‘JIGSAW PUZZLE SHOWING THE CAUSES OF DIARRHEA:
11-25
Life itself is full of puzzles. A responsible
health worker helps people look at their
many problems to see how they fit together
to form a whole picture. It is like putting
together the pieces of a puzzle.
Teaching aids in the form of puzzles can
help students see for themselves how many
different conditions and problems in their
lives are related.
Putting together the puzzle shown here
helps students to recognize how various
factors combine to cause death by diarrhea.
Poor personal hygiene and poor public
sanitation lead to the spread of infection. Several factors cause malnutrition,
and poorly nourished children get sick more often and are more likely to die because
they cannot fight off disease. The students also see how the whole unhealthy
situation is locked in place by unjust social factors.
To encourage students to think and choose, include alternative pieces
for different diseases, signs, and causes. Or have some blank pieces that
students can fill in based on their own
ideas and experience.
Many exciting discussions can result
from putting together this kind of
puzzle.
After the group explores how the
different causes relate to each other, a
whole new area of discussion can be
opened by asking questions such as
these:
• What should be done about this
situation?
• What can be done about each of
the contributing causes?
• Will treating the diarrhea solve
the problem? What will?
• Where should we begin?
Encourage students to make their
own puzzles based on problems and
causes in their communities.