The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Even Now There is Still Hope – Swaziland

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Even Now There is Still Hope is a radio programme based on a theatrical presentation, that was itself based on a health motivator lecture, which was showing how HIV/AIDS is spread from one individual to another until an entire community is at risk.
Communication Strategies

The programme shows the relationships between family members and lovers, from married couples to cheating spouses, and even sexual predators. All inadvertently passed on HIV to their partners or victims. Each character is connected by a string, until the board resembled a colourful spider's web of entangled relationships. At the end, the viewer understood how it was possible that in ten years, HIV has come to infect a third of the Swazi population.

The script written for health motivators uses the board, called 'The String Game', and UNICEF produced dozens of boards for presentations at mostly rural community centres throughout the country. Swazi theatrical producer Modison Magagula mounted a travelling stage production of the game.

"The story shows people's positive reactions to the HIV/AIDS crisis. People get tested: young people before getting married; women about to give birth, so there can be intervention to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV."

Development Issues

HIV/AIDS

Key Points

Programme organisers say the show's purpose is to provide information and is different from other attempts at HIV/AIDS communication in Swaziland with its focus on behaviour. "The information is now out there, people know all about HIV/AIDS but this knowledge has not changed behaviour. We aim to do that."

Partners

UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Sources

Janet Feldman sent an e-mail to Soul Beat Africa on August 16 2004.