Children are told not to play on the pumps. The actors also warn the villagers to use latrines instead of allowing human waste to accumulate in their yards and streets. They are instructed to wash their hands after using the latrines and to seal them after they are full. Mozambique flood victims are taught to drink clean water. These simple messages can make life-saving differences in the lives of many people, says Halladay.
Audience members agree that they have learned important lessons.
The floods that ravaged much of the country earlier this year contaminated wells and destroyed latrines, making people who had already suffered from the floods susceptible to disease. But even before the disaster, people already were at risk, says Alfredo Chioze, secretary general of the Maputo city Red Cross. Only 37 percent of the country's population have access to clean water, and 66 percent of households have no latrines, according to a 1997 government census. When it rains, the old latrines fall apart and the waste spreads. When the children play in it, they get cholera.