Comedy theatre plays are touring Southern Vietnam, entertaining and educating primary school children about science and health.
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OUCRU partnered with the Thai Duong Theatre Company to develop a comedy play for children aged 6-12 years old about enteric disease, food hygiene and antibiotic resistance. The play called ‘An Amazing Battle’ incorporated famous Vietnamese folklore characters such as Ong Dia, the fat, happy God of the earth who symbolizes prosperity and Thanh Giong, a famous mythological Vietnamese warrior. The story illustrates the causes of bacterial infection and antibiotic resistance and teaches the dangers of self medicating.
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Between 2010 -11 the theatre group visited 56 schools and shelters in HCMC the surrounding provinces of Long Anh, Dong Thap, Tien Giang and Vinh Long, plus the rural district of Cu Chi. Over 40,000 children, plus teachers and parents watched the show. In 2012 OUCRU was awarded a three year Sanofi Espoir Foundation award to continue the theatre project. We have taken the science theatre show to 48 schools and over 25,000 children in the rural provinces of Ben Tre and Dong Thap. In 2014 we will continue the project with a play about dengue – educating children about its mosquito-borne transmission, how to reduce vector breeding sites and how to recognize early signs of disease.