JUBA, Southern Sudan, 5 August 2009 – After growing up in Uganda as a refugee from Sudan’s internal conflict, Dorothy Lurit, 15, finally returned to Sudan last year and was shocked by the hygiene practices of some of her neighbours."Some of our parents are careless," she says.  "They don't bathe their child. They don't take care of all their children." 

Such practices can have serious consequences. As a result of poor hygiene, skin diseases are rampant throughout Southern Sudan – a problem that Dorothy and her three sisters have avoided through the conscientious behaviours they learned from their mother.

"My mom bathes my sisters at least three times a day to protect them from skin diseases," Dorothy says, adding that her younger sisters love taking their baths because Sudan is so hot.

In June, Dorothy was one of the participants in a week-long radio production workshop for 10 young people from Juba.

UNICEF Radio – in partnership with UNICEF's ‘Back on Track’ Programme on Education in Emergencies and Post-Crisis Transition, the UNICEF Southern Sudan Area Programme and Southern Sudan Radio – conducted the workshop with five boys and five girls chosen from local schools.

The young people learned how to record, edit, write and produce radio reports of their own.

For her story, Dorothy went to the local hospital to visit mothers and their children who suffered from a variety of illnesses. She talked to a mother whose child had a debilitating cough, one whose child had malaria, and another whose child had caught typhoid from drinking dirty water.

"I feel very sorry for what all those mothers said," Dorothy said.

On 16 June, Dorothy's report was broadcast on Southern Sudan Radio to commemorate the Day of the African Child.

JUBA, Southern Sudan, 5 August 2009 – After growing up in Uganda as a refugee from Sudan’s internal conflict, Dorothy Lurit, 15, finally returned to Sudan last year and was shocked by the hygiene practices of some of her neighbours."Some of our parents are careless," she says.  "They don't bathe their child. They don't take care of all their children." 

Such practices can have serious consequences. As a result of poor hygiene, skin diseases are rampant throughout Southern Sudan – a problem that Dorothy and her three sisters have avoided through the conscientious behaviours they learned from their mother.

"My mom bathes my sisters at least three times a day to protect them from skin diseases," Dorothy says, adding that her younger sisters love taking their baths because Sudan is so hot.

In June, Dorothy was one of the participants in a week-long radio production workshop for 10 young people from Juba.

UNICEF Radio – in partnership with UNICEF's ‘Back on Track’ Programme on Education in Emergencies and Post-Crisis Transition, the UNICEF Southern Sudan Area Programme and Southern Sudan Radio – conducted the workshop with five boys and five girls chosen from local schools.

The young people learned how to record, edit, write and produce radio reports of their own.

For her story, Dorothy went to the local hospital to visit mothers and their children who suffered from a variety of illnesses. She talked to a mother whose child had a debilitating cough, one whose child had malaria, and another whose child had caught typhoid from drinking dirty water.

"I feel very sorry for what all those mothers said," Dorothy said.

On 16 June, Dorothy's report was broadcast on Southern Sudan Radio to commemorate the Day of the African Child.