In May 2002, Africare field officers organised community events including radio listening clubs around broadcasts of the ALC. For three hours every week, hundreds of people at ten programme sites in each country gathered to listen to the ALC.

Listening sessions were preceded by hour-long cultural events and are followed by facilitated discussions during which community members discuss programme content, and its applicability to their particular circumstances.

HIV/AIDS

The pilot phase of the project ended in September 2003. A final evaluation of the project indicated that more than 50000 people participated directly in the project. Millions more were reached by community radio stations. “There was a significant increase in the number of youth aged 15-24 requesting condoms from hospitals and clinics among project participants. In some project sites, there was an increase of between 30 and 100% in use of VCT sites.

Several community initiatives arose as a direct result of participation in listening clubs. For example, a youth initiative following an ALC broadcast about wife inheritance and HIV/AIDS has resulted in the banning of the practice in Mwase village in Zambia. “Project participants felt better equipped to deal with some of the psychosocial aspects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic because of the programmes.”