Covid-19, like in other countries, started infecting Bangladesh in March 2020. Soon the infection became a pandemic After a few months, when the spread of this virus was not showing any sign to stop, our government decided to reopen the garment factories in order to sustain the economy
Immediately after that, we launched our nationwide Covid-19 awareness campaign to ensure the health and safety of the workers We started the journey of “Nargis” to educate the general workers about Covid-19.
Nargis, a fictional character, is a garment worker who learns about Covid-19 and helps other workers to know more Apart from social media, initially, we distributed posters, and leaflets to garment workers through our digital hubs from 9 different places in Dhaka, Chittagong, and Gazipur. And also brought them to our Facebook page with a subscription
We consistently created 24 comic series and 3 animation videos for our Facebook page to create awareness about Coronavirus in a very interesting and engaging way. We conducted 12 quiz contests on Facebook to find out how much the workers learned from the content we promote. During this time, the response was high and we got 12 quiz winner through this, who were trained and Covid hygiene practices
We organized 5 doctor’s live sessions with garment workers from our Facebook page to educate them about the coronavirus in detail. During these sessions, they got the answers to their health-related queries from specialized doctors. We regularly shared contemporary news and articles from our page and stood by them in crisis moments by distributing masks, posters, leaflets, and groceries through our digital hubs
Through these activities, we managed to connect with around 2500 garment workers on our Facebook page on a regular basis. Furthermore, we organized TV and radio shows with online quiz winners for more engagement and training on Covid-19. In our TV event “Nargis-Aami Joddha” the winners were given various attractive prizes including TV, fridge, and smartphones
In February 2022, we launched the 2nd phase of the campaign to continue the awareness of Covid-19. This time we deployed our digital hubs a little differently In the 1st phase, the workers came to our hub to learn about the coronavirus and our campaign, but this time we reached out to them through our inspirators (volunteers) and conveyed our messages
Our scope of work was extended to Narayanganj this time besides Dhaka, Gazipur, and Chittagong. And now through our campaign, we started to involve the leather factory workers as well.
Through our Inspirators and their engagement activities, we managed to find out 15 community leaders from garment and leather factory workers who were directly working with us to create awareness in their respective factories and communities
We were working with them about corona, dengue, and general health through regular meetings and training. They were working on creating awareness among other garment and leather factory workers and also informed them about our campaign’s social media platforms in their communities and factories.
As the number of dengue cases was increasing in our country along with Covid-19, we launched 5 more comic series, health tips, and motivational posts, and arranged 10 more quiz contests. Again we selected 10 quiz winners online and sent them attractive gifts for more engagement
Once again, we organized 3 more Doctor’s live sessions for garment and leather factory workers to create awareness about Dengue and the present condition of Covid-19. Besides Facebook, we also continued our activities on other social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
Finally, we launched our caravan. This was a roadshow through which we went to different parts of the country to inform hundreds of factories and thousands of new workers about our campaign. We distributed masks, and leaflets through our caravan, and made them aware through street drama, and different videos. We also organized on-spot quiz contests for audience participation
Our activities were not limited to Covid-19 awareness only, we also tried to build a good relationship with the garment and leather factory workers by celebrating special days with them on social media
Currently, we have more than 6000 garment and leather factory workers on our social media platforms along with 15 highly motivated community leaders. They are regularly connected with us on Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.
And this is our journey till now! Nargis, is still moving forward in the development of garment and leather factory workers and she is accompanied by our super league of volunteers, the 15 community leaders. Ami Nargis Digital Campaign is funded by GIZ (the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit) and implemented by SIWI (Stockholm International Water Institute).