Today I asked the principal if it would be possible to buy some soap for the bathrooms. It didn't seem like a big request. I know we didn't have any at the old school. But, we're at a new-to us- school. And, the bathrooms at the new facility are a big improvement from before with eight stalls instead of two including toilet paper for the past two weeks...a record. So, why not start something "new"?! Clean hands....
Back to the conversation....
Me: Could we get some soap for the bathrooms?
Principal: Soap?
Me: Yeah. soap..you know..for washing hands..
Him: Oh...(thoughtful pause) soap.
I could see him processing...expensive? unnecessary? no other schools have it? I couldn't read his mind.
Me: Yeah..you know the students here are taught in their social studies books that hand washing is important for personal hygiene. And, I bought two bottles of hand soap last week. But it won't last long. And, you know MERS is now in Malaysia.
Him: MERS?
Me: Yes, ...Middle East Respiratory Syndrome... you know... that so-far-extremely-fatal disease that is affecting people who go to Saudi Arabia on the Haj? (Thinking to myself...I just read the WHO along with the American CDC are training health care providers to take special precautions...maybe that means putting "soap" in the hospitals.. And, if , for no other good reason, just buy some because this is a Christian school.) And, students have colds...soap and hand washing go hand in hand...(ha,ha...little joke about a not-so-funny topic).. Could we get some soap?
Him: OK...(translates in Chinese to the secretary to put soap on the shopping list)
Secretary: Why do we need soap?
Me: (!@#$%^%^ ... but thinking now I have her attention and his). Yes, soap. Oh, and by the way... Could we make a bottle of 1% bleach water. You know..Some very cheap disinfectant? Very easy to make..Yesterday, I had to clean up a bunch of blood in my classroom. Don't know how it got there... (Which is actually a lie. I saw the cut on the principals knuckle and am pretty sure it was his...)Anyway, a student pointed it out And, kids are kids, and they get bloody noses and stuff..and, you know blood is a bio-hazard. And, with students coming from around the world...Well, you just never know...HIV, Hepatitis A,B, and C, a common cold... Could we make some bleach water?
Him: OK. ..(translates to the secretary to buy a squirt bottle.)
Secretary: Is this for the student's hands?
Me:Really?...I'm an English teacher with a business degree and I know this stuff..I'm not a science major..Really? Really? No, it's for cleaning. Hand soap for hand. Bleach water for blood on "things."
Note to self..there may be some lingering confusion between hand soap and disinfectant. Just hope neither bottle looks like MILO, the oval-tine type national drink or we might have to call poison control..Another bad assumption...probably is no poison control...
Seriously, I could end this blog post now, but you need to know what questions bubbled through my head on the drive home.
1. Is there definitive research that shows the amount of bacteria that is removed when using soap versus just water?
2. Could I "google" a science experiment that would teach me how to make the gelatin in a petri dish, and then take swabs from student hands before and after washing to "show" not "tell"?
3. Am I being unreasonable?
Here are the quick answers to my 20 second search...
1. http://globalhandwashing.org/
Apparently my lack of hand washing problem is quite common in Kenya, China, Pakistan,...the list is quite long. And, there has been lots of research...
My big take-away is that, yes, students who have better hand hygiene grow taller and have fewer gut problems. And, hand washing campaigns at school general are more effective than publicity to the general public. I guess you really can't "teach an old dog new tricks."
2. Yes, I learned how to make the substance to grow micro-organisms in a petri dish, and I watched a video with a hand washing experiment with an outcome exactly as I predicted.
On a side note...too bad Turkey banned YouTube..They could also use some hand washing and science experiment "how-to" videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bUS-WiucbE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK_26rOzeE4
3. Rather than use the term "unreasonble", I prefer to think I'm providing the medium to experiment and learn. Don't take my word for it. Don't just write "true" or "false" because the book says so. (kind of an outpouring from yesterday's post.) Let's do an experiment! Let's learn! Let's wash our hands and live longer! Hurray!
Back to the conversation....
Me: Could we get some soap for the bathrooms?
Principal: Soap?
Me: Yeah. soap..you know..for washing hands..
Him: Oh...(thoughtful pause) soap.
I could see him processing...expensive? unnecessary? no other schools have it? I couldn't read his mind.
Me: Yeah..you know the students here are taught in their social studies books that hand washing is important for personal hygiene. And, I bought two bottles of hand soap last week. But it won't last long. And, you know MERS is now in Malaysia.
Him: MERS?
Me: Yes, ...Middle East Respiratory Syndrome... you know... that so-far-extremely-fatal disease that is affecting people who go to Saudi Arabia on the Haj? (Thinking to myself...I just read the WHO along with the American CDC are training health care providers to take special precautions...maybe that means putting "soap" in the hospitals.. And, if , for no other good reason, just buy some because this is a Christian school.) And, students have colds...soap and hand washing go hand in hand...(ha,ha...little joke about a not-so-funny topic).. Could we get some soap?
Him: OK...(translates in Chinese to the secretary to put soap on the shopping list)
Secretary: Why do we need soap?
Me: (!@#$%^%^ ... but thinking now I have her attention and his). Yes, soap. Oh, and by the way... Could we make a bottle of 1% bleach water. You know..Some very cheap disinfectant? Very easy to make..Yesterday, I had to clean up a bunch of blood in my classroom. Don't know how it got there... (Which is actually a lie. I saw the cut on the principals knuckle and am pretty sure it was his...)Anyway, a student pointed it out And, kids are kids, and they get bloody noses and stuff..and, you know blood is a bio-hazard. And, with students coming from around the world...Well, you just never know...HIV, Hepatitis A,B, and C, a common cold... Could we make some bleach water?
Him: OK. ..(translates to the secretary to buy a squirt bottle.)
Secretary: Is this for the student's hands?
Me:Really?...I'm an English teacher with a business degree and I know this stuff..I'm not a science major..Really? Really? No, it's for cleaning. Hand soap for hand. Bleach water for blood on "things."
Note to self..there may be some lingering confusion between hand soap and disinfectant. Just hope neither bottle looks like MILO, the oval-tine type national drink or we might have to call poison control..Another bad assumption...probably is no poison control...
Seriously, I could end this blog post now, but you need to know what questions bubbled through my head on the drive home.
1. Is there definitive research that shows the amount of bacteria that is removed when using soap versus just water?
2. Could I "google" a science experiment that would teach me how to make the gelatin in a petri dish, and then take swabs from student hands before and after washing to "show" not "tell"?
3. Am I being unreasonable?
Here are the quick answers to my 20 second search...
1. http://globalhandwashing.org/
Apparently my lack of hand washing problem is quite common in Kenya, China, Pakistan,...the list is quite long. And, there has been lots of research...
My big take-away is that, yes, students who have better hand hygiene grow taller and have fewer gut problems. And, hand washing campaigns at school general are more effective than publicity to the general public. I guess you really can't "teach an old dog new tricks."
2. Yes, I learned how to make the substance to grow micro-organisms in a petri dish, and I watched a video with a hand washing experiment with an outcome exactly as I predicted.
On a side note...too bad Turkey banned YouTube..They could also use some hand washing and science experiment "how-to" videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bUS-WiucbE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK_26rOzeE4
3. Rather than use the term "unreasonble", I prefer to think I'm providing the medium to experiment and learn. Don't take my word for it. Don't just write "true" or "false" because the book says so. (kind of an outpouring from yesterday's post.) Let's do an experiment! Let's learn! Let's wash our hands and live longer! Hurray!
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