Q
Could
you show us some pictures of the schools?
A
Sure.
Take a look at this page of photos.
Q
What
are some natural alternatives to soap?
A
(thank
you Motueka High) One
are tropical soapnuts from India. The dried fruit of Ritha is
most valuable part of the plant. Its fleshy portion contains
saponin, which is a good substitute for washing soap and is
as such used in preparation of quality shampoos and detergents.
This is why some botanists have named the species as Sapindus
detergens. Check out:
site 1 and 2.
A
(thank
you Christina, Miriam & Steve in PNG)To answer
your question about bacterial plants here in Eastern Highlands,
the two we can think of off the top of our heads would be lemon
and aloe vera. However, bear in mind that each district and
even tribe is unique, therefore, they each have different bacterial
plants they use for different purposes (with over 800 languages
in PNG, there's bound to be more!).
A
(more answers from Dr Heather JL
Brooks of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology
at the University of Otago) I
have looked up a paper about pawpaw but extracts of the fruit
seem to have limited antibacterial properties and do not seem
to be active against Salmonella (typhoid).
Essential
oils seem to have quite good antibacterial activity
Tea
tree oil is quite a powerful antibacterial substance but there
are potential problems with dermatitis as it's quite tough on
the skin.
I
wondered if sand was any use as a hand cleanser (provided it's
not contaminated to start with!! It could be sterilised by heating).
Are
citrus fruits available? I might play about in the lab with
a lemon!
Q
How do you try to keep the source of the water clean?
A
(from
John la Roche)This depends on where the water comes
from in the first place. If it is:
1.
Tank water, there are grates over where the pipes feed into
the tank to stop debris getting into them
2.
River water, you have to make sure toilets are not put too close,
and the river is not used for dumping any sort of rubbish Keeping
water in rivers and steams clean is important not only for all
the people who want to use the water, but also all the fish
and other life which use the river. Keeping animals out of rivers
and anything that is liable to cause contamination is important.
Grass riparian strips along the banks of rivers are good for
protecting the water quality
3.
Reticulated water, the pipes should go far enough up the hill,
above villages, to where the river water is still clean
Water
from wells or springs is often very good because it has been
filtered through the ground. Sometimes if a river is too dirty
to drink, getting water from the ground is preferable to getting
water out of the river.
A
(thank
you Christina, Miriam & Steve in PNG) 1.
For Tank water, it would also help to clean the tank more often
(i.e: empty the tank and clean the insides to make sure mosquitoes
do not breed)
2. For River water, this will also depend on how far away the
source of
drinking water is from human settlement. The closer it is to
human
settlement, the greater chances of it being contaminated. Therefore
it
is better the source of drinking water is kept at a safe distance.
Q
One school has asked whether they could send cakes of soap to
a school in PNG as a practical form of help.
A
(from Kate at Oxfam) It's
great that you'd like to assist in providing much needed soap
to the highlands of PNG! If hand washing is to be effective
at preventing disease soap makes a big difference. However,
soap is readily available and relatively cheap in PNG.
Instead of giving soap out we encourage schools to budget
for it and buy it as part of their annual school funds. We
give them one starter bar of soap to start a good habit but
we can’t be there to be providing them with new soap
every time it runs out. We find that if our health education
is effective people understand this and are prepared to buy
soap knowing that it will improve their health.
Any
soap purchased is brought locally in PNG rather than New Zealand.
This provides a benefit to the store owners and soap producers
in PNG who need the business more than shops and producers
in New Zealand. It also saves us a lot of money on shipping.
If
you would like to contribute cash a donation of $100 to Oxfam
would be sufficient to cover all the starter bar soap needs
for this year at ATprojects. However, if you would really
like to donate soap directly please get in touch – we
can provide the postal details to for you to arrange a parcel
to send to ATprojects.
A
(thank
you Christina, Miriam & Steve in PNG) We agree
with Kate's answer. If the children would like to help, it
would be better to donate money so we can buy cheap soap from
our local soap producers and distribute them to schools. However,
as Kate as mentioned, it would not be not benefitial to the
schools and (most importantly) the students in the long run
since we want them to take ownership of their personal hygiene.
Q
Could you tell us about the need for conserving water?
A
The water tanks that have been put in some of the schools
have limited capacity. Therefore, the students are limited
as to how much they can use. Then, the water is often only
used for drinking rather than washing hands. In addition,
only school buildings with corrugated roofs can collect water,
so the schools with thatched roofs cannot collect and store
water.
Q
What is the water like in P.N.G?
A
The water in the streams near villages is often polluted
because the villagers put sacks of coffee cherries (cherries
are picked straight off the coffee bushes) into the water
so that the cherry coating ferments leaving the coffee beans.
Therefore, the best way to get clean water is to harvest
it from corrugated iron rooftops into tanks.
A
(thank
you Christina, Miriam & Steve in PNG)
Also since most sources of drinking water is quite
a distance from villages, women and young girls have to
walk to these places and carry water back. So washing hands
after using the toilet is not encouraged as it is thought
of as "wasting" water.
Q
Do they have e-mail at their schools?
A
(thank
you Christina, Miriam & Steve in PNG) Less
than 50% of schools have emails, most of these schools are
private schools or schools in urban areas. It is unlikely
that any of the schools without emails (most of them are
rural schools) will get connected in the next decade or
so since they do not have access to electricity and telephone
services.
A
(thank
you Christina, Miriam & Steve in PNG) There
are now a number of local buisnessmen producing cheap soap
in the Highlands. The three basic ingredients they use to
make soap are vegetable oil, caustic soda and water. They
are much cheaper, bigger and last longer than the ones we
buy in shops.
Q
How they get the water to water their gardens/crops?
A
An excellent question. If the gardens are near a river, there
is no problem but otherwise the crops they grow are such (kumera,
corn, etc) that they can survive well without being watered.
Q
I was wondering if it would help to have a class system
going where everyone took in a $1 a fortnight or something
and sent the money to your site? Then perhaps you could buy
soap for the people in Papua New Guinea.
A
A brilliant idea Devon. Would you be able to organise your
class? You could send to money direcly to Oxfam - P O Box
68357, Auckland 1145. They will ensure all of it gets to Papua
New Guinea.
