Youth in Dialogue - Nelson Mandela Foundation

About Community Dialogues
Mothomang Diaho
Head of the Dialogue Programme, Nelson Mandela Foundation
A
lot of responses to
HIV and AIDS to
date have focused
on raising awareness
using various messages.
Whilst there is value in
this approach, efforts
must also focus on communities
taking responsibility
and owning their
own responses to the
epidemic.
Our approach to involving
communities in this particular
dialogue series centred around
encouraging open discussion
and obtaining commitments
to change that came from
the communities themselves.
The dialogues provided a
safe space for communities
to engage without fear and to
tackle difficult issues head on,
thus preparing the way for
them to decide on the actions
required in their particular
circumstances.
The facilitated dialogues
were guided by a clear
implementation process that
included the identification
of local partners within
communities (the model works
best if it is facilitated by local
partners), follow-up visits
by the facilitation teams and
documentation.
The implementation phase
was also followed by a series
of review and reflection
sessions with partners
involved with the process.
The data gathered at
these dialogue sessions is a
genuine reflection
of individual
and community
concerns which
must ultimately be
incorporated into
local plans and
subsequent national
plans for action. The
involvement of local
municipalities is
critical in ensuring
that these concerns
are eventually
reflected and acted
upon.
The community
dialogues deliberately
used arts and the
media to engage
young people. The
facilitation teams
worked hand-in-hand
with Viva Hecate Productions,
which staged an industrial
theatre production, Khululeka,
before each interactive dialogue
session. The play focused on
educating youth in a dynamic
and entertaining way about
HIV/AIDS, and was a good
way to introduce some of the
challenging issues around
HIV/AIDS in a non-threatening
and interesting way.
In addition, as part of each
dialogue event, youth within
communities were encouraged
to paint murals on walls with
messages that are relevant in
their lives. All the dialogue
events were announced to
the community through local
community radio stations.
The use of theatre, murals
and media together helped to
facilitate meaningful exchange
Mothomang Diaho.
in communities and to ensure
wider engagement.
This form of community
engagement has been
implemented in a number of
countries with very different
social, economic and political
situations – including those
with high and low prevalence
rates, mostly rural and highly
urban ones. Innovative ways
of engaging communities have
to be encouraged to enhance
current responses to the
epidemic.
In summary, the inclusive
approach we strove to achieve
through the youth community
dialogues aimed at stimulating
and sustaining change from
within, in order to help all
involved understand and
adopt the message, “It’s in our
hands”.
YOUTH IN DIALOGUE