Solomon Islands Covid Awareness Campaign | Creating Covid-19 Awareness in Solomon Islands through Facebook Multimedia Campaign and prize.

What is the problem you found?

Coronavirus would devastate the Solomon Islands. Foreigners still come and go to work in the mines, forestry, and fishing industries.  It is likely that the Corona Virus is already there, but locals would not be aware that this is such a dangerous virus that could make them very ill.  The Solomon Islands also has very few medical facilities or staff trained in dealing with a pandemic. Currently, they have no way of testing for the virus. 

I want to create awareness in a country with limited infrastructure and significant cultural challenges.

Problems I've identified: 

• Very low literacy rate
• Very poor population
• Poor infrastructure
• High levels of pre-existing health issues - often undiagnosed (eg: Diabetes, Heart Disease)  
• Cultural difficulties when communicating ideas (suspicion of new ideas)
• Many languages
• Low hygiene standards
• Many islands - separated and isolated communities
• Preference for traditional medicines and 'kustom' advice over modern medicine

Part of my research was speaking to Ashley Tupuimatangi who is a Registered Emergency Nurse. He works in Brisbane at a large Public Hospital. Ashley is a Solomon Islander who has worked on health programs in the Solomon Islands and has experience with local health issues. He will be acting as my health advisor.

What is your opportunity?

How might we teach young people to stop spread of Coronavirus in the Solomon Islands?

Who is your audience?

• Young people 13-30 years of age (70% of Solomon Islanders are under 30 years of age)

• Internet and Facebook users (the majority of this age group are active on Facebook)

• Tik Tok users (also popular). We will create Tik Tok videos to advertise the Facebook Competition page. Prizes also given for most shares or best video using the hashtag #ProtektimFamiliBloIu (eg: smart phones)

•.Instagram (prizes for most shares - eg: smart phones)

NB: Facebook is the most used digital tool for communicating - both on computers and phones (previously radio)

What Is Your Solution?

"PROTEKTIM FAMILI BLO IU, PRTEKTIM CONTRI BLO IU"
(Protect your family, protect your country)

Facebook Competition Page

• Animated video 
• Simple questions
• Enter competition
• Win house or car

The Animation 

Includes a short animation showing how Coronavirus spreads and how deadly it can be. Solomon Islanders are very family orientated and value their family members immensely. The video will highlight the real risk, especially to their older family members. In the animation, the grandmother will die (fade out).  But it is also explained that we can avoid this with simple steps to stop the spread.

Followed by instructions to prevent spread:

• Washing hands (not a shared bucket).  eg: One person pouring from the bottle while other washes. (no running water)
• Isolating sick family member (the traditional way in villages)
• No visitors for the sick
• Coughing into the elbow
• Social distancing
• Covering your face

Questions to answer
Multiple choice question based on the animation - required to enter the competition

Prizes include:

• "Dream Haus"  Dream House - is a simple house in Honiara, but valued by Solomon Islanders
• 4WD Car (highly valued)
• Mobile Smart Phones for those who have the most online shares or best videos using #ProtectimFamiliBloIu (extremely desirable prize with young people)

Why this approach?

The Solomon Islands is a very poor country. Home ownership and a new car is a dream for most people. Because of this, Solomon Islanders get very excited about competitions, and news spreads fast.  

Solomon Islanders can be suspicious of new ideas, or new people telling them what to do. Instead of approaching them, creating a competition with life-changing prizes will create excitement in the community. As a result, they will willingly come to us. In this way, I will be able to get our important message across to many more people. They will not only spread this message all over social media, but they will also spread it directly to their families and communities in person. This competition and the prizes will create a huge buzz in the country - creating a great opportunity!

All locals need to do is watch a short and informative video and then answer some multiple-choice questions.

Most young people use Facebook to communicate and share information (on shared computers and phones). For this reason, I will choose to create a Facebook competition page. Facebook allows me to upload a video animation that can be shared across the country, and create a questionnaire. 

We want to encourage comments and questions on the page. Our admin will be able to provide quality health advice.