By Jessica Micallef
Sunbury College students are doing their bit for women and their newborns.
The year 12 health and human development students have been preparing and assembling birthing kits for the Birthing Kit Foundation Australia – a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to eliminating maternal and newborn diseases and death. The foundation will send the kits assembled by the students to women in developing countries.
Health teacher Bo Kelly said the students wanted to work on a project that was hands-on.
“We wanted to make it part of our curriculum, something more practical and something that they could relate to in the real world,” he said.
“We did some research and the students came up with something we could do that was hands-on and raised money. And not just raising money for an organisation and not seeing where it goes.”
The students raised more than $1000 through a GoFundMe page. The money was used to purchase equipment for the kits.
“We got in contact with the foundation to purchase all the equipment that goes into the birthing kits,” Mr Kelly said.
“In the birthing kits there is a big plastic sheet, soap, a surgical scalpel, string, some gauze and some latex gloves. All real basic stuff so a mother can give birth safely.”
The students have assembled 200 birthing kits.
“We are putting in the groundwork this year. Hopefully we will set it up across different health cohorts in the years to come,” he said.
Details: bkfa.org.au/
