DIL News 2009 - Summer

Health Intervention Turns Into a Discovery

Persuaded by parents’ concern for their children’s poor health, DIL and Comprehensive Disaster Response Services (CDRS) organized a 2-day school based health intervention at five DIL schools in Islamabad.

School staff and parents learned preventative health techniques from doctors. For most, this was a new experience as there is no doctor or health clinic in or around their villages.

Zareena, a student at the school, along with her friend, visited the CDRS doctor for the first time. Each gave her own health information, discussed concerns, and got advice during the consultation. In these poorly served villages, minor health problems become chronic if left unaddressed. This often leads to student absenteeism, falling behind in school work and eventually dropping out. Not to mention, the drain on the meager family resources when a child becomes chronically ill.

Nazia, a teacher at DIL School Bunni Behk, who recently completed the CDRS first aid and health awareness training, has formed a women group that will come together to discuss and learn about health issues.

During such a meeting Nazia also discovered that one of her students had just been withdrawn from a DIL School by her parents and sent to a Madrassah due to poor performance.

Upon learning of this event, Nazia contacted DIL. Immediate action was taken to convince the parents to enroll the child back into school, and Nazia is working with the student during summer vacation to bring her grades up. The child is thrilled to be back home and amongst her friends again. A discussion between the villagers and DIL staff members confirmed that when given a choice, parents prefer to send their children to a DIL school where they can reach their full potential.

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