Hygiene Promotion through Local Games in Indonesia: A Friendly and Fun Tool for Children

BACKGROUND. Dompu is a remote district in east Indonesia, populated by 209,000 people. One of the biggest problems for school children in Dompu is the diarrhea. More the 4000 diarrhea cases per year happened to children in school ages in 2007. Plan International, a child-centered humanitarian organization, Plan Indonesia has been working in Dompu since 1997. Beginning in March 2009, Plan international conducted a hygiene promotion program among 3,000 students in 18 primary schools. An edu-tainment strategy was chosen, through the application of life-size versions of the popular “snakes and ladders” board game, with a size of 25 square meters and with key hygiene behavior massages inserted into the games. 36 teachers were trained on the use of the games. RESULTS. After 8 months of implementation, 77% of children have played the games. The number of children who knew the causes of diarrhea problem increased from 40% to 74.29%. The percentage of student who washed their hands with soap before eating and after defecation reached 95,6%; and 87.5% of children defecated in latrines. The direct cost of the activity was USD 5,300. CONCLUSION. Simple local games are an effective hygiene education tool for school-children. Primary schools in three additional districts have adopted the games and introduced it to more children.