Keep us happy and healthy

Everybody wants to find a healthy way of life. Using art and cinema, here is a campaign to raise awareness.

Sing and dance: Send across the message.

A healthy child is a happy child. But did you know that 6.6 million children from around the world didn’t make it past the age of five in 2012? There are many reasons for these early child deaths, but half of these could have been treated with access to simple remedies.

With the objective of ensuring children’s health, CineArt “Healthy Children, Happy Children” initiative was launched, following the celebration of Children’s Day on November 14. What is interesting about this initiative is that it is the largest student-led campaign of its kind in the country on children’s health. Through creative techniques using art and cinema, the campaign will raise awareness on children’s health and disease prevention.

Take the fun way

Can you imagine puppetry, theatre and storytelling sessions being used as tools to learn the important aspects of health like hygiene, exercise, environment and vaccination among other things? That’s where the initiative scores with 600 workshops planned to make use of such tools to get children involved — having fun and learning the importance of a healthy way of life.

Over 200 schools across four cities — Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi — will be part of the campaign, which will bring together leading paediatricians, NGOs and artists in the field of creative learning, to mentor children about the significance of a healthy lifestyle. The schools will also form “Healthy Children, Happy Children” Clubs to reach out to students as well as parents to uphold health education. And here’s the kicker — select students from short-listed schools will also get the chance to work with eminent filmmakers to make original health films, which will be shown across India carrying the message of child health. So aspiring filmmakers, get ready to don the director’s cap for a cause.

The inaugural event, in Chennai, opened with an original children’s theatre production on health and special film featuring children highlighting the issues of children’s health. PVR Nest (of PVR cinemas fame) and Sanofi India are joint hosts of this campaign.