fun. It’s not as if someone is just lecturing you. We like how they teach us,” explains Bayan.
“I like to answer the questions and I like to participate. Why? Because it is so much fun!” says Walid. Walid made sure he holds the paper tooth and to be the first person to answer Christelle and Maroun’s questions.
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