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This issue of The Soul Beat looks at the link between culture, communication, and development. The newsletter offers a selection of summaries from the Soul Beat Africa website that aim to highlight the important role that culture plays when communicating around issues such as HIV/AIDS, general health, gender, and natural resource management. It also looks at how culture is, on a more practical level, being integrated into communication and development practice, and it concludes with a selection of upcoming events and trainings related to this topic.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTURE IN COMMUNICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT
1. Culture and African Contexts of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care and Support
by C. O. Airhihenbuwa and J. DeWitt Webster
According to this article, culture plays a vital role in determining the level of health of the individual, the family, and the community. This is particularly relevant in the context of Africa, where the values of extended family and community significantly influence the behaviour of the individual. The behaviour of the individual in relation to family and community is one major cultural factor that has implications for sexual behaviour and HIV/AIDS prevention, and control efforts. In this article, PEN-3, a model developed to centralise culture in health promotion interventions, is presented as a framework to be used in HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support in Africa. The three domains of the PEN-3 model incorporate specific constructs: relationships and expectations, cultural empowerment, and cultural identity.
2. Culture, the Missing Link in Development Planning in Africa
by Kwesi Kwaa Prah
This paper argues that communication and development strategies in Africa must take into account cultural and indigenous practices, particularly language, in order to escape colonial legacies of development and education, which in the author's view, have contributed to the stagnation of intellectual development of African communities and the marginalisation of indigenous knowledge and cultural identities.
3. What's Culture Got to Do with HIV and AIDS? Why the global strategy for HIV and AIDS needs to adopt a cultural approach
by Helen Gould, Creative Exchange, Healthlink Worldwide
This HealthLink paper reports the initial findings from a project entitled HIV/AIDS: The Creative Challenge, which was developed by Creative Exchange in partnership with Exchange and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The premise of this paper is that culturally mediated approaches to communicating messages on HIV/AIDS are more effective than mass media messages from the biomedical community to the local community. The author provides an introductory analysis of the concept of culture, looks at examples and success stories of effective application of cultural approaches to HIV/AIDS communication, and sets out the terms of the debate around culture in the context of the current international HIV/AIDS strategy.
4. Factoring Poverty and Culture into HIV/AIDS Campaigns: Empirical Support for Audience Segmentation
by Haejin Yun and Bella Mody, University of Durban-Westville, South Africa; and Kay Govender, Michigan State University, USA
This study observes the communication patterns of economically poor black and Indian teenagers in Durban, South Africa, to investigate the extent to which ethnic and cultural factors may influence the effectiveness of communication campaigns on HIV/AIDS. The study is theoretically guided by the idea of audience segmentation, which posits that desired goals of communication (e.g., behaviour change) are easier to achieve when messages are tailored to economically and culturally distinct sub-groups in the audience. By using this model, the authors challenge the "one-shoe-fits-all" communication strategy in AIDS campaigns and provide empirical evidence in support of audience segmentation in HIV/AIDS communication campaigns.
5. Effect of Culture and Environment on the Behaviour of Namibian Youth
In partnership with the University of Namibia through support by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), researchers from Research Facilitation Services in Windhoek and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs (CCP) conducted the qualitative study to determine the effect of culture and environment on youth behaviour. The study aimed to provide information for the development of a radio magazine programme to address lifestyle issues for youth called "The Suzie and Shafa Show”. The research found that youth walk a tightrope between urban and youth cultures and many hold very traditional views of male and female roles, yet at the same time they are experimenting with other roles they see modeled in the media. The research also found that many youth do not understand the meaning of abstinence, faithfulness, and to a lesser extent monogamy, and this study recommends that the meanings of these common AIDS-prevention words need to be carefully tested in native languages to ensure clear understanding by youth.
6. Focusing on the Forest, Not Just the Tree: Cultural Strategies for Combating AIDS
by Arvind Singhal, School of Communication Studies, Ohio University
This article challenges the reliance of behaviour change communication (BCC) interventions for HIV prevention, care, and support on individuals ("the tree") as the locus of change. The author's claim here is that attending to the "forest" of which individuals are a part - that is, locally-situated knowledge, including its cultural elements - can be an effective strategy in designing and implementing HIV/AIDS communication campaigns. He states that attention to the social and cultural construction of sexuality is key to effective communication-centred programming, as illustrated by two research studies from Brazil and Kenya discussed in the document.
7. Empowerment through Inclusion: The Case of Women in the Discourses of Advertising in Botswana
by Violet Lunga, Language and Social Science Education, University of Botswana
In this article, the author offers a critique of an advertisement used in a national government's public HIV/AIDS education campaign in Botswana by situating it within the context of socio-cultural constraints encompassing gender relations, identity, post-colonial Africa, and globalisation. The advertisement portrayed a serious and resolute-looking woman ready to stop a man's sexual advances toward her. The author argues, however, that the billboard as a whole was ineffective in fighting HIV/AIDS because it failed to address the socio-cultural constraints to which Botswanan women were subjected. The author calls for a more holistic approach in HIV/AIDS campaigns and suggests a multimedia strategy in which different forms of media work in conjunction to focus individually on separate aspects of complex HIV/AIDS issues. She asserts that complexity and not simplicity should be highlighted for HIV/AIDS education to be effective.
8. Culture and Sexual Risk
by Han ten Brummelhuis and Gilbert Herdt (eds.)
This book adds to AIDS literature a collection of 16 articles and studies on sexual risk and its cultural configurations. Chapters on the Philippines, Brazil, Haiti, and Africa explore the cultural, political, and economic contexts surrounding the transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS in these cultures. The book seeks to address many themes that have emerged over the last few years: the ethics of sex research, the role of Western anthropologists in developing nations, the role of heterosexuals in AIDS research, and the impact of AIDS on the discipline of anthropology.
9. Adapting Communication to a Dynamic Cultural Landscape: Recommendations for the Development and Implementation of a Bushmeat Crisis Task Force Public Awareness Campaign in Central Africa
by Jennifer Obadia, Marcela Caro, and Nate Anderson, Bushmeat Crisis Task Force and the Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology Problem Solving Team, University of Maryland
This document from the Bushmeat Crisis Task (BCTF) analyses 19 conservation organisations in Africa and Asia in order to look for promising educational and public awareness campaign (PAC) tools to help end the bushmeat crisis in Central Africa. Based on these case studies, the document makes recommendations for the development and implementation of a new public awareness campaign to address the bushmeat issue. The cases presented here include a description of each organisation and, critical to this study, approaches to communication in educational and public awareness messages. As stated in the introduction to the case studies: "Successful public awareness campaigns build strong relationships with local people; are flexible and willing to adapt to the cultural environment; provide clear, concise and relevant messages; and function as a part of a greater development campaign, allowing individuals to turn awareness into action."
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Soul Beat Africa is seeking information on Language and Development in Africa!
We are looking for programme experiences and research documents on the issue of Language and Communication for Development for the Soul Beat Africa website and possibly for a newsletter later in the year. We would love to hear from you. Please send information to soulbeat@comminit.com
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INTEGRATING CULTURE INTO DEVELOPMENT - WHAT HAPPENS IN PRACTICE
10. Culture and Health Programme for Africa (CHAPS) - Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa
Culture has a vital influence on health, shaping definitions of illness and determining how health-related decisions are made. Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), through the Culture and Health Programme for Africa (CHAPS), encourages communities to reflect on cultural practices that affect health both positively and negatively. CHAPS projects seek to serve as catalysts within communities, hoping to increase awareness and dialogue about cultural practices that affect health, and engage communities in developing strategies that will improve their health and wellbeing. CHAPS projects have promoted intergenerational dialogue, and the use of traditional maternal health care workers and traditional healers to encourage positive health practices.
Contact: Janet Shauri info@path.org OR jshauri@path.org
11. Amani Peoples Theatre - Kenya
This is an organisation that brings together volunteer trainers to use their talents and experiences to employ interactive participatory theatre for conflict transformation, peace-building and development in Kenya. The APT process integrates education, entertainment, and research to explore context-specific issues related to conflict and development and seeks to enhance the community's search for creative, non-violent responses. This process involves identifying cultural traits which keep on producing conflict among different Kenyan communities and preventing peace, and re-establishing a working relationship between the conflicting communities and peoples.
Contact: Michael O. Owiso owiso@aptkenya.org OR apt@aptkenya.org
12. End Female Genital Mutilation project - Guinea
This project, supported by the Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), aims to assist in the eradication of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Guinea, West Africa by using a Listening and Dialogue Approach to communicating with communities. The project is motivated by GTZ's observation that many local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Guinea were employing a medicalised and patronising approach in their sessions with communities that did not take into account the cultural value and function of the practice of FGM. Their approach is based on the assumption that “development can only happen when we create a safe space for discussion and dialogue, where people feel respected and heard, where culture and tradition are taken seriously, yet can be adapted to a changing world.”
Contact: Gisela Rosenberger Gisela.Rosenberger@gtz.de OR Bianca Schimmel bianca.schimmel@gtz.de
13. Culture, HIV and AIDS: An Annotated Bibliography
by Vinh-Kim Nguyen, Jennifer Klot, Alton Phillips, and Catherine Pirkle
This annotated bibliography provides an overview of theoretical perspectives analysing the complex relations between culture, HIV and AIDS. Intended for those working to design culturally appropriate programmes for HIV/AIDS education, each item in this bibliography, organised alphabetically by (lead) author's last name, includes full publication information in addition to a brief synopsis of each document. The bibliography includes literature that examines how culture shapes the pandemic and its impacts as well as references that focus on the response to the epidemic, situating this response in the broader socio-cultural context.
14. Haba na Haba/Little by Little: Stories of Culture, Health and Community [DVD/VHS]
Filmed in Kenya in 2003, this 38-minute documentary aims to explore the relationship between traditional culture and community health. What is the relationship between traditional culture and community health? Are newer ways always better? In Haba na Haba, these questions are explored by 4 local groups in Kenyan tribal communities. Each group is working to preserve, revive, discourage or adapt a traditional practice in order to improve the health of their community.
15. Cultural Practices and Positive Living Among People Living with HIV/AIDS in Malawi
by Michael Jana, PSI/Malawi
This qualitative research study was commissioned to explore Malawian cultural practices that promote positive living, on the one hand, and those that hinder positive living among people with HIV/AIDS, on the other. The major goal of the research was to incorporate the results in a booklet called "Living Positively with HIV/AIDS" being produced by Pakachere Media Communication Project in Malawi. The objective of the booklet was to help remove cultural barriers and exploit cultural opportunities that promote positive living among people with HIV/AIDS.
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Also see this issue of The Drum Beat newsletter from the Communication Initiative:
The Drum Beat 281 - Engaging Culture in Development
January 10 2005
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EVENTS AND TRAINING
16. International Conference on African Culture and Development (ICACD 2008)-"Cultural Dynamics: Greasing the Wheels of Africa's Development" (April 21 - 26 2008) - Kumasi, Ghana
According to the organisers, African governments and their development partners worldwide often sideline culture when it comes to development issues. Whenever culture is mentioned, it is more likely to centre on arts or the preservation of cultural heritage. This conference aims to examine how global actions, policies, and programmes for Africa are affected by the various cultures of Africa, as well as how the culture and the social set up of African societies can complement programmes and policies directed at achieving desired goals such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
17. Using Culturally Sensitive Approaches to Address Gender-Based Violence (Apr 21-25 2008) - Kenya, Nairobi
The Center for African Family Studies (CAFS) is a regional collaborating centre of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in its worldwide effort to improve the quality and scope of reproductive health. This one-week course is designed to provide practical skills in using culturally sensitive approaches to develop and implement interventions and develop partnerships with community change agents to address gender-based violence.
