One Village at a Time

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!

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.

TTL caregiver 'M'eMaretsipile reaching out to one attendee

we walked...

and we walked some more...

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.