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| Ai Kawashima with students of Baprey Primary School © UNICEF Cambodia/2014/Bona |
Together
with Mr. Motoo Tomomura, secretary general of AEON 1% Club, she visited the Baprey
Primary School in the province of Prey Veng, to learn more about UNICEF’s water,
sanitation and hygiene programme. The Japanese AEON Group and Ms. Kawashima
support UNICEF in providing schools with water supply units and systems. For
the singer, this is a matter close to her heart. She made the children very
happy by singing a song with them.
UNICEF’s
work in schools also includes the promotion of important hygiene behaviour,
like hand washing. Washing hands with soap can reduce the risk of severe
diseases like diarrhoea by more than 40 per cent. The children were proud to demonstrate
Ms. Kawashima how to wash hands properly. The pop star was noticeably impressed
with the performance.
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Ai
Kawashima in front of the school’s new rainwater harvesting tank, which provides
the children with clean water.
© UNICEF Cambodia/2014/Bona
|
In the
school, the delegation got a chance to observe how, with the help of UNICEF and
AEON, the students now have access to clean water that is free of arsenic. Arsenic is a poisonous chemical element that
is found in high percentages in water in some areas of the country. Too much arsenic
in drinking water can cause cancer of the skin, lungs, bladder and kidneys,
skin lesions and changes in pigmentation. UNICEF supports the government in
detecting sources of contaminated water and helps to provide alternative water
systems.
At Baprey
Primary School, children don’t have to use polluted water from the river
anymore, thanks to their new rainwater harvesting tank.
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Students
teach Ms. Kawashima how to wash her hands properly
© UNICEF Cambodia/2014/Bona |
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The children demonstrate how
they used to collect water before
© UNICEF Cambodia/2014/Bona |
The
benefits of the new water system were especially obvious when the children
demonstrated how they used to collect water from the river before. The colour
of the water speaks volumes.
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Baprey
school’s principal expresses his appreciation to AEON’s Mr. Motoo Tomomura
(third from right) and Ai Kawashima
© UNICEF Cambodia/2014/Bona |
At the end of
the visit the students showed their appreciation to AEON’s representatives by
presenting dozens of self-made Japanese flags. Mr. Tomomura was pleased with
the visit and visibly moved by the students’ gesture. Watching the children
play with footballs and frisbees provided as gifts from the visiting mission,
he said: “In the end, it is the smile of the child that makes all the
difference.”
By Jasper Neerdaels
By Jasper Neerdaels
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