Quiet on Set!

Maiduguri – How COVID-19 animation movie help communities across Maiduguri, Jere and Konduga Local Government Areas (LGAs) make behavior changes to protect themselves and slow the spread of the disease.

Entertainment education media can be a fun and effective channel to improve behavior intent towards a specific health practice such as handwashing.

The Story of Coronavirus developed by Global Health Media is the perfect example of how a short animation can captivate children and capture the attention of adults. Since it’s first release, the short animation has successfully attracted over 10 million views online only.

The 4 minutes video explains how the invisible virus is transmitted rapidly from one person to another in the most ordinary ways. The story shows also how to stay safe while caring for a sick family member staying at home. The video ends with a family demonstrating how to keep each other safe while at home and to prevent the spread within the community with easy to do actions.  

While different version of the animation was available, IOM Nigeria WASH program paired with Translators Without Borders to translate the video into Haussa, Kanuri and Shuwa which are the most spoken languages in North Nigeria. Over half of the population of camps where we operate speak one of these 3 languages with Haussa being the most popular one.

To help communities, grasp how easily Covid-19 is transmitted, IOM Nigeria WASH program organized projections across Jere, Konduga and Maiduguri LGAs. Volunteers borrowed projectors and white screens to improvise small movie theatres. To be consistent with Covid-19 preventive measures, only a dozen people were welcomed at a time in a rather large screening room in camps. Men, women and children enjoyed the education video as it addressed a quite scary issue in a reassuring and lighthearted manner.

Already 4 camps run projections all through the month of Mars with different age and gender groups (adults, women, girls under 18 years, etc).

Discussion sessions following the movie confirm that participants understand the risks of COVID-19 and try regularly to follow the prevention measures, including handwashing.

As the video gained success, especially among a younger crowd, we target as many people as possible. At community level, we work alongside schools to create Hygiene clubs and we work to make the movie projection a regular activity.

Partnering with Global Health and Translators Without Borders in the promotion of health education videos shall continue with the aim of appealing a broader audience with simple but interesting stories – stories that are appreciated both by children and adults.