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Friday, June 24, 2011

Albino Project

Hi,

I have created the face book page Hawa ni Wenzetu - They are one of us to create awareness about the project that is explained below. Essentially I would really like to encourage people to support the project that I founded and managed by ticking the ‘like’ button on the Hawa ni Wenzetu - They are one of us face book page.

If it turns out that a lot of people in Tanzania support the project I may see whether it is possible to extend it by sending the Mobile Video Unit to more rural areas in Tanzania so more people in rural communities will be able to view the educational documentary about albinism (which is in Swahili).

Many Tanzanians have put a lot of time and effort into making this project work and the response has been amazing. I was therefore wondering if you would be willing to mention this on your blog and encourage people to go to the face book page and show their support for the cause by clicking the ‘like button’.

Any support would be gratefully received.

This is the link to the face book page (If it doesn’t work you should type Hawa ni Wenzetu into the facebook search box):


At the moment, there is only a short preview of the documentary on the face book page. By Monday the 27th June, we will have uploaded the entire documentary up onto the page as well.

My best wishes

INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROJECT

Background

The growing frequency of the attacks against and killing of people with albinism in Tanzania had developed into a worrying trend that needed to be addressed so as to prevent it from becoming common practice.

According to the Tanzanian Authorities the killings were the work of organized gangs hired by witch doctors who were selling the severed body parts to people who believed these parts would bring them good luck and prosperity. These practices were seen to be more prominent in rural areas especially in Mwanza, Mara, Kagera, Shinyanga and Kigoma. In March 2008, 173 people were arrested in connection with these types of killings.

Given the situation there was an important need for a project that promoted social awareness and provided the Tanzanian public with information relating to Albinism. It was against this backdrop that the AcT project concept was conceived, funded and carried out.

What is the ‘Albinism in Tanzania’ project?

The project involved working with a local Production House in Tanzania to produce a 45-minute documentary in Swahili, subtitled in English as well as a 30-minute radio programme in Swahili, both aimed at educating the Tanzanian population about albinism in order to dispel the myths that were fuelling the killings and attacks against the albino population.

The two productions sought to bring together the world of medicine, religion, human rights organisations, business, media, politics and the world of celebrity within Tanzania to this effect.

The aim was not to broadcast the documentary and radio programme abroad, but to target the general population in Tanzania by airing them respectively in Tanzania on the national Tanzanian television and radio channels TBC.

The radio programme was also broadcast at regional level on Free Africa Radio, a prominent radio channel in the Lakes regions. In addition, because the practices against the albino population were more prominent in rural areas, the project focused highly on the usage of a mobile video unit to tour the most problematic regions to ensure the documentary was shown at community level.

So what was the outcome?

Television

• The documentary was aired twice on Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) on the 8th June and 18th July 2010 at peak-time from 21.00 to 21:50. This reached an audience of approximately 5-6 million viewers!

Radio

• At national level, airing of the educational radio programme took place on TBC Taifa on the 7 June 2010 at peak-time from 17:02 to18:00 with an estimated audience reach of 10 million listeners.

• At regional level, airing of the educational radio programme took place on the 30th June 2010 at peak-time from 18.00 to 18.30 with an estimated audience reach of over 4.1 million listeners.

Mobile Video Units

Given that the attacks were more frequent in rural areas it was important to be able to educate rural communities in these areas. Therefore over a period of approximately 7 months, the project contracted international NGO PSI-Tanzania to screen the documentary on a mobile video unit across the following six regions:

Tabora,Shinyanga,Kigoma,Kagera,Mwanza,Mara.

On average 30 shows were conducted per region. Due to the documentary generating such substantial public interest, audience turnouts were high which meant that on average over 2,500 viewers attended each show, with an average of over 86,000 people viewing the documentary in each region.

The total audience figures over 7 months were far greater than originally anticipated with over 500,000 people having viewed the documentary which was aired in approximately 181 locations across the 6 regions.

Overall, this means that approximately 19,600,000 to 20,600,000 people have either seen or had access to viewing the documentary as well as listening to the radio programme!

The project which was founded and managed by Miss Sarita Bingeman was funded by UKAid, from the Department of International Development through the Accountability in Tanzania Programme, led by a KPMG-team.

1 comment:

  1. Education is the key word here. Radio and television is good. we also need banners, private companies and corporates should pay for bill boards showing the grim picture of maimed albinos. Dead albino innocent children. people react and learn through visual aid, show it them no matter how grim it is, its the only way.

    public rallies by leaders and politicians, religious leaders and artists.

    ReplyDelete

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