I went with my colleagues at Malaria No More to Maroua, in the Extreme North region of Cameroon that borders with Chad. This region is among those with the highest prevalence of malaria cases and deaths. Last year there was an unprecedented death toll of 1,500 people due to malaria with a highly concerning peak during the rainy season from July to October. The goal of the trip is to bolster communication and community sensitization so that people know how to appropriately prevent and treat malaria and avoid another outbreak during the upcoming rainy season. We organized a one-week workshop in collaboration with UNICEF, the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Communication and the Ministry of the Promotion of Women and the Family. The first day we held focus groups with women, men, traditional leaders and health care workers to learn the community's barriers, perceptions and knowledge about malaria. We learned a lot, including challenging rumours, such as people believing the mosquito nets during the outbreak were actually causing malaria, or all the various traditional ways of healing it (with "marabous") From these lessons and recommendations we worked with 30 community radio stations from the Extreme North, the North, Adamaoua region and the East to design and record radio PSAs and microprograms addressing these issues. The objective was to adapt malaria sensitization via radio communication to the local context so that the outbreak does not reoccur. Messages were created in French as well as the local "Fufulde" language and local traditional/religious leaders will be recruited to help deliver them. During breaks I went to talk to the kids about malaria and in exchange they taught me some basic Fufulde, notably malaria vocabulary!(FYI Malaria in Fufulde is pronounced "Pap-odje" and mosquito net is "sangue") We also visited various neighborhoods and households to record testimonies about those who had been affected by the outbreak and the killer disease in general. Not joyous but it did allow us to understand the cultural and structural barriers and causes more profoundly. Unfortunately there is a banalisation of malaria and we hope that with the testimonies the disease will be taken more seriously so that deaths from such a preventable and treatable malady subside.
