By Ramesh | Fellow
September was a great time to learn about mosquitoes. Occasional rains have left water pools everywhere in the community, and hence so many mosquitoes were around. We brought mosquito larvae to the classroom and with great curiosity, observed its life cycle. But when we learned about mosquito borne diseases, all of us were scared. We read that mosquitoes kill more people than any other animal or insect. Every minute one child is dying because of malaria. To add to our worry, we heard about many incidents of malaria and dengue fever in the community.
Slowly the fear and anxiety gave way to a strong desire to solve the problem. As we discussed many ideas came up. “Using bed nets”, “Using window screens”, “Keeping water tanks closed”, “cleaning terrace and other places having still water”, “using mosquito repellents” and so on. To prioritise these ideas we conducted a sample survey. We grouped our ideas into three categories “Keep Mosquitoes Away” “Control Breeding” and “Using Mosquito Repellents”. We divided ourselves into three teams and each team studied more about each category.
On using mosquito repellents the team came up with interesting findings. A good number of households were using “market bought” repellents which can harm children when used for prolonged time. Since mosquitoes find us by smell, the team proposed the use of natural repellents like “the Lemon and Cloves”.
The “Control Breeding” team came up with ideas like clearing still water so that mosquitoes can’t lay eggs and breed and also about keeping the surroundings clean.
The team which studied about “Keeping Mosquitoes Away” mainly suggested two ideas. “Use of bed nets” and “Use of window screens”. They also went to the nearby market to understand the cost for fixing window screens.
We then prepared a detailed plan for implementing our ideas.
We prepared pamphlets and posters. Organised awareness campaign and distributed pamphlets in the school and community.
The idea of “Lemon and Cloves” was well accepted by all. But fixing window screens was thought of as expensive and therefore not well received. We came back to our discussion table and then the idea of using “mosquito net as window screen” came up. We collected old mosquito nets and demonstrated its use as window screen.
We also organised cleanliness drive in the community.
Our story was an entry for the DFC 2014 School Challenge 2014 and has been selected as one of the top 75 winning stories.
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