Using community dialogue to advance bird flu education
By MacArthur S. Hill MOWE, Nigeria, 25 October 2007 – Adefolu Olusoji is a retired civil servant and a poultry farmer in Mowe, a sprawling slum community in Ogun State, South West Nigeria. He is among over 30 community members participating in a community dialogue on bird flu at the Palace of Baale. He is particularly interested in this dialogue session because he recently lost more than 4, 000 of his chickens to bird flu - this has left him not only at risk, but without income and searching for answers to the bird flu menace in the community. “When I retired, I felt the business I could do is to be a poultry farmer but I knew nothing about the poultry business and I had no idea of what to do to avoid chicken diseases such as bird flu,” said Mr Olusoji. And he paid dearly for the lack of knowledge on how to control the deadly disease. “My chickens just started dying quickly and in large numbers and I did not know what to do,” he explains. Meeting community needs In response to the need for community education on bird flu, UNICEF and the Federal Ministry of Information and Communications with funding from the Japanese Government are supporting community dialogue sessions in local communities to share information about how to avoid bird flu infection and what to do if there is an outbreak. The community dialogue sessions are organised by the State Public Enlightenment Committees and structures are set up in each State to facilitate sensitisation and information campaigns. To ensure that residents have had adequate time to finish their daily chores and be in attendance, the sessions usually start in the evenings. Well attended open forum Olusoji is seated quietly but seemingly anxious to get answers to the many questions on his mind. He arrived earlier than most so that he could get a seat at the front of the gathering. As soon as the session commences, Olusoji is on his feet: “When will I be compensated for the depopulation of my farm?” “I want to restart my farm soon…what do I need to do to avoid another outbreak of bird flu?” “Do I have the bird flu virus as a result of my contact with the chickens?” Another participant, Madam Omobolanle Ogunluwa asks, “We live with our birds, how can we avoid contact with them?” For another resident, Evangelist Elijah Ogundele, the concern is confusion regarding the edibility of chickens. “Sometimes we hear that it is ok to eat chicken, other times, we hear it is not ok to eat chicken, so what do we do?” Tajudeen Taiwo, a butcher and owner of a provision shop in the community, expressed concern that his profession exposes him to birds and their blood and wanted to know how to protect himself. The concerns are numerous and the questions just keep coming. Participants use English as well as local languages to articulate their views clearly. The facilitator gives a response to each question, at times, using the communication materials to reinforce the answers. The impact of enlightenment Dialogue sessions such as this are intensifying the dissemination of bird flu messages and deepening communities’ knowledge about the disease throughout the country. They are also helping to build strong networks of community educators. “The good thing about the community dialogue is that I get immediate answers to my questions and if I forget the answers, I can come back to ask the same question during another session,” explains Olusoji. Thanks to such community dialogue sessions, the content of messages and communication materials on bird flu have been repositioned to better address the various questions and concerns that people have. Community residents like Mr. Olusoji are now convinced that accurate information and increased knowledge about the disease is the best way to protect their poultry and families and are doing all they can to obtain the required information and knowledge. Stressing the need for a forum where ideas can be shared and people can work together to control the disease, Mr. Olusoji says, “We have to learn all we can about this bird flu sickness, we want the specialists to come and help us because this is a matter of life and death.”
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