Newspaper Inserts
We initially used newspaper inserts as a means of public education.
However, we soon found they were quite expensive since the newspapers considered them to be advertising, not a public service message as we attempted to present them, and they billed accordingly. We also found the information in the inserts was not readily available to the general and especially the rural public whom we were trying to reach because of low literacy rates and because they were not produced in the >50 tribal languages commonly spoken in districts across Uganda.
We have since begun concentrating on in-person lightning safety training at the schools and districts, sending our ACLENet educators, many of whom speak the local languages. Additionally, we have formed a grassroots lightning safety advocacy team of volunteers who are learning about lightning and lightning safety from the webinar series we are presenting, whom we hope will reach out to their local districts and family-tribal organizations.
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This newspaper insert reached 33,000 communities in Uganda. Distribution costs were funded by the Ludwick Family Foundation and printing by the Uganda National Commission on Science and Technology. It was used as talking points for television broadcasts by Ugandan officials over several months.
