Fufu Films

By Laconia Koerner - Humjibre, Ghana - Fufu symbolizes West Africa. Food is a communal activity here. When you “take” your fufu you are always taking it with someone. For me it is symbolic of a collective effort and experience. Pounding the fufu takes a lot of hard work. You cannot do it alone. Fufu Films proudly produced “United Against Malaria” in March 2010.

Films are still incredibly novel here; they really attract people from Humjibre and beyond. When we want to gather people, we show a movie, and try to intersperse it with programs. While movies are often used as hooks, they are truly a wonderful teaching tool. Films, along with the Community Health Worker’s live theatre and radio dramas, really get the Humjibre community tuned in. The performances have now traveled to other communities as well.

“United Against Malaria” is an instructional narrative. It is a progression of our outreaches; more than the direct education with lectures, posters, and flip-books. The culture here is more responsive to story telling than just the telling, so we, the community of Humjibre, have collaboratively produced a film for education and outreach against the deadliest disease in Western Ghana, malaria.