To support the efforts of the government to halt the spread of infectious diseases such as Diarrhea, cholera, coronavirus, and other WASH-related diseases; and consolidate on the gains and wins from previous projects in Enugu state, WaterAid Nigeria and South Saharan Social Development Organization (SSDO) conducted a practical training on Hygiene Behavior Change.
The training was designed to prepare facilitators for the community-based campaign under the Hygiene Behavior Change Coalition (HBCC) Phase II project. It covered behavior change analysis, theory of change, hand washing, food hygiene, safe use of water, and covid-19 vaccine uptake. A community session manual was used to teach the participants about the best approaches for community entry, program implementation, and creative approaches to achieve behavior change.
OBJECTIVES OF THE TRAINING
- To acquaint facilitators with WaterAid’s Hygiene Behavior Change Approach
- To introduce the Clean Family Campaign (Clean family, Happy family), its rituals and themes, as well as the key behaviors the campaign is trying to reinforce through surprises, fun, and exciting, attractive, and engaging games.
- Train facilitators on the designed HBC intervention package for the HBCC II project and develop plans to roll out the pre-testing of the developed HBC tools in 8 communities in Igboeze North LGA.
- Conduct Pre-test intervention package for community events 1,2,3 & 4 in selected communities and Household settings and collate feedback in terms of facilitation and content of the manual.
- To improve the content of the manual and enhance the facilitation of the community events with information gathered from the events’ pre-testing activities.
The training sessions also focused on the following points.
- Ensured everyone understands hygiene and its importance.
- Participants understood that a creative/innovative process is more likely to change behavior.
- Understood the key elements of the universal behavior change approach.
- Deliver – implementing the intervention as developed; minimize the difference between the designed ideal intervention and the actual implementation in real life.
- Community entry strategy and how to implement it according to design
- Making sessions participatory and interesting for community members
SSDO collaborated with CSO partners who have been part of the HBC implemented in Bauchi State to train the facilitators to have an in-depth understanding of the final HBC Package developed for the HBCC II project to be implemented at community and household levels. The participants were also guided to practically understand the finalized packages through explanations, group simulation/rehearsal, and plenary presentation towards behavior change that will prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19, Diarrhea, Cholera, Lassa fever, among others, and bring dignity.
After the training, participants conducted a pre-test intervention in different communities and households to properly internalize the approach and collect feedback from the communities in a truly participatory monitoring and evaluation process. Participants include members of the Igbo-Eze WASH unit, the State Ministry of Health Epidemiology Unit, the Office of the State Director of Public Health, Primary Healthcare Development Agency, among others.
The HBCC II project is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Unilever to combat new Covid-19 variants through hygiene behavior change, rehabilitation, and construction of Handwashing Facilities (HWFs) and support for increased COVID vaccine uptake in Bauchi and Enugu states.