Like the 1st edition, this 2nd edition encourages users to adapt the book to the local setting. However, we now know that the book has a more international appeal, and so the authors have tried to reflect this by modestly ‘internationalising’ it. Furthermore, this 2nd edition expands on some areas that were not covered in detail in the 1st edition; there is a chapter devoted to nutrition and a chapter devoted to refractive errors. The section on ‘How to adapt and translate this book’ has been expanded to further promote adaptation of the material so that the stories reflect children’s’ reality, and also to incorporate SIGHT AND LIFE’s experiences in overseeing translations of the book. Children in Bangladesh and the UK contributed additional drawings for the 2nd edition.
How to use this book
To the pupil
This book is about how to look after your eyes. There are stories and drawings written by other children. You can tell your own stories and draw pictures in the book in the empty spaces. You can colour the other drawings to make the book look nice. This book is to help you to know how to look after your eyes and what to do if you or your family has a problem with your eyes. There are things you can do at school and there are things you can do at home to learn about eyes and to help keep your and your family’s eyes healthy. At the end of the book there are ideas on what you can do with your friends to prevent blindness in your community.
To the teacher
This book is an activity book. This means that the children should be active as they use it. The book does not tell them all the answers; it encourages them to think and to do things at school and at home. The book should be used to encourage the children to learn by doing, not by telling. It should also be used to encourage children to take the messages home – they can do much to inform their elders about preventable blindness. Let them take their books home. If there are not enough copies, photocopy relevant pages.
Try to keep the simple tone of the book – it is meant to entertain and engage children, it is not a medical textbook!
To the health educator
The 1st edition of The Healthy Eyes Activity Book was also used by health educators in the community. The stories written by children can easily be adapted to make street plays or other performances within the school or in the wider community. The health messages at the end of each section can be used in other teaching materials, or to give to media professionals to publicise in radio spots, TV or print media.
How to adapt the book
The causes of eye problems differ in different countries and different settings. For example, children living in rural areas might be in danger from snake spit in the eyes; children living in a town might be more likely to damage their eyes by playing with firecrackers. This book is designed in a way that you can adapt all or parts of it to show the situation and problems of where you live. You might want to change a picture, a story, a page, or make more changes such as adding a chapter.
