Theatre teaches children about bird flu

Edutainment performances in eight areas seen as ‘high risk’ will demonstrate how to prevent the spread of this bird flu.

The project, led by the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Women’s Association ‘Consent’ and the NGO ‘Atinati’ with the support of UNICEF Georgia, will feature 40 puppet shows for about 4,000 children and 20 theatre performances for 2,000 young people.

Children are very motivated to learn through theatre and play, says Nana Gogokhia, coordinator of the project, from the NGO “Consent”. He says that the performances are interactive by nature and the children become involved through discussions and analysing the behaviour of the heroes. “The children are finding correct answers easily and learning by having fun as well,” he adds.

Archil Gurgenidze, aged six: “I liked the performance. I know now that bird flu is dangerous. I have a lot of chickens in my village and I will wash my hands after touching them.”

School calendars and bookmarks with messages on avian influenza prevention have also been distributed to children.

“UNICEF promotes edutainment as a teaching method because we believe that children learn better through play and entertainment,” says UNICEF Child Protection Officer, Kendra Gregson. “I hope that the combination of formal and non-formal education methods will be an effective tool in teaching children about avian influenza prevention.”