Johnson & Johnson - Index

Johnson & Johnson - contribution - Index

To encourage healthy changes in the lives of children
and their families, Johnson & Johnson has partnered
with Save the Children to support the School Community
Partnership for Hygiene Improvement in the Philippines.
Focusing on neighborhood empowerment, this program
engages the entire community to adopt healthy behaviors.
Building on past successes mobilizing communities
in Metro Manila, the program expanded to the neighborhood
of Sapang Maligaya, Barangay Sun Valley within
Paranaque City. Many homes in this area lack running
water. As a result, incidence of childhood disease, such
as soil-transmitted intestinal worm infection, is high.
Nearly 70 percent of the 2,100 school-aged children were
infected when the program began. In just one year, and
with the help of the whole neighborhood, that number
dropped to 42 percent.
“One of the best things about working with the
Partnership is seeing the transformation of a passive
community to an empowered community of men, women,
and youth promoting positive changes in the lives of
their families,” says Gloria R. Ramat, program technical
coordinator for the School Health and Nutrition Program
at Save the Children.
Community champions are key to the Partnership’s
success. These volunteers are usually women and mothers
who live in the area. Through their work, they show the
community that each person has control over the health
of the entire neighborhood.
A community champion convinced Jona Lorenzo-Alvarez,
a resident of Sapang Maligaya and mother of three, to join
SAVING & IMPROVING LIVES
in the Partnership. In just the first year since the program
started in her neighborhood, Jona has noticed that her
children are doing better. “They say that health is wealth,
and I noticed that my children are healthier and happier,”
says Jona.
Save the Children and the Partnership train champions
to run weekly health education classes. Mothers are taught
how hand washing, good personal hygiene, and a sanitary
environment can reduce disease. During the classes, each
family is given a Sigla (Healthy) kit. They have items for
basic hygiene such as hand towels, soap, nail clippers,
toothbrushes, and toothpaste. They also have a pail, basin,
and dipper to make it easier to wash hands and keep
bathroom areas clean.
“The clean surroundings we now enjoy in our
neighborhood come from cooperation among the families
in our community,” says Jona. “The youth are doing
weekly cleanings and are helping the school demonstrate
how to wash hands properly. The community members
are now participating in the different activities initiated
by the community champions.”
Because of this program, Jona is now able to teach
her children the importance of hand washing, personal
hygiene, and cleanliness in the home. In fact, her family
was chosen as the second-place winner of the Sigla Family
Contest that recognizes children, families, and clusters
of homes within each neighborhood that have made
significant changes in behavior and the cleanliness of
their environment. �
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