Malaria Comic Book from Chillibreeze

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Read news reports about the comic book.

Get involved with the malaria comic book campaign.

For several years, the directors of Chillibreeze Solutions Pvt Ltd have nurtured the dream of giving something back to the society. This year, the dream turned into reality, when the company, a content and design service provider using its own in-house expertise produced “A Tale of Two Magic Potions”, a comic book with a novel theme. A Tale of Two Magic Potions aims to spread Malaria awareness in India, especially in areas where the disease is more prevalent, such as North East India.

The comic book is the first in a series of health comics intended to entertain, engage and educate school-going children all over India.

Why a comic book?

Malaria awareness projects have always been about brochures, Q&As and pamphlets directed at adults rather than children. We wanted to change this by targeting children, the pillars of our future society and by introducing an element of entertainment. Our quest for something that would capture a young reader's interest while providing knowledge about the subject led us to the idea of the comic book. We hope kids will pass on this knowledge to their parents and to the society in general.

Campaign kicks off at Shillong, North East India

Chillibreeeze kicked off its Malaria awareness campaign by distributing the comic book to Class Five students in three schools in Shillong, Meghalaya, where the company is headquartered. To gauge the effectiveness of the comic book, Chillibreeze staff conducted pre-distribution and post-distribution quizzes with attractive prizes.

Chillibreeze staff arrived at each the school premises after prior permission from the principals and talked to the students about the upcoming Malaria quiz contest. The format of the questionnaire was explained and students were given ten minutes to complete the multiple choice quiz. Once the quiz was done, the malaria comic books were handed out to all the students. The students were then told that Chillibreeze would be returning soon for the final quiz contest. The best performance would be rewarded with a certificate and a prize.

The post-distribution contests were conducted a few days after the day the comics were distributed. The students showed a visible improvement in their knowledge about Malaria as indicated by their quiz answers.

According to Dr. Nishi Viswanathan, one of the directors at Chillibreeze.com, this pilot project is just the beginning of a long campaign. "Though it is essentially a preventable disease, hundreds of people in India die of Malaria. Distributing mosquito nets will help to a certain extent but the long term solution lies in empowering tomorrow's citizens with knowledge. Of course, ours is a small effort and it has just begun. But we hope we are able to add more than a few drops to the ocean," says Dr. Viswanathan, a medical doctor and the author of the comic book.

The future?

Our future plans include translating the book into various Indian languages and distributing the book free of cost at public schools across India, especially in areas with high prevalence of Malaria. Obviously, this is an ambitious project and will need a lot of investment in terms of time and money.

How individuals can make a difference

Anyone who is interested in being part of this campaign is welcome to pitch in. We are looking for volunteers to help with distribution of the comic book. You can probably contact government/municipality schools/pediatricians/community health care clinics/NGOs/Corporates in your area and help print and distribute the book.

You can:

Send in your suggestions/ideas for the project and how we can fund it OR how we can make it self-sustaining
Spread the word about the book both online and offline (blog about the project, use social networks and your contacts, etc)
Help publish articles in the press, about the project [Read current press reports about the book: http://www.chillibreeze.com/ChillibreezeInTheNews.asp]
Help us pitch for corporate or NGO support for printing the book
Help translate the book into your mother tongue/any Indian language
Read the book out to an underprivileged kid you know (your maid's or driver's kid for instance)
Help us write or illustrate other health comics
Contact pediatricians to see if they are interested in getting a few copies for their office
Come up with your own ideas and suggestions to improve the campaign

If you would like to help out but are not sure how, feel free to write to us at info@chillibreeze.com.

Seeking Corporate Sponsorship

Since we routinely work with freelance professionals, our company has access to a wide network of freelancers spread all over India. Quite a few of them have expressed their interest in being part of this campaign. Though we have volunteers to distribute the book, printing thousands of copies of the book so it can reach a wide audience is probably going to be the biggest expense in this campaign. Since this is an entirely non-profit undertaking, we hope to build strategic partnerships and garner corporate support.

Corporates and NGOs can help with the printing and distribution of the comic book. We are open to sharing the distribution license with other organizations as long as this helps reach a wider audience. Our team has several ideas on how we can partner to make this campaign a success. We would love to hear your thoughts too.

To discuss corporate sponsorship or distribution rights, contact info at Chillibreeze.com.

Questions? Suggestions?

If you have any questions or comments regarding the book, its translation, its distribution or the campaign in general, feel free to write to us at info at Chillibreeze.com.

Press enquiries can be directed to info at Chillibreeze.com too.

About Chillibreeze:

Launched in June 2004 by Ralph Budelman, Chillibreeze Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is a content and design service provider catering to the needs of a global clientele. A passion for content writing and design, high standards for quality and the ambition to scale new heights set Chillibreeze apart. We hold ourselves to high standards and are constantly looking for ways to improve and enhance our services.

In addition to Chillibreeze, our team manages several other websites including India-reports, a website that provides India-centric business reports and Chillifreeze, a website for Indian writers. Our non-profit ventures such as the comic book, stem from our desire to add value to the society. A social entrepreneurship website is in the charts.

About the Author:

Dr. Nishi Viswanathan, Co-founder and Director at Chillibreeze is a medical doctor-turned-entrepreneur. Nishi has been working in the area of Online Marketing and Content Strategy for the past four years. This comic book is close to her heart because it helped her leverage both her creativity and her medical knowledge for a good cause. Nishi is extremely committed to her goal — Making a difference in this world.

Contact us:

Address:

Chillibreeze Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
Software Technology Park of India, Lawmali,
Shillong - 793001, Meghalaya, India

Email id:

Info at Chillibreeze.com

Phone number:

+91 (364) 2590304

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