Train the Trainer

Uploaded on behalf of Linda Enskat:

During the summer we learned about leadership and the water system, itself, with three of our team members. This week, Linda Enskat is learning the third piece of our Team Leadership: CWU-102 hygiene, health and education.

The first two days we are learning different ways to communicate and how to find appropriate people to further teach others in the community. We are learning to work with the community leaders, giving them stories and activities to be able to teach other kids and adults: What makes people sick, what is clean water -vs- dirty, how to use clean water.

One example used to demonstrate the water conditions are where there are three communion cups filled with water; 1 cup with "stones", crumbled cookies, showing water which looked bad but is good to drink; 1 cup with sweetener which looks clean but is contaminated; 1cup from their water source which looks fine, but is not safe to drink. We learned how to grow cultures in the water samples to see what kind of bacteria are present.

We also learned about how we can represent germs by modeling some out of Playdoh – and some were quite creative little beasts!

Another interesting exercise was when one person had a glittery hand lotion on, and we greeted one another with a handshake. Everyone in the group was 'contaminated' with the glitter after just a minute of greeting! We need to teach the proper use of clean water, for cooking, drinking, brushing teeth and caring for babies. Cleaned water is not for washing clothes, animals, or floors! Another example of the proper use of clean water was to have a UV Dye on our hands to see how well we washed. If there was dye remaining, we need to wash better!

Our experiences also include lessons on how God used water to help God's children throughout the Bible with stories of Deliverance (the parting of the Red Sea upon leaving Egypt) and Living Water (The woman at the well). The days are once again very full, but the scenery is beautiful. There is a little time for reflection first thing in the morning, but the rest of the day is spent preparing ourselves for the time when we pass this knowledge to others!