AJL Productions

COVID has now become part of our everyday lives, but that doesn’t mean that it’s over and we can shrug it off as inconsequential. For those most vulnerable populations such as the elderly, healthcare workers and all those in the food production industry, understanding the easily accessible tools they can use to reduce their risk of contracting and spreading this virus is the key to their wellbeing and the wellbeing of their communities. There is now a new free and easy way to do this with the recently released, easy to understand, short, animated video in both English and Spanish titled COVID: Use the Tools, Reduce the Spread. This unique animation was intentionally designed to communicate the most up-to-date information on COVID in both English and Spanish. Easy to understand, these videos take a unique spin on messaging by using animation and presenting information through the voice of a mask. “A mask is a tool that anyone can choose to use,” says Dr. Eddie Kasner of the University of Washington, Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (PNASH). 

 

This bilingual video gives a clear message of what COVID is, how it spreads, what to do if you test positive, and how best to protect yourself and others. They are all about informing the viewer regardless of their background, native language, profession, income or education. The premise is that if you know the facts you can then assess the risks you are willing to take with your health and the health of others.  These animations are what you get when a team of passionate, creative minds get together at the start of a pandemic, keep their eyes on the facts, and patiently work and rework their ideas with experts in the field.  The result is high quality, clear, public messaging that is culturally sensitive, inclusive and easily accessible. Made to be used at home, for worker training/education and thus for the greater public good, there is no charge for viewing/passing along these videos. They are free to all who are interested. Pete Van Well, Senior Manager at Van Well Nurseries in Wenatchee, WA is eager to share these videos with his workers in their upcoming training sessions but also sees them as a resource, in a readily available medium, that is accessible to anyone.

 

The project director, creator and producer is filmmaker Dr. Alexandra Lewis-Lorentz, owner of AJL Productions. These videos were funded by Comunicativo through a grant from Group Health Foundation (now Inatai Foundation) in Seattle, and were produced in collaboration with the University of Washington’s Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (PNASH) in Seattle. Alexandra has years of teaching to her credit and is emphatic that “public messaging has to be understandable, inclusive and empowering”.  Over the past 18 years she has produced/directed/written bilingual health and safety videos all concerned with safety and health of farmworkers and their families. Her videos have been viewed by thousands and incorporated into farmworker training around the USA. Her mission is that everyone deserves access to credible, understandable information when it comes to their health so that they can then assess their risks and make the best possible decisions for themselves and their communities. 

 

AJL Productions would like to extend a huge thank you to Ofelio Borges,  Program Manager, Technical Services and Education, Washington State Department of Agriculture; the University of Washington’s Northwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), Dr. Kasner at the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (PNASH), Center for One Health Research, and the University of Washington School of Public Health and many others  for providing valuable insight into this project during the two years of production. 

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