Global Health Media Project

“There is one moment I will never forget, which took place during the last day of our teaching in the Maasai village of Olosh Oibur. One of our students said a very long prayer, quite an insistent prayer actually. Later when I asked her what she had prayed for, she said to me, ‘I prayed that our internet connection would continue so we could finish subtitling the film.’” (from Translators Without Borders)

The Story of Cholera is now being subtitled in multiple languages, a project being facilitated by HealthPhone. The film can be watched on dotSUB with subtitles now available in Dutch, German, Maa, Portuguese, Sheng, and Swahili. The Maa and Sheng versions are believed to be the first time that a film has ever been subtitled in these languages. Scenes from this work can be seen in a short video about Translators Without Borders in the following Voice of America article: Translators Bridge Communication in Kenya Healthcare.

The nurse explained to me that not everyone who swallows cholera germs gets sick like my father, but they can still spread the disease.

Teach to Transform (TTT) is teaching about waterborne illness in developing countries. The organization is using an iPad to show The Story of Cholera video in remote areas to teach people how diarrheal diseases are transmitted and what to do to prevent them.

TTT encourages sustainability so they want local people to be able to share the information and knowledge with other villagers. A volunteer of TTT developed a set of still pictures from our movie—about 50 in all—in flashcard format. The flashcards can be left with local leaders to “spread the word” without the need for equipment that can play the video.

These flashcards are now available for downloading from our website in English and Haitian Creole. We are preparing flashcards for other languages.

“This video shows that no matter what the size of an organization, big ideas can lead to significant change” was the announcement made by the awards committee for the 2012 DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards. The Story of Cholera won in the Fearless Video category, sponsored by the Case Foundation, where four winners were selected from over 1,000 video submissions. The animation was said to be “a compelling and original demonstration of the great role cause video plays in advancing social change and creating real social impact.” The award includes a grant of $2,500 from the Case Foundation.

The Story of Cholera, released in December, has been seen in over 130 countries. Now narrated in Haitian Creole, it is being used in educational programs in Haiti in advance of the rainy season.