Children and communities from remote areas of Hambantota, Polonnaruwa and Ampara districts, Sri Lanka, presented their health experiences at an international symposium in the lead-up to the 10th South East Asia Regional Scientific Meeting of the International Epidemiological Association.

The event was held on 23 May 2010 in Colombo amidst a well-attended audience of community members, children, academics, policy makers, health officials, university staff and students from Sri Lanka and overseas. Co-hosted by and based on a concept from Plan Sri Lanka, the event aimed to provide insights into how community participation can empower adults and children to improve the health of people in their communities.

A group of children made presentations on health promotion activities they have initiated in their community, such as upgrading health facilities, promoting hygiene, establishing good eating and exercise habits, doing community work as well as improving family well-being, which they identified as key to promoting good health in the community.

“We could change the way our elders perceive us”

Children demonstrated how they identified the need for a child care centre for the village midwife. “We saw the need for a proper shelter for the midwife to do monthly check-ups on the weight of developing babies. The midwife used a jack tree to erect the weighing scales. We collected timber and other material to build a shelter. Our parents didn’t have much confidence in our efforts, but as work progressed, they came forward to help. Now the midwife has a permanent childcare centre,” said one of the child presenters.

“We should let parents feel our love”

“We wondered how we could improve our relationships with and respect for our parents,” added a 10 year-old presenter. “So, for our birthdays, we decided to give a gift to our parents in appreciation of their efforts. We were able to bring happy thoughts and good relationships.”

“We learnt and calculated the Body Mass Index (BMI) of our mothers and told them what they should do to keep fit - what to eat and when to do physical exercise. After 3 months, we are proud that mothers who needed to gain weight did so and others who needed to lose weight, lost it,” shared the child health champions.