Where people are forced to live in crowded environments because they’ve fled from a crisis, diarrhoea can, and does, regularly kill.

Safe havens become places of further danger.

The simple act of washing your hands with soap can half your personal risk and significantly increase you and your family’s quality of life.

No Strings is now in the middle of shooting a new film that presents health-based messages in a fun and engaging format. As with our new Malaria film, we’ll pilot it in South Sudan later this year once it’s dubbed into local languages, and train health promoters in how children and adults can then use puppetry themselves to make their own meaningful connections to messages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More from our Hand Washing set in the next few days. In the meantime, a snapshot of the film’s story:

The village of Hai-Salam is usually a happy village, but recently several young children have died. The village has an enemy! It’s everywhere. In the water the villagers drink, and in their food. Urrrghhh. Germs, everywhere. Suzie is a little girl with diarrhoea. Her father, Taban, is caring for her, but doesn’t believe what’s being said. Would people stop talking about germs!!! It’s not until Taban becomes ill himself (which he wouldn’t if he’d washed his hands when he should) that he starts to take things seriously. A handwashing song and some puppet germs reinforce the film’s messaging with music and comedy. Days later, Taban’s son Boboia reaches for food and is stopped. Not before you wash your hands! Taban scolds him. “No nasty old germs will get us again,” smiles his wife, Sera. “Not with you around, husband.”

Finally, a few of Germ Number One’s friends: Germs Number Two and Three.