Getting Messy: Building Prototypes

We dedicated this week to building a prototype of our solution to address the spread of germs at the school. This is the problem our kids decided to address as a class through voting. The first part of our solution was to design information posters that reminded people to wash their hands. We had our kids make two poster drafts. The first draft was completely unguided. After seeing what they came up with, we offered guidelines for the second drafts to ensure that those posters effectively communicated the message we wanted. We laminated them so they can be placed outdoors and in close proximity to water without being damaged easily.

Next, we purchased three water basins with taps at their bases. We also bought three plastic stools and cups. Each team then strapped each of these three together with several strands of tape to form a hand-washing station. The basins held the water, the stools elevated the basins as their stands, and the cups held the soap. Finally, they pasted their  posters on the basins. The kids then distributed these hand washing stations (three) around the school.

I was really impressed by the discussion we had next. I asked them about the sustainability of our initiative. Some of our kids mentioned that younger students may inadvertently break these stations. In response we threw the problem right back at them. We asked them what they would do to prevent younger students from breaking them. One response of note was from Helena. She said: I will play close to it during recess so I can show them [younger kids] how to use it when they come up to use it (paraphrased). Her response demonstrated ownership.

This outcome was our goal. We wanted to train locals from a young age to be agents of positive social change in their communities. Above all else, we wanted them to take ownership of the projects they start so they would do what it takes to sustain and maintain them. Helena’s response proved that we were on the right track.