The understanding of germs, the spread of infectious disease and the importance of hand-washing can be a life-saving skill for children in some of the world’s most deprived areas.
Dr Katie Laird – senior lecturer in Microbiology and Head of the Infectious Disease Research Group at De Montfort University – wants to raise money to make her book A Germ’s Journey accessible worldwide, starting in Gujrat, India. Katie has a keen interest in infection control, and in particular, public engagement for children on the importance of health hygiene.
The goal is to raise £10,000 in order to re-create the health hygiene book in Gujarati. With the funds raised, Katie and her team can supply the book and other free educational resources for children in heavily underprivileged areas of the Gujarati region in Ahmedabad, India.
It is vital that the book is in Gujarati with a cultural context that the children will understand. And the children get to participate too! Katie and her team have asked the kids to do a few drawings that can be included in the book.
1000 books will be distributed to community centres, schools, village libraries and healthcare facilities within the areas that are most affected by deprivation. This is in order to educate children on the importance of hand washing hygiene.
Currently, a range of free educational resources are being created such as posters, songs, games and parent guides all to be free at the point of access. The funds raised will also support the further development of A Germ’s Journey Website to create a platform where teachers, healthcare workers and children from all around the world can have free access to A Germ’s Journey educational resources in a number of languages.
Should the full £10,000 be raised a small group of experts will go to Ahmedabad and train teachers and healthcare workers on how to use A Germ’s Journey educational resources with children.