Child-to-Child
is an innovative educational methodology in which school-age
children learn ways to protect the health and well-being
of other children, especially those who are younger
or have special needs. Child-to-Child was launched during
the International Year of the Child, 1979. It is now
used in more than 60 developing countries, as well as
in Europe, the USA, and Canada. Many early Child-to-Child
activities were developed in Project
Piaxtla in Mexico, the villager-run health care
program that gave birth to PROJIMO.
Key to this adventurous approach was Martín Reyes Mercado,
a village health promoter who worked with Piaxtla, and
then with PROJIMO, for 2 decades. Martín now works with
CISAS in Nicaragua, facilitating Child-to-Child throughout
Latin America.
Child-to-Child
for Disabled Children
Children
can be either cruel or kind to the child who is different.
Sometimes it takes only a little awareness-raising for
a group to shift from cruelty to kindness. One of Child-to-Child's
goals is to help non-disabled children understand disabled
children, be their friends, include them in their games,
and help them to overcome difficulties and become more
self-reliant. To give school-aged children an experience
of what it is like to have a disability, a few of them
can be given a temporary handicap. To simulate a lame
leg, a stick is tied to the leg of the fastest runner
in the class, to give him a stiff knee. Then the children
run a race and the “lame” child comes in last. The facilitator
asks this temporarily handicapped child what it feels
like to be left behind. Finally, all the children try
to think of games they can play where a child with a
lame leg can take part without experiencing any handicap:
for example marbles or checkers. A variety of activities
can also be designed to help children appreciate the
strengths and abilities of the disabled child, rather
than to just notice their weaknesses. For this, skits
or role-plays can be helpful. Various role plays, games,
and activities to sensitize children to the feelings
and abilities of children with different disabilities
can be found in the Child-to-Child chapter in the book,
Disabled Village
Children.
The need to include
disabled children in activities concerning disability
Many
examples of Child-to-Child activities have been discussed
in two of David Werner's earlier books: Helping
Health Workers Learn and Disabled
Village Children. Some of the activities focus on
what children can do to prevent accidents. The books
also suggest enjoyable ways in which school children
can test the vision and hearing of those who are beginning
school, as well as things they can do so that the handicapped
child can participate and learn more effectively.Unfortunately,
in many countries, disability-related Child-to-Child
activities are frequently conducted in ways that do
not include disabled children in central or leading
roles. Too often activities are about disabled children,
not with them. In Child-to-Child events led by PROJIMO,
disabled children often play a central role. They make
it a point to involve school-aged children—disabled
and non-disabled together—as helpers and volunteers,
and as “agents of change” among their peers. Child-to-Child,
at its best, introduces teaching methods that are learner-centered
and “discovery-based,” not authoritarian. It encourages
children to make their own observations, draw their
own conclusions, and take appropriate, self-directed
action. This problem-solving approach emphasizes cooperation
rather than competition. PROJIMO makes an effort to
get disabled children into normal schools. It uses Child-to-Child
activities to help both school children and teachers
appreciate and build on the strengths of disabled children.
It designs activities to address the needs, barriers,
and possibilities of individual disabled children in
the school and community setting. Disabled activists—some
of whom are disabled school children—often take the
lead in this process.
Encouraging Disabled and Non-Disabled
Children to Play and Learn Together
Two of the ways that PROJIMO encourages
interaction between non-disabled and disabled children
are the Playground for All Children and the Children's
Toy-Making Workshop.
A Playground for ALL Children.
The
idea for making a low-cost rehabilitation playground
came from a refugee camp in Thailand. That playground
had a wide range of fine equipment, made with bamboo
… But when we visited the playground, there was one
big problem: no children! The playground was surrounded
by a high fence with a locked gate. The reason, the
manager explained, was that the local, non-disabled
children used to play there, and constantly broke the
equipment. So the local kids were locked out. Too often,
however, so were the disabled children! To avoid such
a problem, PROJIMO, in Mexico, invited local school
children to help build and maintain a playground, with
the agreement that they could play there too. The children
eagerly volunteered, and the playground has led to an
active integration of disabled and non-disabled kids.
The Children's Toy-Making Workshop
The
children's toy-making workshop at PROJIMO serves a number
of purposes. It helps disabled young people to develop
manual dexterity and useful skills. It attracts local
school children to come make fascinating playthings
together with disabled children. And it provides a supply
of simple, attractive, early-stimulation toys and wooden
puzzles. These are useful for children who are developmentally
delayed or who need to develop hand-eye coordination.
The sale of some of the playthings also brings in a
modest income. The toy shop is coordinated by teen-age
village girls and disabled young women, who produce
high-quality toys themselves and who guide the work
of the younger children. They have an agreement with
the local children: the first toy a child makes goes
to a disabled child who needs it. The second toy she
makes can be taken home for a younger brother or sister.
(After all, early stimulation toys and activities enhance
the development of any young child. This way, the process
of children helping children—Child-to-Child—extends
into the wider community.) A wide range of toys and
playthings are made. Some of the simplest toys are rattles
and brightly colored objects that can be shaken or hung
in front of a baby or a child whose development is slow.
For more information see:
