Ethiopian Communities Take Control of Malaria

Rural communities all over Ethiopia will soon be taking malaria control into their own hands. Using a new participatory learning method developed by CRS and its partners, communities will start working together this year to stop this all-too-common disease in its tracks.

The new We Control Malaria manual gives government malaria-control officers an easy, effective way to inspire communities to take responsibility for malaria prevention. The innovative manual — designed for people who can't read — outlines a series of eight hands-on activities that help communities learn as a group about malaria transmission and prevention. Through drawings and discussions, communities map ways the disease spreads locally, determine the most effective preventive measures, and plan jointly for stopping the spread of the malaria.

"I have been trying to get this community organized to fight malaria for three years, and I have never really succeeded," says one malaria field agent who participated in a malaria workshop in the apostolic vicariate of Meki, Ethiopia. "Now with this new method, everyone participates and discusses — even the women and children. Everyone understands, and everyone wants to do something."

Even though malaria is highly preventable, the majority of Ethiopians resign themselves to being victims of the disease. Mosquitoes continue to infect an estimated 9 million Ethiopians each year, resulting in lost wages and schooling, money wasted on medical bills and transportation, and — sadly — even loss of life.

By actively engaging communities, CRS hopes to get people to protect themselves against malaria. Using the manual as a guide, CRS partners invite communities to participate in a malaria workshop. A trained facilitator leads the hands-on sessions, which typically take place over a few days.

Hands-On Approach

As part of the activities, community members draw the ways malaria spreads in their village, map mosquito breeding sites such as standing pools of water, debate the best preventive actions and organize a malaria-control committee to follow through by acting on the next steps the community has decided are necessary. When drawing transmission methods, participants learn that malaria easily spreads when a mosquito bites a sick person and then bites a healthy family member or neighbor. Participants also learn the value of sleeping under mosquito nets and the need to treat sick people right away to prevent new infections in the community.

"I really liked attending these sessions because with the pictures I could easily discuss with everyone else," says one woman. "Because this method of learning allowed me to ask about this, I learned that a mother cannot spread malaria to her infant through breast-feeding. This was our traditional belief, and now I know it is not true."

At the end of the workshop, each community typically decides to destroy mosquito breeding sites and plans ways to ensure everyone sleeps under a mosquito net. The government provides each household of up to four people with one net and each household of up to eight people with two nets. To accommodate standard sleeping arrangements, however, families typically need to buy additional nets. The malaria control committee often arranges for a small collection to purchase nets for families unable to afford them and to assist with medical bills for people in need of treatment. Working together in these ways, the entire community helps to banish malaria from their lives.

"I have been to a lot of lectures about malaria, but I have to admit that this is the first time I have really understood everything," says another participant from Meki. "Now I know clearly what needs to be done."