Managing water better, safely disposing of old medicine, and learning to litter less were the focus of an environmental health awareness project by three Rhodes University Pharmacy students. Sarah-Jane Bradfield spoke to them.
Managing water better, safely disposing of old medicine, and learning to litter less were the focus of an environmental health awareness project by three Rhodes University Pharmacy students. Sarah-Jane Bradfield spoke to them.
“I was raised in a community where we had to walk at least an hour to get water from a tap, so we made do by digging our own well in our yard to make things easier,” explains Botheo Nhlapho, a fourth year Pharmacy student at Rhodes University.
Inspired by the local development focus of the Pharmacy Practice course, Nhlapho joined forces with fellow students Abigail Ncomanzi and Nompumelelo Langane to create an environmental health awareness initiative and host an exhibition at this year’s SciFest.
Encouraged by Professor Sunitha Srinivas to consider the local implications of sustainable lifestyle issues based on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) , Nhlapho, Ncomanzi and Langane focused their attention on considering the challenges faced by many Grahamstown locals in areas of environmental health, specifically in the areas of creating awareness on personal and communal responsibilities to be more eco-friendly in terms of managing water, plastic and litter and disposing medicines correctly.
Their efforts fall under the Faculty of Pharmacy’s new initiative on Environmental health, spearheaded by Prof Srinivas, Dr Sandile Khamanga and Dr Roman Tandlich which advocates using service-learning initiatives such as the one designed in this program to increase community awareness.
After analysing the MDGs during the course, with a particular focus on MDG 7, environmental sustainability, the three students were encouraged to create public awareness initiatives. SciFest provided the perfect public platform. According to Prof Srinivas, such outcomes are ideal given the carefully designed credit-based learning exercise which incorporates aspects of environmental awareness and community engagement.
“As water has been one of our biggest challenges in Grahamstown, in terms of availability and sanitation, my project's aim was to educate learners from every background about ways in which we can save water as individuals and as a community,” Nhlapho explains. Her project also provided information on how to conserve water and prevent polluting water sources.
“The fact that water and sanitation (environmental health) is one of the MDGs means a lot, and yet a lot more can be done in terms of increasing health education and encouraging community participation. I also realised how much this information will impact the community by targeting the youth, in this case the learners,” Nhlapho explains.
For Ncomanzi the threat of incorrect medicine disposal is a cause of major concern.
“These concerns are a threat to human health in cases where a child mistakenly takes prescription medicines which are carelessly disposed of, coupled with potential environment damage if the medicines are disposed of incorrectly into sewer systems,” Ncomanzi explains.
These incorrectly disposed medicinal products pose a threat to the safety of water supplies.
Her project also focused on the safe disposal of needles, such as those used by diabetic patients to inject insulin, when used by individuals with a blood borne infection such as HIV or Hepatitis B.
“I believe every individual has a significant role to play in making sure that we safe-guard our environment and protect our human health. In light of this, taking part in service-learning projects such as this one helps empower people on the various reasons why mother earth should be protected,” Ncomanzi said.
Her main objective was to inform people that all expired and unused medicines must be returned to clinics where pharmacists and nurses will make sure that the medicines are disposed of in a safe manner. Also, that used needles must be kept in a sealed plastic container such as a cold drink bottle, and the bottle can either be taken to the clinic or thrown in the bin.
Langane focused on environmental health and how plastic and litter affect the environment ultimately having an impact on human health.
“In my work I aimed to show how plastics take a very long time to decompose and that a failure to practice recycling and reusing leads to their accumulation in the environment, polluting land, oceans, rivers, and animals which are harmed,” she explains.
“Clean air, water, plants, and food supplies are essential for our personal health and well-being. The relationship between the environment and humanity is one of interdependence. We affect each other and our actions and choices affect the environment, while the health of the planet influences our own personal health and well-being, as well as our communities. My desire to be a pharmacist defines my personality and character. As an individual I see it as my responsibility to do something positive about the planet I live on.”
According to Langane, “More than 20 teachers from different schools asked me to email them the quiz, which is very exciting. Personally I learnt a lot through this experience such as developing good public speaking skills. It was fun and I’m sure this project made a positive difference,” she said.
The students designed a computer quiz comprising questions aimed at 11-year-olds and older, based on Prof Srinivas’ previous projects with SciFest.
The first group of questions was aimed at gauging their knowledge of the subject and the rest to inform them of desirable individual and communal practices. After answering the initial quiz, the learners were able to redo it, hopefully demonstrating increased awareness.
The students also created a poster and made a presentation to learners and teachers. For Prof Srinivas, the students’ initiative was well placed as part of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), which was designed to mobilise the educational resources to help create a more sustainable future. According to Prof Srinivas higher education institutions are well positioned to “use their knowledge and advocacy skills in enabling local communities to participate actively for their sustainable environmental health.
"Using national platforms such as Scifest is an excellent tool to reach out to the younger generations with creative, youth friendly advocacy approaches to sensitise them on the actions they can take at an individual and communal level to make positive changes to their health and quality of life when we consciously conserve and take care of our environment.”
As such she said designing, implementing and reflecting on this service-learning project for three final year Pharmacy students has been “most rewarding in terms of outreach enrichment that brings in the best from teaching, community based participatory approaches and advocacy.”
