Hi everyone!
It’s Javi! I’m glad to be sharing with you my
first post in this blog. After several weeks working with Iago at Msitu wa
Tembo I want to talk about a really important part of the AFYA program (Health)
which deserves our full attention: the health and prevention campaigns our
“Nina Jali” women group is carrying out in the community.
The dynamics are as follows: once a week they
meet in a concrete area of the community, previously summoning the neighbours from
that specific area so all of them can attend the appropriate campaign. That’s
how we get the message and knowledge to extend all the inhabitants of the
community. Overall, we are getting good reception from people and sometimes we’ve
had a really large audience, although it has not always been so.
The campaigns themselves consist on the
explanation of different health issues (malaria, diarrhoea, UTI, first aid ...)
through a small drama or sketch, which represent with enthusiasm and
credibility, followed by a brief theoretical explanation of the specific topic.
Finally, they start a short round of questions to solve any doubts that may
have arisen, which they usually respond correctly and showing a great knowledge
on the subject. This same system is repeated until a total of seven times (each
topic for each of the seven women who are part of "Nina Jali" group).
In addition, at the end of the campaign we
conducted a small single survey for attendees as part of the system
"Monitoring and Evaluation", asking about the usefulness of such
campaigns and whether they are satisfactory or not with them. So we can also
control the number of attendees and analyse if the campaign announcement is
being effective or if it fails at times.
Finally, say that the "Nina Jali" project is in its final stages and the formation of these women as effective tools of prevention and health will soon end, and as cannot be otherwise, we will enjoy a well-deserved graduation ceremony. We’ll keep reporting about it!
Big hugs from Tanzania and I encourage you to continue reading our blog!
JAVI
