In more developed regions of the world, reaching out to
potential consumers or clients can be straightforward: television commercials, newspaper or
magazine advertisements, cell phone applications and myriad methods of
communication via the almighty internet.
But how, in a country where less than 20% of the population has
electricity, do you reach out? How
do you let people know that a service exists, that help is available? How do you reach the remote villages
that lack electricity and cell phone signals; that lack shops that sell
newspapers? How? By face-to-face communication, that’s
how!
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| Public gathering at Maloraneng |
TTL reaches out to village chiefs and leaders
person-to-person. We choose a
village where we don’t yet have a presence, we talk to the chiefs and other
community leaders, we set a date, we set a time and we go. We go with scales, length boards and
tape measures in hand. We talk
about TTL, the safe home and the outreach program. We empower people to make informed choices through basic
health and nutrition education. We
weigh and measure, we sing and laugh.
Our local staff connects with people. Through two public gatherings last month, we reached just
over 300 potential clients.
Hopefully those 300 individuals will carry our message onward in their
own person-to-person interactions.
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| TTL caregiver 'M'eMaretsipile reaching out to one attendee |
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| we walked... |
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| and we walked some more... |
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| until we reached our destination |
Relationship building may not always be the easiest way to
market an organization, as evidenced by the 1.5 hour drive and subsequent 1.5
hour walk to one village inaccessible even with 4 wheel drive high clearance
vehicles, but here, it works. Here,
where face-to-face interactions are highly valued, we spread the message of
TTL, one village at a time.
