Multimedia sessions on water hygiene for remote villages in Burkina Faso
May 01 2010, Burkina Faso [BF], Environment
Limited access to information concerning water hygiene has resulted in regular hygienic and sanitary crises in the region of Bokin, Burkina Faso. To tackle this problem, Sahel Solidarité invented an innovative way to increase awareness on hygienic water use.
Sahel Solidarité, a local NGO active in several regions of Burkina Faso, implements ICTs to widen the reach of their awareness raising activities. After dark they organise multimedia sessions in remote villages, to inform the villagers on how to improve their water use.
On the night of 27 July, Sahel Solidarité organised a multimedia presentation in the village of Guimba, including a PowerPoint presentation and a film. Two young villagers had assisted in the creation of the PowerPoint presentation. After receiving training on digital camera use, the two ‘hygienists’ had captured good and bad practices of water use in their village.
New and old technologies were creatively combined by using portable projection equipment (beamer, laptop and generator) and a screen made of a white sheet and two tree branches. One of the village’s elderly explained the good and bad practices on the photos by pointing them out with a stick.
After the presentation a film was shown in which the villagers responsible for the management of the water site were interviewed.
About hundred villagers had walked out to see the multimedia session. For most of them it was the first time that they saw a projection on a large screen. A drawback consisted in the low participation of women, due to seasonal agricultural activities. Sahel Solidarité will therefore repeat the session during a season when women are less occupied.
Read more about the IICD supported project Sahel Solidarité.
