The game show format, known locally as a ‘family show’, is a fun competition about health that brings the community together while increasing knowledge. A light-hearted atmosphere in the crowd belies the intense preparation for the event, by organizers and participants alike.

In Labutta, Ayeyarwady Region, 3MDG partners Charity-Oriented Myanmar and Development Parami Value identified a lack of health knowledge amongst women. So in 2013, the concept of a game show aimed at women was introduced. To prepare for the show, participants attend ‘women’s talk shows’ – which are practice workshops.

For Ko Tain Lin, Chairman of Development Parami Value, the impact of the competition and preparation sessions has been clear:

In the preparation workshops, women learnt about nutrition, childbirth and accessing care from trained healthcare staff. Next, they were given the chance to put their knowledge to the test and share what they had learnt with their community, in the shows held in villages around the area.

The culmination of these shows is the grand finale, bringing together the five programme villages to compete about the depth of their health knowledge. Jump into the day of the finale, and soak in the atmosphere by looking through our photos.

In December, the grand finale of Labutta’s health game shows took place in Taung Gone Village. More than 100 people attended to find out who had learned the most health knowledge during 2016.

The final show began with a series of performances by the village children. The performances included dance routines and traditional Myanmar songs. 

In preparation for the competition, 100 questions had been developed by healthcare staff. Each of the five of the participating villages got to choose three representatives to answer the questions.

If a team knew the answer to the question, they could race to hit their buzzers. Because there was a limited time to answer each question, teams had to think quickly and answer concisely. 

The judges were five healthcare staff. They awarded points based on each teams answer. 

The shows are not only about the competitors but the audience too. In the grand finale, they were given the opportunity to learn more about healthcare and cheer on their peers. 

The atmosphere of the competition was both serious and fun, as team members quickly guessed, hesitated and jumped for joy while answering the questions.

But in the end, thorough knowledge was rewarded. The winners of Labutta’s final game show were the skilled women of Hnin Zi village.

After the competition, all teams were awarded prizes for sharing their health knowledge with their community. 

These competitions offer an opportunity for knowledge sharing and empowerment. Women not only get involved in the healthcare process, but they are teaching others as well. In addition, relationships are built between health care staff and communities, which helps to increase trust and the awareness of services.

After the show, Charity-Oriented Myanmar’s Director Thazin Aung interviewed the contestants. "When we talk to them and the community, we find out how to improve their participation in these game shows, and we get a better understanding of their impact.”