Anchoring Awareness in the Community - Handicap International

HIV/AIDS in Somali, which were well-known
and very popular, were broadcast between
pauses in speaking.
Make the message a “habit”
by giving it a story line
One of the keys to success of the radio
messages was the use of the fictitious “diary”
of a PLWHIV. With each radio message, the
audience discovered the daily worries of this
person by “reading” the diary: confrontation
of discrimination, treatment, etc. In addition
to making the testimony more alive, this way
of presenting it had the advantage of making
listeners want to hear the next episode of the
story, thus making it a habit.
Choose prime-time broadcasting
Around Dire Dawa, prime broadcasting time
is in the afternoon, because people are at
home, chewing khat and listening to the radio,
especially on Saturday. Although it was first
scheduled as a morning show, the program
was changed to a later time. Arguments
presented to the radio station on the fact that
HIV/AIDS awareness is an important topic
allowed obtaining a better broadcast time:
Wednesday and Saturday at noon, right after
the news.
SUCCESS STORY:
RADIO BROADCASTS ACCLAIMED
BY HEALTH AUTHORITIES
After listening to some of the radio
broadcasts, the Somali Region Health
Office, an Ethiopian government
partner in the project, asked Handicap
International for copies of the
broadcasts and the right to use them.
The idea was to broadcast the set of
messages at the regional level.
Evaluate impact from the beginning
When the project of producing 40 messages
was being developed, it was decided to set
aside budget for evaluating the impact of these
messages. This was done after the broadcast
of the 40 messages at two sites in order to
measure the impact of radio messages
and provide recommendations for the next
steps. In this context, two focus groups were
organized, as well as interviews with key
persons, such as members of the Handicap
International team and institutional partners.
People from the village were also questioned at
random at the two sites. From this evaluation, it
was clear that there was a unanimous desire,
expressed by both inhabitants and authorities,
that the program should continue!
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