Thato Chwaane
26 September 2004
Population Services International (PSI) Botswana has come up with a new media programme to effectively communicate to the youth information they can easily relate to. 'Choose Life!' is a health communications initiative through print, radio and television.
Choose Life! manager Puseletso Mompei explained that a lot of work has been put into the programme, with over six months invested in researching and talking to young people at schools and stakeholders like the Ministry of Education, Childline and BONEPWA. "First we had to test the material and make a draft and present to the gatekeepers, such as heads of schools, teachers, parents and church leaders," she said. Choose Life! is sponsored by Soul City a South African non-governmental organisation which produces radio and television series and prints publications. Choose Life! involves the adaptation of original Soul City material to make it relevant to the target audience in Botswana - the 8-18-year-olds.
Choose Life! Programme is part of an eight-country Regional Health Communication Programme that includes Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia and Zimbabwe. However, Mompei states that after the five-year period of sponsorship, Choose Life! would be a local brand standing on its own.
She said that while researching for the programme, they had to add issues of particular interest such as intergenerational sex and abstinence.
The programme hopes to produce a radio drama series that targets eight-12 year olds, adapted from Soul buddies radio drama series. Mompei said for seven to eight months they have researched and tested the material by taking it to schools. They are developing it for airing in one of the radio stations by mid 2005.
Another project under Choose Life! is a booklet on women and violence that is in the pipeline and is expected in mid 2005. This will target the 15-18 year olds, and will cover issues such as date rape and defilement among others. Soul City is assisting with skills transfer, funding and technical assistance.
The guest speaker at the launch of the campaign last week was spokesperson for the President Jeff Ramsay who commended the work of PSI. He said the launch of a multi-media campaign would be a challenge to PSI like the other challenges it approached with vigour.
Ramsay commended PSI for targeting the right audience with the radio series stating that youngsters arrive at secondary at the age between 11 and 14, when they are vulnerable to infection with the Aids virus.
Ramsay said that HIV/Aids educational campaigns have in the past been criticised to be wide in their targets and advised that media messages need to be more focused. "Media messages need to be focused in terms of age and environment, the latter being broadly understood to take in such factors as an individual's socio-economic and geographic location," Ramsay said.
He said the 2002 National Drug Control Coordinating Council found that levels of alcohol, dagga and tobacco smoking among teenagers is greater in Gaborone than other areas. Substance abuse is said to be a contributing factor in the spread of the virus in the age groups of 12 to 25 year olds.
He said Choose Life! which will focus on substance abuse and HIV/Aids would empower young people to say no to all forms of risky behaviours.
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