DR Congo - Kalemie: Student Brigadiers, a Discreet Relay for Protective Hygiene at School
In a school courtyard in Kalemie, pupils stand together holding soap, buckets, brooms, and shovels. The scene appears ordinary, yet it reflects a powerful reality: effective prevention is built through simple, repeated routines rather than slogans. In an environment where water, sanitation, and hygiene challenges persist, these everyday gestures become essential tools of protection.
School structures children’s daily lives for many hours. They share classrooms, playgrounds, latrines, and sometimes water points. When access to hygiene is fragile, health risks increase, leading to absenteeism, fatigue, and learning disruptions. Creating a protective school environment therefore, goes beyond infrastructure; it requires organisation, supervision, and clear daily practices that children understand and follow.
From July to December 2025, World Vision DRC, with financial support from World Vision USA, is implementing an integrated project in Kalemie to improve health and learning conditions in ten targeted schools. A key component focuses on water, sanitation, and hygiene, aiming to make hygiene practices possible daily by combining essential supplies with support to local initiatives.
Within this framework, the student brigadier initiative plays a central role. Carried locally by APETAMACO in coordination with school authorities, the initiative strengthens a community-rooted structure that supports child protection. Student brigadiers operate under adult supervision and help sustain hygiene routines over time.
World Vision has supported this dynamic through training and material inputs. Eighteen student brigadiers were trained to harmonise hygiene messages and practices across schools. Supplies including buckets, handwashing devices, soap, and cleaning tools were provided to address practical gaps that often undermine prevention. The objective was not to accumulate materials, but to ensure that messages are matched with the means to act.
In schools visited, these efforts are visible. Handwashing devices are installed, soap is available, and cleaning tools are accessible. In resource-constrained settings, such availability is significant. It demonstrates that hygiene is not just taught theoretically but practiced daily through clear organisation.
Education authorities underline the importance of supervised responsibility. As Mr. Baeleay, Director of Tanganyika Education Province 1, explains, “They are called health and environment brigades,” referring to a structured system of follow-up and checks in key areas such as latrines, schoolyards, and water points.
On the ground, supervision ensures reminders at critical moments, particularly after latrine use and before meals. A school supervisor summarised this clearly:
“What matters most is that children know when and how to wash their hands. Our role is to keep this supervised and to ensure the messages are consistent and repeated.”
Pupils themselves describe changes in behaviour. “Before, we came out of the latrines quickly. Now we think about our hands first,” says Junior, 12.
Esther, 11, adds:
“When there is soap, we do not pretend. We scrub well and rinse. Afterwards, we feel clean.”
These testimonies show how prevention becomes real when actions are feasible, repeated, and understood.
Beyond handwashing, student brigadiers also encourage cleanliness in classrooms and schoolyards. The aim remains prevention and dignity, without placing children in inappropriate roles.
As one school official noted, “We aim to maintain a setting that protects children. When the courtyard is cleaner and hands are washed, we reduce risks.”
Ultimately, the school brigade supports everyday prevention by embedding simple, supervised hygiene routines. In Kalemie, where constraints are real, protection begins with practical, realistic solutions, making soap, water, and hygiene a normal part of school life rather than an exception.
The children’s names used in this article have been changed.