Centre for National Culture (CNC) – Accra sensitises local communities to ways of curbingCOVID-19 through drama

The Greater Accra Regional Centre for National Culture, under the auspices of National Commission on Culture (NCC) has adopted drama as a way of creating awareness and sensitising people within the Region on COVID-19.

Dubbed: ‘Mask-Up”, the Centre has so far staged drama at Makola, Dodowa and Kpone-Katamanso markets as well as within the Greater Accra Region.

The Centre has been using the event to distribute also hand sanitisers, face masks and T-shirts to people in these areas where the drama was staged.

Purpose

The campaign, funded by the COVID-19 National Trust Fund, is intended to raise awareness and educate people on the safety protocols on the disease.The campaign admonishes citizens on the need to adhere to the COVID-19 safety protocols, help mitigate the spread and impact among residents in the various areas. The Centre’s awareness campaign takes the form of drama, which is a communication tool for community development.

The drama, “COVID-19 Down” performed by the CNC Accra Drama Group involves acting out scenes on coronavirus with actors playing the roles of individual characters in the play and telling “a life-changing story” with scientific facts on the coronavirus pandemic.

The drama is interwoven with informative dialogues and music, helping the audience to remember the story with a visual force. The drama is supported with other performances including, poetry, traditional music and dance.

Appeal

The Director of Accra CNC, Mrs. Alice Alima Kala expressed worry about the current trend of COVID-19, particularly how some people disregarded the safety protocols.She, therefore, appealed to the public to consider the COVID-19 safety protocols one of the surest ways of dealing with the pandemic.

Expectation

On her part, the Executive Director of National Commission on Culture, Ms Janet Edna Nyame, expressed optimism that the campaign “will give the participants the opportunity to once again become“ more conscious about the pandemic and help disseminate their knowledge among their family members, friends and neighbours and make them aware of COVID-19 health issues”.

Expressing excitement about the campaign, the Public Relations Officer of the Centre for National Culture, said as the drama was performed in a local language for a local audiencehas the tendency to reach out  to a larger target audience with a particular message that could make a lasting impact.

Support

A non-governmental organisation, Rescue Volunteers – Ghana, supported the campaign with some PPE.

Country Coordinator of Rescue Volunteers – Ghana, Mrs. Lydia Tsotsoo Odai Tettey expressed worry on the low use of PPE and the breach of the social distancing rule by the traders and said her agency would continue to distribute PPE and hand sanitisers to traders at the market centres.