Tanzania - Educating children about road safety issues

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Safety Road - Committed to promoting safer mobility

Valentine Mugendi, director of an advertising agency in Tanzania, organized a road safety education campaign for children, launched by Total in september 2012.

Total contacted my agency to organize a road safety education campaign for children on its behalf. Road traffic accidents kill more young children in Tanzania than diseases such as malaria. Total’s initiative was therefore particularly welcome, as it built upon existing government-run programs.

60,000 children educated in 240 schools

We launched the campaign in Dar es Salaam to coincide with Road Safety Week in September 2012. The initiative was then rolled out across 240 schools over a period of three weeks. Each session was based on an educational kit supplied by Total, known as the “Safety Cube”.

It contained brochures and teaching materials, such as a road network that could be installed in the school playground. It was really effective. The aim of the campaign was to highlight the importance of road safety and get the children to talk about the subject. We organized educational and fun events in each school, involving groups of actors, dancers and DJs, as well as police officers with special educational training. All the participants received accessories such as T-shirts and posters with campaign branding. The campaign was also advertised on the radio and on TV.

Making a lasting impression

One of the advantages of the "Safety Cube" was that it contained items that pupils and teachers could come back to in the future. Some schools in Tanzania have up to 600 children on roll. It’s therefore important to have materials that can be passed from class to class. This campaign was just a start, however. The challenge now is to ensure that the good work done lasts into the future, and to distribute the “Cube” more widely.