Designing successful textile teaching tools requires many rounds of prototyping and modification based on feedback from constituents, public health officals, and scientists in the field.
The current prototype for an HIV "Story-telling cloth" focuses on Mother to Child Transmission Prevention (MTCTP). The pattern features a couple with a new baby; incorporating the initiative to change the name “mother to child transmission prevention” to “parent to child transmission prevention” to encourage male participation. The father holds a pill in his palm to show his engagement for antiretroviral treatment (ART); he assists his partner with management and adherence to ART. The mother holds the baby to her breast; showing that breastfeeding while taking ART is safe and healthy for the infant.
Encircling the family unit, a network of spears keeps the HIV virus at bay. The spears represent the couple’s weapons in the fight against HIV. Three banners proclaim, “Testing, Adherence, and Safe Delivery”. By using the "weapons" at their disposal; knowing their HIV status, adhering to ART, and giving birth at a clinic with a trained midwife, parents can prevent HIV transmission to their infant.
Mama Niaré and Fatim Ndiaye share their opinions on the HIV pattern prototype at the Sikoro Community Health Clinic in Bamako, Mali
Eliza with Dr. Malick Sene, National HIV Director in Bamako, Mali in August 2016
The "Story-telling cloth" for Ebola Prevention was developed in 2014 and has been field tested in Mali and Sierra Leone. The pattern shows the ebola virus isolated by the protecting, interlocking arms of health workers, preventing the spread of bodily fluids around the world.
