On August 20th the world celebrates ‘World Mosquito Day’ and how far it has come in preventing the deadly diseases that mosquitos spread. From this day on, all primary and special needs schools in Curacao can pick up a free Papiamentu or Dutch Lesson pack at Mensing’s Caminada bookstore. The new GreenKidz educational program focuses on mosquito prevention and contains posters, coloring pictures, activity books and a manual for teachers. Teachers, parents, and students can also download many more materials about mosquito prevention from the GreenKidz website www.greenkidz.org

World Mosquito Day

GreenKidz Coordinator Maya Mathias: ‘As a team, we have been busy for over a year developing our Mosquito Prevention program. With the support of main sponsor Rotary Club Curacao, ENNIA, VNW, LionsDive & Beach Resort and SWAP/APG we have created beautiful teaching materials and digital e-learns for all islands of the Dutch Caribbean.’ August 20th has been declared ‘World Mosquito Day’ worldwide and it’s a perfect day to launch our new curriculum!

Mosquitoes are not only a nuisance; they can also be dangerous and even deadly. The Aedus Aegypti mosquito, which unfortunately breeds on all islands of the Dutch Caribbean, spreads Chikungunya, Dengue and Zika. These viruses can make you very ill. Mathias: “We think it’s important that children learn at an early age how to track down mosquito breeding sites and prevent mosquito bites. That’s why we have designed an interactive and investigative program for all children in the Dutch Caribbean.

Mosquito activity book for the whole family

The GreenKidz Foundation has been developing green teaching programs for primary and special education for the past seven years. The latest ‘ Mosquitoes Detective’ program has been successfully tested over the past months at the Schotborg School in Koraal Specht, the Blenchi School in Otrobanda and the after-school organization K’Alegria in Bonam. Mathias: ‘We are happy that our program has been received so enthusiastically and have many new requests from schools for the new school year.’

Mathias: ‘With ENNIA’s financial help we have developed a colorful mosquito activity book, printed in four languages; Papiamentu, Papiamento, Dutch and English. It’s a great educational gift for the whole family, as it contains lots of coloring pictures, games, quizzes, puzzles, and mosquito prevention tips. The book is available for purchase at Mensing’s for ANG 17,50. The sales proceeds will be used to provide local primary and special needs schools with mosquito prevention lessons that do not have sufficient resources to execute these school projects themselves.