“Health can equal happiness”, words from Daniella about the Health Brigade

“Health can equal happiness”, words from Daniella about the Health Brigade:

I arrived at the school at 7:30 a.m, and began preparing for the day. I set up, and recognised the importance of order and organisation, as my group members and I met each other, and worked out how many children we were to look after.

Two hours later, the children arrived, but instead of the seventeen children we had been told we were to receive, we received 20. We also realised that there had been a mixup between the middle names and the first names of the children. This made me recognise the importance of identity, as the children all indignantly corrected us on their names and ages.

First off, we had to help them with sports. It was nice to see the children’s faces light up at the prospect of going on the bouncy castle, or at the idea of playing with the equipment. Next, we had to round them up to take them to the dentistry area. I helped take down the notes, and I was shocked at how grateful and important it was to the children that they were being given toothbrushes and toothpaste until I had to help with a little girl who had an infection in her teeth so bad, that they were referring her to the hospital.

Then, chaos began to reign. With some children investigating their unfamiliar surroundings, others brushing their teeth in the bathroom, and others trying to get back onto the bouncy castle, it took 20 minutes to round all children up. The importance of teamwork really shone, as we noted that we needed at least one person ensuring that the children stayed in one place, another to round up escaping children, and another two looking for missing children.

I then played and looked after the children as they had their ears checked. Next, we took them up to have their eyes checked. But there was a scarcity of opticians, and as there was a delay, we barely got through a quarter of the children. this meant that, as my three other group members overwatched the children partaking in the next activity, I was ferrying the children back and forth, trying to ensure that every child had their eyes tested and that every child that needed glasses, would get them. this continued through the hairdressing. Finally, I ended up aiding the children with the final activity ofthe day: medical checkups.

By this point, my other team members were exhausted, but I knew I had to persevere. So I pulled children from the football field, the opticians and the hairdressers, and after about 2 hours, every child had been through every activity. Yes, the day was chaotic. Yes, looking after children was like herding cats — they kept on wandering off — but it was worth it. It was worth seeing the little girls proudly admiring their shiny hair and white teeth in the mirrors. It was worth seeing the children getting the medicines they needed. It was worth running around the school, carrying children, listening to them and keeping on time, to know that every single one had been medically checked. I learnt two things that day:

1. Health can equal happiness. It was necessary for these kids to have these checkups, yes. But there was an excitement, a pleasure in their faces at the knowledge that they were being well treated. This reminded me of the importance of health in a global setting and made me think about helping with the WHO

2. Sacrifices must be made to achieve what is necessary. Some children missed out on the talks, or had their hair done quickly because I had to take them to the opticians. I was exhausted and tired, as were the doctors when we realised that the children needed medical checkups, even after the brigade was supposedly over. But we had made a commitment, and we had to persevere, as these children were important.