27-37
PUPPET SHOWS-AN EXAMPLE
HOW TO CARE FOR THE TEETH
Preparations with the children
The Ajoya training course for health workers usually ends with an evening of skits
and plays for the public. These usually deal with the causes of health problems in
the town.
One year the school children also wanted to take part in the ‘cultural festival’.
So with the help of the health workers-in-training, a group of children planned and
prepared their own skit. The health workers encouraged the children to make most
of the decisions themselves. The children decided:
Where to meet and practice (the school, since it was empty in the evenings).
How to present the skit. They decided to use puppets {because they had seen
puppets in another festival and liked them a lot).
What idea to present. They decided on prevention of tooth cavities because
many of them suffered from this problem. (Children often insult each other by
saying, “You have rotten teeth!”)
1) At the beginning, the children thought
they could not make puppets themselves. But
some of the health workers knew an easy way
to make puppets out of paper bags. Because
these puppets can open their mouths, they are
particularly good for showing teeth. Here we
see the children and one of the health workers
making the puppets.
2) Each child gave his
puppet a name. This boy
named his puppet Sweet
Tooth. It became one of the
main characters. Puppets with
good teeth were given names
like Whitey, Pearl, and Sparkie.
Puppets with bad teeth were
named Candy, Sweetie, Sugar,
Lolly, and Pop.
THE PUPPET SHOW
3) Here we see the children showing their
puppets before going behind the curtain to
present the show. The sign reads: