By Banker White | Executive Director
Thank you to everyone who has supported our campaign so far!
Since our campaign launched the scope of project has grown significantly. We have expanded our network of both partner media organizations and health sector distribution partners. Unfortunately, the public-health crisis in Sierra Leone has also worsened and remains critical as a result of the Ebola outbreak. Existing hospitals are ill-equipped, medical staff are too few, current workers exhausted, and these local health systems are near collapse. The challenge ahead for the country and sub region is beyond the needs of hospitals and medical professionals. The Ebola outbreak has revealed a deeply complicated social dimension to this type of public health crisis and we are very proud of the work the team is continuing to produce and distributing throughout the country. Here is a message from Arthur Pratt, the manager of the Freetown Media center.
"When the Ebola saga started becoming serious, the general message we received was completely dominated with the theme of fear. It lacked the element of hope and courage to face the disease. The message was that Ebola is a killer disease and once you are infected you will die AND this is why you should go seek treatment. But this messaging actually added to the already present fear and became reason why many people refuse to go to the hospital, why infected people began to run away from one place to the other seeking a different medical situation that might help them overcome the disease.
WeOwnTV was quick to notice this problem and created the first two rounds of sensitization videos that answered many of the questions being asked by locals. We addrtessed local fears head on in a way that we knew our people would embrace and we highlighted facts instead of leading with fear. We Sierra Leoneans are intelligent and do not need to be talked down to; if you seek early medical help you have chances to survive and of coarse included similar important elements of public health messaging; practice proper hygiene, limit contact with others etc... We also added a layer of story that would give hope and courage.
We got the message out quickly and this became a central sensitization material used by our national Television broadcaster. These videos were the first locally made Ebola sensitization to be used on national TV. According to Michael Ibrahim Kargbo the Head of TV these videos from WeOwnTV actually made the difference in the way people in the capital city Freetown are educated and respond towards Ebola. We also have started producing these materials for radio for further reach into the more rural areas and have been translating the materials into seven local languages.
Our next round of educational dramas and PSA's focusing on sensitizing families on caring for Ebola affected individuals at home. Due to hospitals being over capacity home care kits have begun to be distributed by UNICEF and WFP. Our films are meant to help people understand the process of how to implement effective home care and avoid becoming infected. We expect to produce 5 episodes paired with 10 shorter public service announcements this month.
Thank you all so much for your support, feeling connected to an international community that cares is giving us all hope!
With Gratitude,
Arthur Pratt
Manager, WeOwnTV
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