Switch India along with Robin Hood Army conducted a basic first aid workshop, PCOD awareness and examination camp at Erran’s street school, Chennai on 22nd September, 2019.
The camp began with the head to foot examination of 15 girl children of age group 14-17. Anemia and undernourishment was noted and counselling was given accordingly. The anthropometry and visual acuity of the children were also tested.
Conditions like Scabies, asthma , tonsillitis , URI were detected. Based on this , the children were referred as and when required , by a doctor present at the site. Follow up of the children who were referred in the camp held two weeks back , by us , was also carried out.
The energy and the enthusiasm displayed by the children were highly infectious. It warmed our hearts when they ran behind us, trying to get a glimpse of everything we do.
After the examination, a PCOD awareness lecture was delivered by Malini Maya and Laveena for the older kids (13-17 years). They were educated about the risk factors, prevention measures and menstrual hygiene. The lecture was very well received by the children.
The First Aid workshop began with me and my partner, Varusaw, covering important topics like Wounds and Dressing, Bleeding & epistaxis, Fractures, Ankle sprain and Burns. Stroke, Heat Stroke, Head injury, Spinal trauma and Heart attack were also covered.
The kids were very eager to learn and volunteered themselves for numerous demonstrations. Movie scenes and comedy clips were played which helped the children to be more attentive to what we had to say.
Even though the camp extended beyond the allotted time frame, none of us had any complaints. At the end of the day, we were sad to leave. And when the kids asked us to come over soon, we knew we had formed a bond that would last a very long time. With the satisfaction that we had educated the next generation about life saving measures , we left the place along with a determination to visit soon.
