Healthy Eating and De Bono's Thinking Hats -

To get the students at Soksan School thinking, we introduced De Bono's Thinking Hats to the teachers.  Initially we applied the 'Thinking Hats' (feelings, positives, negatives and new ideas) to simple statements like: We go to school everyday of the week or We don't wear a school uniform.

We then used the Hats to analyse what sort of foods the students are eating at break-time.

Using the White Hat first (facts) we found that 95% of the food eaten came in a plastic wrapper and had high levels of sugar and salt, with little nutritional value.

Having listed all feelings, positive and negatives, we used the Green Hat to brainstorm what we could do to improve the situation.  We decided to do this activity with the students as part of the Who We Are Unit (Health and Hygiene) to prompt student so take a close look at the food that goes into their bodies and also the plastic rubbish that is left behind.

 The next day we bought a shop opposite the school!!! Things happen quickly here at Soksan.

It is our hope that the Inquiry will lead to opening a shop of our own with healthy options.  I'd like to call the Cambodian 'cafe' - Nyum Nyum - which means Eat Eat in English. 

 For all of $US41 we got 3 large baskets of packed/processed foods and the bamboo shop it self.  As part of studying We Are What We Eat, we plan to compare the nutrition of  the items in the old shop with more natural/cultural items.

 An example of traditional Cambodian food:  Banana, coconut and sweet rice cooked in banana leaf over hot coals.  (No plastic either!)

One costs 500riel (US$0.12 cents) to buy.  And they are as long as your hand - and SO good!

Surely the power of De Bono's Thinking Hats is its ability to slow down and deepen the thinking.   Here's hoping Soksan has new nYum nYum Cafe in the near future.