Hygiene & Thank You

Hygiene is a huge issue at the Hogar. The kids don't have a consistent "parent" that makes sure that they bathe properly and have the necessary tools to keep up with proper hygiene. This is one problem with the Hogar that I have a huge issue with. I talked to the volunteer coordinator about heading up a hygiene program with the kids and she gave me the ok to head up the program. I will be in charge of creating a medical/hygiene facility within the Hogar. I will make sure each kid daily has toothpaste, a toothbrush, soap, shampoo and a comb. I have decided that I will use a system where I will check out hygiene bags to the kids twice a day in the morning and before bed containing all of the tools they need to bath properly and brush their teeth. The oldest kids I will trust to keep their bags and just come to me when they need supplies replenished and the youngest kids I will assist daily with their tasks. I have been working in the afternoon this week on getting the room up and running and we are just needing to make copy of the keys to the room so that I can have access to it daily and make a schedule and we will be up and running with the new hygiene program that will get passed on to the next volunteers. The 4 youngest kids will get assistance with their daily tasks of brushing their teeth and bathing while the rest will be shown properly how to bath and brush their teeth and hopefully will be able to go from their but if not, it will be my job to help them. Flossing teeth is one thing we will eventually want to work on once they get the basics down. I have moved everything in the organizations possession into the hygiene/medical room and we have a bit of everything except for shampoo! I did not find ANY shampoo. I will be chatting with the director this week to make sure we are able to get some money to purchase some shampoo.

Luckily we will be able to start the hygiene program with the shampoo that was donated. We have one hygiene bag for each child along with combs, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes and shampoo to get things going. Each kit is comprised of donated goods.

The hygiene bags were donated by NW Eye Associates. The Additional products, the shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes and combs were donated by a group of ladies with whom I would like to thank. Thank you to Lottie, Mitzi, Norma, Barbara Jones, and my grandma Dorothy Nelson for all of the goods that you ladies were able to donate. The kids will appreciate it immensely but I can assure you the volunteers will appreciate it even more when we are able to pick up and hug a child that actually smells good! Thank you for all of your donations!