Clélio Meneses presented "You're not a puppet!" project focused on health promotion

Secretaria Regional da Saúde e Desporto

The Regional Secretary for Health and Sport, Clélio Meneses, chaired this Thursday the presentation of the "You're not Puppet!" programme in the parish of Pico Pedra, São Miguel Island.

Promoted by Solidaried'Arte Açores - Association for Education and Integration through Art and Local and Social Cultural Development, this programme focuses on health promotion, preventing risk behaviours, particularly addictive behaviours. It is aimed at children aged between 4 and 6 and covers about 70 public preschool establishments.

During the presentation of the programme at the Pico da Pedra Free Time Occupation Centre - Pequenos Curiosos, Clélio Meneses stated that it is part of the policies pursued by the Regional Government regarding dependencies, focusing "on prevention as its main strategy."

In this context, the government official considered the importance of involving families in the community intervention, seeing that "it is more important than just passing messages from the outside."

"In this case, children are involved so that this message may be effective, not so much in identifying the risks and consequences of dependencies but mainly in strengthening their personal development through feelings of security, self-esteem and confidence. This makes people more resilient to situations of dependency," he stressed.

The Regional Secretary for Health and Sport urged the community to get involved, "harnessing the potential of their capabilities, namely through prevention with a view to "the protection from dependencies."

"Basically we want children to be free, independent and safe, so that they do not fall victim to the very problem that affects, unfortunately, many people, families, companies and society," he stressed.

The "You're not a Puppet!" programme received financial support amounting to 11 thousand Euros from the Regional Government, through the Regional Directorate for the Prevention and Control of Dependencies, which is under the administration of the Regional Secretariat for Health and Sport. It is a child-centred response, starting from a school context, also involving parents and guardians in a more active way.

It proposes a specialised intervention using puppet theatre as an intervention tool for education, where themes related to social and emotional skills (self-esteem, emotions, emotional regulation and decision-making, among others) will be addressed.

The presentation session was attended by the head of the Solidaried'Arte association, Leonardo Ferraz de Sousa, the Mayor of Ribeira Grande, Alexandre Gaudêncio, and the Regional Director for Prevention and Control of Dependencies, Pedro Fins.

Clélio Meneses also mentioned that this programme may be implemented on other islands of the archipelago.