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. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. You can also follow the QR Code: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

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Toma Mi Mano ("Take My Hand")

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In March 2018, Population Media Center (PMC), an international nonprofit that creates entertainment to address the rights of women and girls and environmental sustainability, launched a Spanish radio show in Guatemala. Expected to be broadcast until September 2019, the 156-episode show addresses reproductive health and teen pregnancy, rape and gender-based violence, and gang violence.

Communication Strategies

Toma Mi Mano ("Take My Hand") follows PMC's methodology for cataylsing change through entertainment that works on deep-seated, harmful norms and behaviours. For each issue addressed in PMC's shows, writers develop three character types: positive, negative, and transitional. Behaviour theory guides fictional interplay between these three (Social Learning Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, and Stages of Change, etc.). Promoted heavily and delivered via popular broadcast media, PMC shows seek to reach entire communities - cutting across socio-economic, gender, educational, and other cultural strata - fostering individual and communal change. The hope is that a critical mass of empowered individuals in PMC's audience catchment zones are motivated to adopt and implement positive behaviours, resulting in a cumulative effect of lasting and widespread normative change.

Broadcast in Spanish, Guatemala's official language, Toma Mi Mano ("Take My Hand") takes place in San Juan Renacimiento. It is in this fictional town that the character Alex will have to decide if he will pursue the future as a footballer that he wants, even if it means turning his back on his only family. It is where Esperanza, raising her granddaughter, will have to see if she can make sure history doesn’t repeat itself. It is where Jefferson will have to decide if his relationship with his father is more important than the well-being of his wife and daughter. And it is here that Ruth, a survivor of abuse, will have to decide if she should put herself in harm's way to protect her sister from a man she knows is a sexual predator. Each episode ends with a cliffhanger.

The drama airs on 51 radio stations in all 22 states (referred to as departments) in Guatemala. This nationwide broadcast has the potential to reach more than 3.4 million people. In addition, the show's marketing and storyline extensions are specifically designed multi-media pieces that extend the show's narrative and enhance fans' ability to interact and learn from the show, its storylines, and its characters.

Learn more and listen to episodes, etc.:

  • Toma Mi Mano website
  • Toma Mi Mano on Facebook - As part of Toma Mi Mano's storyline extensions, there will be two in-character Facebook pages for fans to interact with and see more about how the characters are thinking, feeling, and behaving. Fans can like their posts, reply to their posts, or send them a private message.
Development Issues

Adolescent Reproductive Health, Family Planning, Gender-Based Violence, Violence

Partners

PMC and the Guatemalan advertising agency Lafábrica&jotabequ, subsidiary of GREY International.

Production and writing partner: Federación Guatemalteca de Escuelas Radiofónicas (FGER)

The project's advisory committee includes organisations such as Plan International, Planned Parenthood Global, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), ASOGEN, and ALAS (Fundacion América Latina en Acción Solidaria).

Funded by the Erik and Edith Bergstrom Foundation and the Weeden Foundation.

Sources

Email from PMC to Soul Beat Africa on March 7 2018; and PMC website, March 6 2018; and PMC website - all accessed on March 7 2018; and email from Missie Thurston to The Communication Initiative on March 8 2018. Image credit: PMC