Case Study 1

“Be Safe Guinea-Bissau & Senegal”

In partnership with Catholic Relief Services, Guinea-Bissau & Senegal

Dates of Project: April 1, 2015 – March 31, 2016

Location: Kédougou, Kolda, Sedhiou, Tambacounda and Ziguinchor

In October 2015, illuminAid facilitated training for 15 staff members of Catholic
Relief Services. The videos were created for the Be Safe project. The project aimed
to improve the capacity of communities in the intervention zones to prevent the
spread of the Ebola. Using video, messages have been designed to promote the
adoption of behavior that promotes prevention of spreading or contracting Ebola.
The project's intervention zone was made up of the administrative regions of
Kédougou, Kolda, Sedhiou, Tambacounda and Ziguinchor, geographically close to
Guinea affected by an Ebola pandemic. Overall 130,000 community members were
reached during the project through group discussions, home visits, school
interventions and public awareness caravans. illuminAidtraining and technology
were used as a tool to engagement the community.

With the use of illuminAid technology and training, Catholic Relief Services noted a 33% increase in community participation, directly related to use of illuminAid equipment and methodology (excluding children under 10 years of age) in the Kolda region of the project.
In addition to this direct impact of illuminAid intervention, video technology, along
with the above-mentioned community mobilization, education, radio and local
actors contributed to improved behaviors around the spread of Ebola. This impact is
outlined below.



Catholic Relief Services measured the impact of the project through surveys at both
the household and community level.
Almost all household respondents had heard of Ebola. Only 2% reported not having
heard within the last 12 months. There was a decrease of 52% of respondents
reporting having limited knowledge of Ebola upon upon completion of the project.
Furthermore, 76% of respondents reported having acceptable knowledge of Ebola
post project compared to only 30% prior to the project.

The baseline study identified that the majority of people are unaware of what to
with a suspected case of Ebola, as 79.2% of respondents would accompany a family
member with Ebola to health facilities. Although communities had a fairly good
knowledge of when they should wash their hands and people are familiar with the
products used to wash hands properly, the majority of the population (53.5%)
ignored technical hand washing is ignored Additionally a large majority 84.0% of
households visited had only traditional latrines.
After the project, the percentage of households that would accompany a possible Ebola victim case to the health facility decreased from 79% to 55%. 
Also the majority of households (75.5%), adopted the new behavior of frequent handwashing with soap and water (particularly before eating and after using the toilet) after the project. 
Before the project, 62% of members of community structures surveyed brought suspected Ebola victims themselves to a health facility. After the project this practice decreased to 56%.