CHILD-TO-CHILD READER Clever Saroja
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CHILD-TO-CHILD READER
Clever Saroja - extracted text
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CHILD-TO-CHILD READER
Clever Saroja
❖
The Child-to-child Primary Health
Readers have been developed to
teach and encourage primary
school children in India to
become aware of their health and
development problems. These are
also meant to create concern
about the health of their younger
brothers and sisters. Each book has
been written by an experienced
educationalist in conjunction with
a panel of medical and language
specialists.
The Readers can be used as an
integral part of primary school
education in Science, Social
*
Community Health Cell
Library and Information Centre
367, “ Srinivasa Nilaya ”
Jakkasandra 1st Main,
1 st Block, Koramangala,
BANGALORE - 560 034.
Phone:5531518/5525372
e-mail:sochara @ vsnl.com
Clever Saroja
A reader in caring for the sick
Authors
Amla and Ujwala
Illustrations
Stephen Marazzi
Project Coordinator
Dr. Amla Rama Rao
Consultants
Ms. Rajni Khanna
Dr. Murlidharan
Dr. Indrani Ganguly
Voluntary Health Association of India
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©Voluntary Health Association of India, 1990
First edition : 1990
Reprint : 1995
Published by
Voluntary Health Association of India
Tong Swasthya Bhawan, 40 Institutional Area,
South of I IT, Near Qutab Hotel, New Delhi-110 016
Phones : 668071, 665018, 6965871, 6962953
Fax : 011- 6853708
Clever Saroja
Saroja was 11 years old and a clever girl. She lived with her family
— a mother and father who worked hard and loved their children,
a nine-year-old brother Munna, and a three-year-old sister Bhanu.
Saroja was in charge of the children whenever their parents went
out She took great pride in being the eldest and in taking good
care of her brother and sister.
Every morning, Saroja's parents went off to work. Her mother
returned at midday, just in time to see Saroja and Munna off to
school. She never worried about little Bhanu while she was at work
— Saroja and Munna, she knew, would take good care of the little
one.
One morning, while her mother was at work and Munna was
playing with his friends, Saroja heard Bhanu crying. She saw that
the little girl had passed a watery yellow stool. "Oh!" said Saroja,
"You've done it again! Amma cleaned you and put you to bed
just half an hour ago!" She washed Bhanu, changed the sheet
and put her back on the bed. Then she carefully washed her own
hands.
Saroja had just finished washing the dirty sheet when she heard
Bhanu crying again. The poor child had passed another watery
stool, her third in the past hour. She was looking scared and
unwell. Saroja got worried. She cleaned the baby quickly and ran
out to call their neighbour. Lata behenji.
2
Lata behenji listened carefully to Saroja's story. She put a hand on
the girl's shoulder. “Don't worry, Saroja," she said. “Your little sister
has diarrhoea. Go home and comfort her, and I'll come soon to
teach you how to make a special drink which will help her to get
better.''
Saroja was sitting on the bed with Bhanu, singing softly, when Lata
behenji walked in. Munna followed. He was surprised to see his
little sister so weak and quiet. “Is it serious?" he asked.
3
Lata behenji replied: "If you take quick, correct steps to treat
diarrhoea, it is not serious. But if you neglect it, then it can be very
serious, especially for babies." She thought for a while, wondering
how to explain it to the children. "You see, diarrhoea makes us lose
a lot of water, sugar and salt from our bodies. If we do not replace
these, we will lose our strength ... Have you seen a plant that
has not been watered for a long time? Doesn't it droop and
dry up? That is what diarrhoea can do to us, especially to babies
and children. Now run, get me some salt, sugar and a glass of
clean water. We must make a special drink for Bhanu."
4
Saroja watched carefully as Lata behenji took a glass of clean
water. She added a teaspoon of sugar. Then a little salt, only from
the tip of the spoon. She stirred the mixture. "Every time Bhanu
passes a stool, you must give her some of this drink. Let her sip it
slowly, but often." she told Saroja.
Bhanu drank up the whole cup of special drink as she was very
thirsty. "Don't forget to give her more later," said Lata behenji.
"Remember! A little bit of salt on the tip of the spoon, a teaspoon
of sugar and a glass of clean water."
After their kind neighbour had left, Saroja told her brother: "I am
going to make some soft rice for Bhanu. My teacher told us that
sick children must eat nourishing food. They must eat to get
strength and fight the illness."
5
As the rice cooked, Sorojo and Munna sat with their little sister,
giving her sips of the special drink, talking to her and comforting
her. Every time she passed a stool, they cleaned her, washed their
own hands carefully and gave her a cup of special drink to sip.
Soon, Bhanu cheered up. By the time their mother returned home,
Saroja and Munna were getting ready for school. Little Bhanu was
The children told their mother about Bhanu's diarrhoea and how
Lata behenji had taught them to make the special drink. "And I
fed her some soft rice," said Saroja, "Because my teacher had told
me that sick children need nourishing food to get well." Saroja's
mother beamed happily at her children. "When you go to school,
tell your teacher and friends how you took care of Bhanu," she
said. "They can do the same for their own brothers and sisters."
6
How to moke the special drink
MIX : SUGAR + SALT + WATER
ONE LEVEL
TEASPOON
OF SUGAR
A LITTLE SALT
AT THE END OF
A TEASPOON
A PINCH OF SALT
ONE GLASS
OF WATER
7
This is what Saroja told her class:
WHEN WATER IS LOST FROM THE BODY BECAUSE OF
DIARRHOEA
THE SKIN GETS DRY,
THE BODY GETS WEAK,
THE EYES ARE NOT BRIGHT,
WE MUST ACT FAST!
MAKE THE SPECIAL DRINK.
GIVE ONE CUP AFTER EVERY STOOL.
GIVE IT SLOWLY.
GIVE A LITTLE AT A TIME.
GIVE IT OFTEN.
GIVE SOFT FOOD ALONG WITH WATER.
8
Down with fever
A few weeks later, Saroja and Munna were playing with their
friends in' the street in front of their house. Suddenly, Saroja noticed
that little Bhanu was sitting alone under the mango tree. She
seemed sad. Saroja went up to her, "Hey what's wrong with you?"
she said, touching the little girl's cheek. Bhanu's face felt hot and
her cheeks were flushed. "Didi, I'm thirsty, my head hurts and I feel
so hot and funny," she said. Saroja held the little girl's hand
"Come," she said "come and rest."
9
Saroja put her sister on the bed. Then she ran to the kitchen,
uncovered the water pitcher and filled a glass using a ladle with a
long handle. She was careful not to put her hands into the
drinking water — her teacher had told her that germs spread if we
dip our dirty hands into the water pitcher. As Bhanu drank the
water, Saroja tried to remember what she had been told in school
about fever. She remembered : the most important thing was to
cool the body fast.
10
Saroja called Munna into the house. At first, he did not want to
leave his games. But when he heard that Bhanu was sick, he
immediately ran to Lata behenji's house. She gave him a
thermometer to check how high Bhanu's fever was. In the
meantime, Saroja got things ready to cool Bhanu down by wiping
her with cold water and a clean cloth.
Lata behenji said that the thermometer should b© kept under the
tongue for half a minute," Munna said. He pulled out the
thermometer from Bhanu's mouth.
01+3^3
11
k A
Holding it between two fingers, he read it. Saroja read it too. Yes,
her sister did indeed have a high temperature. Munna washed the
thermometer, as Lata behenji had asked him to do, and put it
back into the box.
Munna and Saroja undressed their sister and gently wiped her with
the cloth and cold water. This helped to cool the fever and also
made her feel fresh and cheerful. "We can also put a cloth, folded
and soaked in water, on her forehead," said Saroja.
12
Saroja then decided to make some khichri for Bhanu to eat. "I
don't want to eat," groaned Bhanu. "I only want to drink water." "I
will give you some nimboo pani, Bhanu, but you must also eat
some food. Otherwise, how will you get energy to get better?" said
Saroja. "You don't want to remain sick, do you?"
An hour later, Munna and Saroja were trying to coax Bhanu into
eating some more khichri. "Never mind if she can't eat it all now,"
Saroja told Munna. "It's better if a sick child is given frequent small
meals instead of one or two heavy meals."
13
Bhanu's forehead felt a little cooler and her cheeks were less
flushed. She had been sweating quite a bit and her clothes were
sticking to her little body. "We'll have to give you another wash
after you finish eating. You're sticky and sweaty all over" said
Saroja.
When their mother came home, Bhanu was fast asleep. She was
still a little warm, but looked comfortable. “I must say they really
do teach you useful things at school," said their mother. "I'm
proud of you."
14
THINGS TO DO
1) Gather information about children having diarrhoea in
your family and neighbourhood,
a) Find out at what age it is most common
b) Make a special drink for diarrhoea and make sure
that a child with diarrhoea drinks it.
2) Learn to take the temperature by a thermometer.
3) Collect what is needed to cool down the fever.
4) Do a role play to show how to care for a child who is ill.
5) Play the First Aid Quiz wih the dice (see overleaf).
15
We can all get diarrhoea or fever any time. What do we do if
there is no doctor around? Saroja and Munna show us.
You will also enjoy reading:
Attack
A Toothy Story
The Food Fair
Watch Out
VHAI is a federation of more than 3000 health organisations
throughout the country which assists in making community
health a reality for all the people of India through issue-based
campaigns, lobbying in Parliament, training programmes for
community development and health workers, documentation,
production of books and other information aids.
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