Tell Our Bac-Stories!

2017-04-04

In one way or another we are all storytellers, we all have something to say. This is why ReAct Latin America, in cooperation with the University of Azuay and the Catholic University of Cuenca, has launched a regional open call: Tell Our Bac-Stories! The purpose is to collect stories about antibiotic resistance, Sumak Kawsay (an indigenous term for well being), antibiotic misuse, nutrition, mother earth, one health and similar topics.

This campaign is not only looking for the classic medical history narrative, but is also open to other points of view: artistic, ecological and cultural. In this way, we hope to capture stories based on evidence, research, popular beliefs and even poetry. We hope that this will serve as basis for scientific development as well as a means to create a more harmonious environment.

Medical students created stories about bacterial resistance

At a conference earlier this year, more than 200 students of the Academic Unit of Health and Wellbeing at the Catholic University of Cuenca, brought new perspectives to the campaign Tell Our Bac-Stories.

Through illustration, graphic design and audiovisual material, third and fourth year medical students created stories about antibiotic resistance, Sumak Kawsay and health. Characters like Daniela, a girl with a urinary tract infection, Lucrecia the Bacteria, or Pablito, a comic book hero, raised awareness through informative dialogues and educational material.

Patricia Ochoa, professor at the Catholic University of Cuenca, said that while the idea of these microbial stories stemmed from the campaign carried out together with ReAct Latin America,

“the heart and soul of the work belongs to the students, who in a two-month process, freely chose the way that the messages were delivered”.