Dotun Adeleye Adeyinka (Egger group, Department of Biology) and Moyinoluwa Olusegun (RUWESA, Nigeria), organized a one-day workshop for school children on the importance of hand washing, hygiene and sanitation.

The event was held on the 12^th of December, 2019 in Osogbo, Osun state, Nigeria and it was sponsored by the society for applied microbiology UK (sfam). The workshop tagged, “Science Education for Youngsters’’ had 55 students from secondary schools in Osun in attendance. The children were taught on cleanliness, hygiene, hand washing and how to use basic science laboratory equipment.

Dotun explains “My motivation for the outreach event was the need to increase the level of health awareness in my home country Nigeria and willingness to create an equal opportunity for students in the society.”

Last December event was not his first experience of such kind. “In the past few years, I had the opportunity to make science more engaging to the general public, devise means of supporting outreaches, create content via many ways to the targeted audience. For me, it is quite fulfilling communicating scientific knowledge to the general public in a simple and understandable way that can positively influence the health of the society and as a tool for national development.[…] We decided to focus on school children this time based on the feedbacks we had from the previous events and the advice on the need to “catch-them-young”.

The second focus of the workshop was to introduce students to science and the lab life: “The students had a lot of fun handling the micropipette and other lab wares that were on display and I could see a special and unusual kind of excitement in a school girl, after using the microscope for her first time. It was highly interactive and the audience were eager to ask questions which I gladly answered. I advised and gave some words of encouragements.”

A last word of advice from Dotun - "Above all, I see a need to engage and mentor the upcoming generation. I think there is a need for more scientist to adopt and explore this path to kindle, re-kindle the flame and nurture the passion for science in children in the society."

The event was also reported by https://theflashng.com/osun-govt-ngo-train-secondary-school-students-on-handwashing-hygiene/ and http://citymirrornews.com/news/2020/06/osun-govt-ngo-train-secondary-school-students-on-hand-washing-hygiene/