Breaking the cycle: Championing behavior change to curb NTDs
Mr. Bertrand Byishimo (Bilharzia Storytelling lab in Rwanda)
Mr. Yona Yangaza (One Health Society)
Behaviour is the end result of a prevailing story in one’s mind: Change the story and the behavior will change.
Those are the words of Dr. Jacinta Mpalyenkan and they paint a real picture of what social behavior change communication tools can achieve.
And I guess that is the reason why Merck Group and Dalberg Media have identified the power of communication and organized Bilharzia Storytelling Lab in Kenya, Rwanda and then Ethiopia.
This lab became my source of motivation to Beat Neglected Tropical Diseases and become a Health Equity Champion.
Prior to attending the Bilharzia Storytelling Lab, I knew almost nothing about NTDs, WASH and related interventions. But the lab opened up my eyes, and I started learning about this set of 21 stigmatized diseases that have been neglected by the Global Health Agenda.
I started implementing the lab, difficult but …… baby steps!!!
"Behaviour is the end result of a prevailing story in one’s mind: Change the story and the behavior will change."
After scooping the prize for the lab, I reached out to the Ministry of Health to indicate the most endemic areas for Schistosomiasis; that were prone to the disease and that’s how the money for the prize was directed to the Eastern Province of Rwanda which is one of the highly tropical regions of the country.
But what was the best solution that deserved school-aged children? And what was the best strategy to capture their thinking about the disease.
Well, Mass Drugs Administration (MDA) were conducted in the region, but apart from that, another IoT strategy had to be taken, well not really medical but effective.
We brainstormed on creating a sustainable solution. Awareness as just speaking and teaching was not enough; hence we looked for something that we can leave for children for them to use on a daily basis such that the message would be transmitted, and it would be a sustainable thing.
We came up with a comic book with Bilharzia preventive messages, and organizing storytelling competitions among students to make sure that the message sinks in their mind. It was a solution that we had thought of for a very long time.
Time flies…….and it came to pass: We started the project, we invited different visitors, from the public sector, NGOs, civil society and our distinguished guests: The students who are the real target of the program.
We brought all of the NTDs and WASH partners together to try to raise awareness about the communication intervention that is targeting over 2,5o0 school-aged children.
We launched the solution that was appreciated by most of the dignitaries present. We donated more than 2,500 notebooks; each for a child, 90 teachers were also given particular notebooks with the same message and each class had a calendar; remember the message was the same: Fight Bilharzia.
Guess what? The fun thing…. I was told that there were some school dropouts about 20 students who got the notebooks and came back to school. At least, that shows me, apart from saving their lives through combating NTDs, we are contributing in developing well-rounded individuals beneficial to their families, countries and the society at large.
But the overall objective of the project was to influence and change behavior among the last mile communities so that they can prevent Bilharzia and other Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Recently, we went back to celebrate the World NTDs Day with the students, and we encountered very inspiring stories of how students are changing their behaviors to enhance hygienic practices in their lives.
We are hoping that after the project, the impact will be scaled larger to accommodate more students and it will be our opportunity to extend the thinking of what we can do to engage more children about Neglected Tropical Diseases’ awareness.
May everyone reading this choose the road untraveled and become a champion of Neglected Tropical Diseases especially young people.
It is of essence to be reminded that NTDs affect the African and Asian continent which account for the higher percentage of young people on the planet, that is why young people need to be engaged in this mission.
