IOM with the UN and 12 Indonesian NGOs marked the fourth
anniversary of the Asian tsunami with the broadcast of a series of
water and sanitation (watsan) edu-tainment films produced in
collaboration with a well-known Acehnese comedy troupe.

The screening of the "Eumpang Breuh" comedy edu-tainment films
before an audience of 30,000 follows an IOM survey conducted in 11
districts in Aceh between December 2007 and January 2008.

The "Knowledge, Attitude and Practices" baseline survey
indicated that while awareness of water, hygiene and sanitation
issues was high, actual practice was unacceptably low.

"Less than 50 percent of the Acehnese are engaging in healthy
and hygienic practices. This is quite worrying, particularly among
young people and children. Healthy behaviours ought to start from
an early age," says Riza Adirza, IOM Aceh’s public health
coordinator for watsan projects.

IOM's campaign was supported by UNICEF and international NGOs in
the province, including the American, Australian, Canadian, Irish,
Norwegian and Spanish Red Cross, Save the Children, the Mentor
Initiative and CARE International.

"This is a good opportunity for international organizations
implementing programmes similar to IOM’s to deliver the
message to the community about the importance of clean water,
hygiene and sanitation. I believe this kind of awareness-raising
can help behaviour change among the greater community in Aceh and
positive results will be seen in short time," says Nina Soares, the
American Red Cross’ hygiene promotion advisor.

The campaign uses the comedy team of Johni Kapluk and Eumpang
Breuh, who have have used their routines for the past three years
to successfully deliver social messages in Aceh.

"The Acehnese have been receiving so much help from the
international community, as a gesture of our appreciation, we
decided to be the part of this campaign," says Johni Kapluk, whose
hugely popular act has sold an estimated one million VCDs in
Indonesia and Malaysia in recent years.

Over 30,000 people attended screenings in four cities despite
the challenge of travel during the rainy season. Each one-day event
also involved games for children and adults and competitions with
the central theme of clean water, hygiene and sanitation.

"Johni tells us how important it is to wash our hands with soap.
I don’t want to get a stomach ache or diarrhoea, so from now
on, I will never forget to wash my hands with soap," says
11-year-old Ahmad Nissam from Lhokseumawe.

IOM has been involved in post-disaster reconstruction efforts in
Aceh since the December 26, 2004 tsunami claimed an estimated
170,000 lives in Indonesia’s northernmost province.