Country: Ethiopia

Organization: International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)

Idea: The objective of this project is to prepare specially tailored educational materials on tape recorders and distributing them to women in randomly selected villages. Lecture notes on the cause, method of transmission, precaution measures of HIV/AIDS, harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, tribal marks, benefits of agro-forestry etc will be recorded on a tape with the help of high level consultants. Leaflets and posters will also be distributed so that people will learn by seeing. Women are expected to listen to the tape during coffee ceremony and social gatherings. It is hoped that the new method is one of the best mechanisms to heal the wounds of poverty and disease in rural Ethiopia and other countries in the world.

How do you do it: Month 1-2, Select sample villages, hire data collectors, professional consultants, who could develop information communication materials in local languages on a tape recorder. Month 3-4, Place purchase order for tapes, tape recorders etc. Prepare a baseline survey questionnaire to study the existing harmful traditional practices. Month 5- 7, Complete data entry of the baseline, data analysis and report writing. Start information dissemination using the audio cassette, leaflets and brochures. Month 8, Complete information dissemination. Month 9. Conduct impact assessment survey of the technology disseminated. To what extent women have changed their traditional practices and behavior. Month 10. Complete data entry of impact assessment survey. Month 11-12, Finalize data analysis and report writing using econometrics model.

Innovation: Research results are published in international languages and could not reach the rural poor. If information and technology generated are tape recorded and transported to the rural poor in their own language, there could be a major break through in saving the lives of millions of people. Rural women are extremely busy with household chores and do not have time to go out, see or listen to the existing face to face extension teachings. Radio programs could not be helpful as they could not much with farmers time. Tape recorder method can be listened while doing work, very simple to operate, cost effective, can be transported from place to place and can easily be scaled up.

Impact: It has been a common culture or practice in Ethiopia for a girl to be abduct or raped by men in the streets while going to school, market etc. Men who think that if they request parents of a girl through the proper channel to get married to their daughter may likely be rejected and often take the option of abduction. Such unethical action need to be reversed. Old women who consider themselves as practitioners also perform circumcision of clitoris using unsafe knives. This has its own contribution for the expansion of the HIV/AIDS. What I need to do is to educate both young men and women not to practice unsafe sex and refrain from harmful traditional practices and contribute to the reduction of the spread of the killer disease HIV/AIDS.

Ethical Action: Last two weeks, three men kidnapped a girl of 13 years old and while taking her to their home in the rural areas, they were met with a group of lions. They suddenly left the girl in the jungle and ran away. Surprisingly, the poor girl was well protected by these lions until other people came and rescued her with out any damage. This news was released on the Ethiopian TV. Such unethical action need to be reversed. Old women who consider themselves as parishioners also perform circumcision of clitoris using unsafe knives. This has its own contribution for the expansion of the HIV/AIDS. All this can be reversed if not minimized through this technology.

Replication: At the end of the project, assessment will be done so as to see increased number of women adopting the use contraceptive to control the dangers of acquiring HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancies. Increased number of women willing to abstain and remain one to one with their men counterparts. Decrease in the number of women practicing tribal marks and skin cuts, circumcision. Increase household income as a result of using improved dairy and agro forestry technologies. After the completion of the 12 month research timeframe, Ministry of Agriculture, who is mandated to do extension activities is expected to continue the same patter of circulating the tape recorder on a village basis and cover the whole country and ensure scale up.

Sustainability: If rural women and their men counterparts are allowed to listen to the tape and see in picture form about the dangers of such HIV/AIDS, they can refrain from practicing harmful practices. The tape recorder method by itself is self teaching and self- sustainable as it will be prepared in local languages. Such innovative practice has never been practiced in the country. After listening to the tape, communities will realize the real problems that exist in their respective houses or village. People will bring significant change in their lives. In the long run, people will understand the advantage and is expected that each household will buy its own tape recorder and listen to the tape.

Position in the Ethics Mosaic of Solutions:

Factor: Ignorance of consequences

Principle: Developing self-awareness and interconnectedness