A small school in North Jakarta reminds us once again of how important it is to learn healthy living habits at a young age.

Jakarta. You won’t find SD Negeri Marunda 02 Pagi elementary school on any map of Jakarta. The only thing you might find is a listing of coordinates on how to find mangrove swamps in the further reaches of northern Jakarta. And, then, if you are still interested in going there, you need to prepare yourself to traverse dusty, rut pitted roads full of container trucks. One kilometer before you reach your destination, you are going to have to roll up your pants’ legs and exchange your shoes for sandals because the tidal waters reach almost to your knee on the way to the gateway leading into the school compound.

Its isolated location is, in itself, enough reason to forget that this school even exists, let alone requires a place on the map of Jakarta. But on October 18, 2008, the 16 teachers and 400 students placed their school firmly on the ”map” of health and hygiene in Indonesia. Yes, indeed, the SD Negeri Marunda 02 Pagi elementary School was the site of the celebration of International Hand Washing with Soap Day 2008 with its health festival held by the school in conjunction with ESP, Aman Tirta, Helen Keller Indonesia, and Dettol.

SDN Marunda 02 Pagi is a model inclusion school that places learning impaired and disabled children of all kinds among children who have no disabilities.

This health festival, taking place at midday, featured the theme ”Keeping Clean Means Living a Healthy Life” and included activities such as playing the snakes and ladders game, decorating pots, good water-bad water experiments, and a health presentation by Dr. Handrawan Nadesul, in order to remind everyone that washing hands with soap is the core and most practical way to keep bacteria from attacking our bodies.

”This activity makes me even more enthusiastic about continuously reminding the children to always wash their hands with soap. This may be a poor environment that is flooded by tidal waters every day, but health and hygiene can never be set aside,” said Fitri, a teacher at SD Marunda elementary school.

Putut, a third grader, really seemed to enjoy the health festival that lasted until 1 p.m. that day. ”I liked the quizzes with prizes that I got to participate in,” he said. While, Tiara, a fifth grader, acknowledged that the festival helped her learn how to wash her hands with soap properly. ”I have been washing my hands with soap at home, but this activity has helped me to know how to do it more correctly,” she said.

Dita, a journalist from TPI television, who was covering the health festival, was impressed by the enthusiasm of both the students and teachers alike throughout the activities. ”Their enthusiasm for living healthily will provide them with a better future,” she said.

Siska Doviana, Jakarta ESP

In Aceh, the celebration was centered at SD 28 Kampung Kramat elementary school in Banda Aceh. The hundreds of children attending participated happily and enthusiastically in the activities from beginning to end. One of the students even got up on stage and explained how to wash ones hands with soap properly.

SD Pertiwi elementary school in Bandung had it own unique way to commemorate International Hand Washing with Soap Day. On October 29, as many as 25 Hand Washing with Soap Ambassadors were sent out from the school to visit homes in the neighborhood around the school to spread the word about clean, healthy and hygienic living. They took everything they needed to demonstrate the proper way to wash hands with soap with them, such as bars of soap, jugs of water, and clean towels, along with posters, leaflets and banners. Elgiani Yasifa, 11, one of the Ambassadors was quoted by the daily newspaper Harian Pikiran Rakyat as saying that the Hand Washing with Soap drive began in 2005. ”Since I have been washing my hands properly with soap, I have rarely gotten sick,” Elgi said proudly.

The Mayor of Medan, Afifuddin Lubis, attended a commemoration event on October 25 in Medan, which involved more than 300 participating students from various communities from several sub-districts in Medan.

Sari Wattimena, Sugiantoro, Ulina Nababan, ESP