4H?

Tuesday at Anna's we broke away from our usual routine and had a guest 4H teacher come in to have a session with the kids. Instead of feeding the kids dinner and getting them back to working on their homework directly after, they got to eat their dinner as a lesson was taught by our guest teacher. Growing up, I was never a part of any type of program like Anna's Arts, and I don't think I had ever heard of 4H. I feel that the demographic of the students at St. Anna's is ideal for a program such as 4H because I know that these kids benefit from the subject matter. Our guest 4H teacher, Ms. Susan (who was great and very well-liked by the kids), had prepared an interactive lesson that taught the kids the ins and outs of good health and good hygiene. It is sad, but many of our kids come to us with stained clothes that obviously were not washed, hair that is dirty and un-groomed, and many of our students have evident signs of decaying teeth. It is easy to over look these little things once you are working with the child and getting to know them, however, it is such a touchy subject that I don't think any of the volunteers feel comfortable mentioning anything to the student or to the parents when they come to pick them up. Obviously, we don't want to offend anyone or make implications that parents are negligent. I honestly believe that most of it is just that the families don't have the means to pay to wash clothes, buy toothpaste, etc. so these things have been put on the back burner. The great thing about Ms. Susan's visit was that the kids learned basic hygiene standards like showering or bathing every day, cutting your finger and toe nails, washing your hands often, brushing your teeth, and so on. At the end of her lesson she even did a little quiz about things she went over and gave kids the chance to win prizes such as hand sanitizer, toothbrushes and toothpaste, floss, shampoo, and many others. Overall I think it was one of the most beneficial days for the kids!