IOM with the UN and 12 Indonesian NGOs marked the fourth anniversary of the Asian tsunami with the broadcast of a series of water and sanitation (watsan) edu-tainment films produced in collaboration with a well-known Acehnese comedy troupe.

The screening of the "Eumpang Breuh" comedy edu-tainment films before an audience of 30,000 follows an IOM survey conducted in 11 districts in Aceh between December 2007 and January 2008.

The "Knowledge, Attitude and Practices" baseline survey indicated that while awareness of water, hygiene and sanitation issues was high, actual practice was unacceptably low.

"Less than 50 percent of the Acehnese are engaging in healthy and hygienic practices. This is quite worrying, particularly among young people and children. Healthy behaviours ought to start from an early age," says Riza Adirza, IOM Aceh’s public health coordinator for watsan projects.

IOM's campaign was supported by UNICEF and international NGOs in the province, including the American, Australian, Canadian, Irish, Norwegian and Spanish Red Cross, Save the Children, the Mentor Initiative and CARE International.

"This is a good opportunity for international organizations implementing programmes similar to IOM’s to deliver the message to the community about the importance of clean water, hygiene and sanitation. I believe this kind of awareness-raising can help behaviour change among the greater community in Aceh and positive results will be seen in short time," says Nina Soares, the American Red Cross’ hygiene promotion advisor.

The campaign uses the comedy team of Johni Kapluk and Eumpang Breuh, who have have used their routines for the past three years to successfully deliver social messages in Aceh.

"The Acehnese have been receiving so much help from the international community, as a gesture of our appreciation, we decided to be the part of this campaign," says Johni Kapluk, whose hugely popular act has sold an estimated one million VCDs in Indonesia and Malaysia in recent years.

Over 30,000 people attended screenings in four cities despite the challenge of travel during the rainy season. Each one-day event also involved games for children and adults and competitions with the central theme of clean water, hygiene and sanitation.

"Johni tells us how important it is to wash our hands with soap. I don’t want to get a stomach ache or diarrhoea, so from now on, I will never forget to wash my hands with soap," says 11-year-old Ahmad Nissam from Lhokseumawe.

IOM has been involved in post-disaster reconstruction efforts in Aceh since the December 26, 2004 tsunami claimed an estimated 170,000 lives in Indonesia’s northernmost province.