Traditional storytellers in Chad, known as troubadours, are taking life-saving messages to remote communities in the Sahelian country, as the Government steps up its efforts with the support of the UN to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some 80 troubadours - a medieval French term for wandering singers and poets who focused on courtly love - are now on the move to remote areas in eight provinces in Chad to raise awareness of the dangers of COVID-19 and what measures need to be taken to stop the spread of the deadly disease.

Spreading the word

In a vast, yet scarcely populated country, where close to three-quarters of the population live in rural areas, with limited or non-existent access to radio, mobile or internet technologies, the role of these troubadours is crucial according to Violet Kakyomya, the UN Resident Coordinator in Chad, the UN's most senior representative in the country.

The UN has worked with the authorities in Chad to send 1,040 community workers to eight provinces to promote safe behaviours including social distancing and washing hands properly, and to counter the spread of misinformation about coronavirus or COVID-19.

Myth-busting

"Many people say that coronavirus cannot survive in the heat of Chad, so I tell them that this is not true and that there are already cases in our country," says Amina Gomnalta, a social worker in the central district of N'Djamena, the capital of Chad.

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