Puppet Shows—An Example

This content is from
pages 33 to 34 of Where There Is No Dentist

Above, school children in Ajoya, Mexico are holding puppets they made themselves. On the left, you see them in front of the stage and at right, the children show how they hold the puppets behind the stage. For another example of a puppet show, and more suggestions for making puppets, see pages 35 to 39 of Helping Health Workers Learn.

	1. They called their puppet show “Rotten Teeth — And A Friend’s Advice.”
	2. Pedro, a schoolboy, is sad. His friends looked into his mouth and saw two teeth with big holes in them. He tells his brother he wants to walk home alone.
	3. On the way, Pedro meets Maria, a friend who is a dental worker. “I’m not sad because the others are laughing,” says Pedro. “I know the real problem. The holes in my teeth will get bigger. My teeth will rot and fall out, and maybe my permanent teeth coming in will rot, too.”Maria thinks she knows what to do. "We will talk to your father," she says.
	4. One day later. (Note how the scene behind the puppets changes. It is a flipchart with pictures to show the different places the puppets go in the story.)
	5. “I am a poor farmer,” Pedro’s father tells Maria. “I only go to the city two times a year to sell my crops. I cannot take the boy to the city and pay for fillings in his teeth.” Maria answers, “But we can save his teeth with a temporary cement filling.” To learn how to make a temporary filling, see Chapter 10
	6. “Then, when you have time and money, you can go to the city. I know a dental worker who will put in a permanent filling. I trust him. I will send a note with you, and it will not cost much.” ”Good!” says the father. “Come on, Pedro,” says Maria, “I’ll put some cement in those holes!”
	7. Four months later, Pedro visits the dental worker in the city. “Maria’s good fillings saved your teeth,” he says. “These permanent fillings will last for years.” “Terrific!” says Pedro.
	8. After the show, the puppets played a game. Throwing a ball into the audience, they asked questions like “How do you keep cavities from happening?” Each child who caught the ball answered the question and threw it back. Then the children in the audience began asking questions for the puppets to answer. “Why did you get rotten teeth?” one child asked Pedro. The puppet looked down and said, “Too much candy!”