Thursday, 5 March 2015

Rural development agents committed to the fight against Ebola

Rural development agents committed to the fight against Ebola 

Since 25 October 2014, there have been no new cases of Ebola virus disease recorded in the prefecture of Pita where four positive cases had been identified before this date. In collaboration with other partners, FAO made a significant contribution to stamping out the epidemic in this prefecture almost 400 km from Guinea's capital, Conakry.
Like several rural development agents in the area, Oumou Koultoumy Diallo was co-opted, trained and equipped by FAO. She then actively contributed to the dissemination of awareness and prevention messages defined in the Ebola response programme launched by the Guinean authorities. From October to December 2014, she devoted her work to raising awareness on Ebola and distributing prevention kits in the districts of Pita’s city centre, in particular in Beindougou, Louèbhè Sanly, Hafia and Missira. Over the three months, Oumou Diallo raised awareness among 1 870 people from 300 households.
She explains how she managed to successfully disseminate prevention messages among targeted communities and helped develop a climate of trust: “This awareness raising campaign was a success because we used a participative approach. It’s well know that to support people, you have to know what they understand. So, through various discussions, the communities showed us that in some way, they knew that Ebola was a reality. This encouraged them to get truly involved in the awareness-raising process. What’s more, the hygiene kits that FAO made available to us had a real impact in raising awareness because they gave direct protection.”
“I’m very happy that I met the initial goal to reach out to 300 households and distribute 300 kits containing soaps and bottles of chlorine in the municipality of Pita. This campaign made a considerable contribution to halting the epidemic in the area by increasing the vigilance of the communities.”

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