SCRIPT DEMURIA DISTRIBUTION GARISSA KENYA
INTRODUCTION
Thousands of outdoor Demuria mosquito nets distributed to help pastoralist communities in Kenya against malaria.
BETA LENGTH 5’14” MINUTES
SHOTS:
- Wide village with huts
- Wide team unfolding demuria bed net to Abdia Khalif
- Medium unfolding net, pan left
VOICE OVER
The heart of remote North Eastern Province in Kenya; a long awaited distribution of free mosquito nets is ongoing. 67-years old Abdia Khalif is surely going to use it to protect herself and her 6 children.
QUOTE ABDIA KHALIF [Somali]
Last night I was bitten by mosquitoes, so I will use throughout the year.
SHOTS:
- Medium unfolding net near a hut
- Wide Abdia Khalif seated among fellow villagers
VOICE OVER
The distribution is done by the British NGO Mentor Initiative, as a part of their malaria control programme. Abdia says a net is a real necessity for her and her children.
QUOTE ABDIA KHALIF [Somali]
Malaria is here throughout the years because the river a few kilometers away. It gives you headache, fever and pain in the joints.
SHOTS:
- Wide pastoralist village
- Medium child next to hut
- Wide man herding cows
VOICE OVER
Abdia is a member of one of the many pastoralist communities in Kenya’s remote North Eastern Province. Here far away from urban areas the people live a tough life, being continuously on the move looking out for water points and grazing areas for the cattle.
SOUNDBITE CATTLE WALKING
SHOTS:
- Wide hut with demuria net installed
- Tilt up demuria net hanged in hut
- Tilt down pick up with demuria net to lady holding them
VOICE OVER
This life style calls for durable mosquito nets like the ‘Demuria’.
Strong polyester nets manufactured by the European company Vestergaard-Frandsen .
A big challenge is how to get the nets to the remote pastoralist communities.
SOUNDBITE DRIVING
VOICE OVER
The closest town can be 150 kilometers away.
The few roads difficult to access, and often there is no road at all.
SOUNDBITE DRIVING THROUGH DENSE BUSH
SHOT:
- Car standing still along the dirt road
- Herd of camels blocking the road
- Dry empty land passing by through mirror
VOICE OVER
Fixing a puncture on the way is only a small inconvenience.
Just as getting stuck because of other frequent users of the same road.
Also the region is insecure because of roaming bandits in the areas.
SOUNDBITE DRIVING THROUGH BUSH
SHOTS:
- Driving through bushy area
- Wide shot village in the bush
- Mother holding baby
- Group of young children standing
VOICE OVER
The urgency of reaching the pastoralist communities is growing with the onset of the rainy season. During that period the prevalence of malaria is much higher than in the dry season. If nothing happens many under-five children risk contracting a fatal malaria.
SOUNDBITE LOADED DONKEY WALKING
SHOTS:
- Front donkey walking with heavy load
- Father unloading donkey
- Children on the ground with mother serving tea
VOICE OVER
This pastoralist group has arrived on a site where they suspect water to be near.
Some of these families travel for weeks before they settle down.
Barely surviving on small portions of milk and food.
SOUNDBITE UNPACKING DONKEY
SHOTS:
- Wide shot nomads on new compound
- Group of Mentor staff workers
- PHILIPPE ROUGIER of Mentor Initiative behind desk
VOICE OVER
Mentor Initiative wants to distribute over 13,000 demuria net to these communities.
The tracing was done by employing local Somali staff and 250 community workers.
QUOTE PHILIPPE ROUGIER, country director Kenya Mentor Initiative
We have done identification before going to the field being guided by the local population to find the population who are close to the water points normally.
SOUNDBITE DRIVING CARS THROUGH BUSHY AREA
SHOTS:
- Driving through bushy area
VOICE OVER
For the teams comes the task to see where the people went since the identification was done some weeks ago.
SOUNDBITE BACK SEAT OF CAR [Kiswahili]
We’re going there?
Is it far?
- It’s very far!
SHOTS:
- Close GPS receiver front window car
- Lobahan Dubat talking to people through window
They’re using GPS co-ordinates taken during the previous visit.
On the way they confirm the whereabouts of the nomads with local people.
A few hours later a nomad village appears.
SOUNDBITE DRIVER IN CABIN
There is no shade.
Oh, here.
SHOTS:
- People coming from their huts
VOICE OVER
Once gathered the community gets a briefing.
SOUNDBITE (…) [Somali] AND QUOTE LOBAHAN DUBAT [English] [Pan right to Lobahan]
She is saying that malaria is transmitted by female anopheles, infected anopheles mosquito.
SHOTS:
- Tilt down men unpacking demuria nets
VOICE OVER
The other team members unpack the demuria nets for distribution.
SOUNDBITE LABELING THE NETS [from Kiswahili]
Give it here, give it here.
All of them?
Please. Please?
Yes please.
SHOTS:
- Pan right from Lobahan Dubat talking to community
- Wide dead cow
- Wide Mentor staff looking at young girl
VOICE OVER
But the distribution also confronts the team with other issues than malaria.
Like sick people, or cattle that died for some reason.
Or the 10 – years Naha Abdi who has been married-off in return for camels.
QUOTE NAHA ABDI [Somali]
I want to go to school but my father doesn’t allow me.
QUOTE JOHN NJENGA, Mentor Initiative, [English]
Every time we go to the communities we find so many challenges.
This challenge of a young girl being married off to a husband.
- What are you going to do?
So what we do is report it to the area chief, and he can take action.
SHOTS:
- Nomad woman admiring unfolded net
- Wide shot compound pastoralist community
- Two children looking in the camera
VOICE OVER
Another dilemma might occur among users of the nets.
Since basic goods like fabrics are rare, parents may decide to sacrifice nets for other purposes, like clothes.
QUOTE LOBAHAN DUBAT [English]
I cannot promise you it cannot happen. But with the adequate knowledge we provided we’re not hoping for that to happen.
SHOTS:
- Staff member counting nets in booth of a car
VOICE OVER
Mentor Initiative therefore has a follow-up campaign in place.
QUOTE PHILIPPE ROUGIER, country director Mentor Initiative
We will validate, coming back to the field after six months, and objectively see what they have done with the nets. Then from that we learn, and eventually we will adapt the product or we will give some recommendation on how we could make the product better for the population to use it.
SHOTS:
- Unloading of nets and giving to community
- Wide nomads walking with camels.
VOICE OVER
The distribution is part of a four year long anti malaria campaign. The communities meanwhile will continue their journey, and with less burden of malaria it might be a bit more comfortable.
ENDS
