Organising committee with Kampung Temoh villagers
A health screening project, which featured exhibition, educational talk and social activity, co-organised by UTAR Faculty of Science (FSc) and Perak Elevate Life Society (PELS), was held on 17 March 2019 at Kampung Temoh.
Themed ‘If You See a Need, Take the Initiative: Educate the Orang Asli Community’, the health project provided health screening for the Orang Asli. The project also aimed to educate them with health-related topics, promote the importance of hygiene and inculcate creative thinking. The project was led by Organising Chairperson Dr Loo Keat Wei and it involved 12 other UTAR staff, consisting of lecturers and laboratory officers, along with nine UTAR students. The headman and residents of Sekolah Kampung Temoh also participated in the project.
“Most of us are very fortunate to have technological devices with us all the time; at work, in classes and during leisure times. It got us thinking what life was for the Orang Asli community, who lived in rural areas. After performing a data search, we realised there is a lack of community health screening service at the Orang Asli villages. Particularly for those villages that are located more than a 100km radius from the city, and difficult to access. In order for us to have a better understanding of the livelihood of Orang Asli, we held a meeting with the PELS and UTAR Department of Soft Skills Competency (DSSC). Inspired from the meeting, we realised that we need to take initiative to provide health screening service, educational talks on the topic of sex, healthy eating and hygiene. There were also creative craft activities conducted,” said Dr Loo.
The team also discovered that the residents of Kampung Temoh faced malnutrition due to poverty and the lack of knowledge in preparing healthy meals. “We were glad to be able to give them a talk titled “Anda Bijak, Anda Sihat” which did not only provide them with information on a balanced diet, but also on how one can eat healthily. We also presented other important information, such as the seven steps of hand washing and other hygiene-related topics,” commented Dr Loo.
She added, “Information on brushing teeth were also shared to the children, while for the teenagers, we shared information on safe sex and how to avoid unwanted pregnancy to reduce the abortion rate. Apart from the talk, we also provided health screening service to the villagers. We conducted blood pressure monitoring, diabetes check and blood group analysis. The children also had the chance to stimulate their creative thinking from the craft-making session.”
Dr Loo also mentioned that the project benefitted the committee as well. “We enjoyed conducting the project and we certainly learnt a lot. The members commented that it enhanced their planning skills, leadership and teamwork. For students, they commented that it was a good platform to further hone their soft skills, such as complex problem solving and critical thinking, moral and professional ethics, emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, communication and language skills,” said Dr Loo.
FSc academics Dr Nor Ismaliza binti Mohd Ismail and Dr Wong Wey Lim explaining about hygiene
Villagers doing health screening
FSc Deputy Dean Dr Phoon Lee Quen and other academics conducting craft-making session
The “Anda Bijak, Anda Sihat” talk
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