Memory Palaces will help children to memorise our 100 health messages quickly and easily – even if they cannot read!

Background

Clare Hanbury (director of Children for Health) met the Cambridge-based language expert, Aaron Ralby a few years ago. His approach to learning and memory is fascinating and has history that is thousands of years old. Aaron is also working with children who find learning numbers and letters more challenging than most. Aaron is sure that using his methods, children around the ages of 9/10 years, who are either literate or non-literate, can learn our 100 messages in five hours. The methods involve using visual cures and stories. We wish to work with Aaron to test the methods and film the process. Clare has tested some of the methods in her workshops with teachers in Nigeria and they loved it!

Objective

To incorporate innovative new memory techniques into the Children for Health methodology for health education. We are keen to test the use of ‘Memory Palaces’ to help children (including illiterate children) to learn and remember our 100 health messages. Working with Cambridge-based memory expert Aaron Ralby we will devise appropriate memory techniques that can be managed by teachers with large groups of children in resource-poor settings. A detailed budget and plan is available on request or e-mail clare@childrenforhealth.org.