Baba Gee reporting from Leeds
Nigerian Community Leeds (NCL) is helping African communities stay up to date with the latest Covid-19 guidance with the aid of the Leeds Covid-19 Community Champion Micro Grant Award.
The Nigerian Community Leeds (NCL) obtained the Leeds Covid-19 Community Champion Micro-Grant, funded by Leeds City Council in June 2021 to fund its projects.
NCL used the award to produce various materials and organise activities between July and August 2021 for sharing accurate key health messages about the virus and vaccinations appropriately and efficiently.
These materials and actions helped the communities stay updated with the latest Covid-19 guidance and make informed decisions about the covid-19 vaccination.
The task was made much easier by NCL having a long-standing “Health Talks Local Organising Committee (LOC),” which organises events addressing vital health issues pertinent to its members, in collaboration of Leeds African Communities Trust.
The Leeds African Communities Trust (LAC) is the umbrella body for the diverse range of African Community groups in Leeds, with a membership of the representatives of 15 African communities.
Building on this solid partnership, they provided accurate information in various formats about Covid-19, especially the increasingly dominant delta variant, to priority groups that have been disproportionately affected to enable people to make informed choices. These priority groups included older people, younger people, disabled people and Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities across Leeds.
The first materials comprised three short video clips recorded by various Nigerian and African community members on a Sunday afternoon, reading a script written by a LOC member. These recordings, in standard English, produced much amusement as several takes were required before they were deemed suitable. The participants included health care professionals, Nigerian and African Community leaders, young people, and fully vaccinated community members. The video clips are available here https://youtu.be/RMAhsLUQ8J8 https://youtu.be/VYnIgzq6gFY https://youtu.be/-MOEsQEVRbc
Three posters also addressed the fact that Covid-19 is still very much around with the prevalent delta variant and the need to continue adhering to the safety guidelines. One of the posters had captions in pidgin English while another specifically targeted young people. Three narratives were produced, merged with the three posters for a combined visual and auditory message impact. Two of the narratives were in pidgin English, with one involving a dialogue between two people. One combined poster/narrative was a dialogue between two A-level students soon going to their universities and imminently set to receive the vaccine. The same LOC member wrote the scripts for all the narratives. The combined posters/narratives video clips are available here https://youtu.be/WW3O5j4Ue4U https://youtu.be/qQdDlLku3vohttps://youtu.be/SpBpce0qxzc
Finally, NCL organised a webinar titled “Covid-19, Freedom day and individual responsibilities.” This activity generated many questions about the safety of the Covid-18 vaccines and addressed the hesitancy about getting them. It was a successful event in that some of the attendees left convinced to get the vaccine at the end.
Through obtaining the Leeds Covid-19 Community Champions Micro-Grant and participating in the Community Champions project, NCL and LAC could better engage with their constituent communities and better understand how to address the barriers faced to accessing accurate health information. This experience would stand them in good stead in future.
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