Lesson 8. Self-management

Anchor scripture:

• 3 John 1:2: Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. • 1 Corinthians 6:19: Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.

Specific training objectives: By the end of this session, participants are able to: • Recognize the importance of self-management, including behavioural awareness and physical awareness. • Take basic steps to staying healthy and preventing illness

Read aloud: Clare has a small shop where she sells baked goods. One week, she was not feeling so well, but she went to work anyway because she thought the feelings of being sick would pass quickly. While she was baking her goods, she got very hot like with a fever, and because she was not feeling well, she was distracted and burned the whole batch of bread. The oven even over heated and was damaged. She had nothing to sell because her bread was ruined. When she called her sister to come help her in the shop, her sister noticed Clare looked ill and took her home to call the doctor. The doctor brought medicine and Clare was better after 3 days. When she returned to her shop, she realized her oven was damaged and she would have to buy a new one. What happened in this story? What was the outcome for Clare and her business when she pushed herself to work while she was very sick? Let us talk about how self-management can help us and help our business.

What is self-management?

Management of or by oneself; taking responsibility for one’s own behavior and well-being. Failure to have self-management could lead to not being able to achieve your goals. Self-management helps us stay healthy and at peace with those around us. If you are not taking care of yourself, you can’t run your business. We want to be able to continue working hard in our business and not be distracted from our work by preventable issues.

Self-management includes both behavioral awareness and physical awareness. * Behavioral awareness is knowing your stress, physically, spiritually, emotionally, your relationship with yourself, and others. * Physical awareness: Is about being healthy, which includes eating well, general cleanness, exercising and other health habits. Once a body is not treated well, it may attract sickness which will not allow one to work. Some To have good behavioral awareness, consider the following areas: • Spiritually: For human life, relationship with God is very important. Life and soul are intertwined, because the spirit is active in the living body. We want to make the spirit the leader of our lives and our actions • Our relationships with others in order to live with others, it is important to first live in harmony with yourself. This includes knowing how to protect your emotions (Good and bad) and then learning to accept others. • Responsibilities: Know your responsibilities: * A better understanding of your work, making it easier to do it with a clear heart * Doing it well: When you do something about the gift you have, the work is easy, you love it, you do it without being forced to. * Timeliness: You are more productive when you do what you need to do on time To have good physical awareness, consider the following areas: • Eat well: (a balanced diet), it is good that the food is well prepared and nutritious. This prevents people from getting sick and thus having a healthy life. • Cleanliness: All over the body, clothing, food, at home all around us. • Exercise: To stay healthy, exercise is essential. it helps to have good health, mental relaxation and positive thinking • Vacation: Vacation helps to regain strength and makes you think positively

Health within our control

Part of physical awareness is also doing our part to prevent illnesses. Let’s talk about some common health challenges and what things are in our control to keep ourselves healthy. Trainer: pick one or more the following health topics that are relevant to the group.

A. HIV

According to the Rwanda Biomedical Centre, the prevalence of HIV in Rwanda stood at 3% (3.7% for women and 2.2% for men) in 2019. It is somewhat more common in urban areas than rural areas. The country has had good success in treating HIV-related mortality due to Anti-retroviral drugs that have been proven to prolong life for persons infected with HIV. It can be transmitted through bodily fluids, so if you have close contact with bodily fluids with someone who is HIV positive, you should speak with a doctor.

B. How malaria infection occurs

Malaria is spread through mosquito bite. Disease carrying mosquitoes lay eggs in stagnant water and multiply into bigger populations which get into nearby homes and bite and suck blood from people as they sleep. If the mosquito has bitten another person who has malaria, it vomits the blood into the new victim’s body and draws new blood from the new victim. How to prevent malaria infection * Use a mosquito net when you sleep * Clear the bush around your home * Drain stagnant water that forms a puddle near your home * Spray your home with insecticide * Close windows and doors early in the evening to prevent entry.

Statistics

According to a 2017 study by the Rwanda Biomedical Centre, ownership of insecticide mosquito nets stood at 82%. This has led to reduced prevalence of malaria among the Rwandan population. It is especially important that pregnant women and children under the age of 5 sleep under a net. You can get them from doctor visits.

C. Other preventable illnesses

There are other illnesses that can be prevented with good health habits. The novel coronavirus in 2020 created a global pandemic, and other respiratory illnesses can be transmitted in similar ways. To help prevent the spread of coronavirus and other illnesses:

* Wash hands frequently with warm water and soap, or use a disinfecting hand rub

* If you need to sneeze or cough, use a tissue or cover your mouth with your elbow * If you have a fever or feel sick, stay home. If it persists, seek medical treatment. * Avoid gathering in very large groups when there is an illness being spread around * If someone else appears sick, try to stay 3 meters away from them * Be sure to keep bodily waste away from sources of water or food. Do not dispose of waste near sources of drinking water.

Closing: Allow participants to ask questions, and encourage them to visit a doctor when they are feeling ill.