MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
Participatory Approaches
Towards Community
Empowerment: A South African
HIV
Eliza Govender (née Moodley)
Centre for Communication, Media and Society
University of KwaZulu Natal (South Africa)
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
Outline of Presentation
Part One: • Introduction to participation for grassroots
communities
• Two projects
Part Two: • Communication for Social Change: Research and
Practice with young learners and students
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
(1) Basic Needs vs Sustainable Development• There are two themes connected to the idea of community
development:
• basic needs development and sustainable developmentboth introduced in the 1970s
• The basic needs perspective argues “for prioritizing the survival needs of the world’s poor‟” (Melkote & Steeves, 2001:35).
• Sustainable development focuses on empoweringcommunities to manage their own environment, usingappropriate technology and meeting people‟s basic needs.
• Instead of the top-down approach usually employed whereeconomic development is the primary aim, communitydevelopment advocates community participation and equitypaying particular attention to those vulnerable in society.
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
• Participation is a process through which people influence and share
control over planning and the decision making.
• Peoples right to communicate their stories should be at the heart of
the participatory strategies leading to empowerment (Melkote &
Steeves 2001:355)
• Ownership becomes a tool to create a sense of pride in a community
through regular involvement in problem recognition, problem solving
etc (Cohen 1996:226)
(2) What is „participation‟…?
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
• Its our right!Expressing our views, freedom of thought and having the opportunity
to participate in the cultural, artistic and recreational life of our
communities is also more than just a good practice it is our right.
Why is „Participation‟ important?
• Identify our Strengths and WeaknessesAllowing others to identify their own strengths and weaknesses
and offering them guidance and support is important for building
their self-esteem and capacity.
• Our opinion and decisions count!When considering and providing opportunities for
participation it is important to acknowledge them as active and
competent.
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
(3) Grassroot community approach to
participatory communication
• Dialogical pedagogy of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire outlined in his Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1972, 1990),
• Participation :
a) high levels of public involvement
b) two way flow of communication
c) Engaging
d) empowering
e) democratic communication
f ) indigenous/traditional communication
g) culturally sensitive
h) group integration
i) social grouping and networks
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
• Arnestein (1969) also described
participation in terms of the
degree to which
people are involved in the
projects and programmes that
affect their lives.
• Arnestein advocated for
empowerment of the less
privileged citizen. It is the
redistribution of power that
enables the poor marginalized
citizens who
have been excluded from the
planning and development
processes, to be
consciously included in mapping
out the future.
(4) Steps to Participation
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
A scale of participatory Approaches
from Extractive to Empowering
•Rapid, expert
Analysis
• Questionnaires
•Key Informants
•Opinions are shared but
power is not
•Empowering methods used
for extractive purposes
•In-depth, joint
analysis, learning
and action
•Visual diagrams
•Group
Discussions
EXTRACTIVE EMPOWERING
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
(5) Three Strategic approaches to participation
•Analyzing problems
together
•Finding solutions
•Shaping common
plans
•Developing a
professional
team of volunteers,
partners and staff
•Involving stakeholders
at all levels in shaping
programmes and
placements
LEARNING PARTNERSHIP
EMPOWERMENT
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
• HI Virus (funded by Carnegie Corporation and Voluntary
Service Organization)
• Bouncing Back to Life (funded by Stephen Lewis
Foundation)
Children’s Resource Book Series
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
Vision
To empower children in the development of skills
through artistic expression and storytelling, providing
tools for communication and self advocacy.
Through participatory workshops the children will
create a series of books, depicting children„s personal
reflections and experiences.
These stories will provide a resource for disclosure
dealing with the social and medical implications of living with HIV/AIDS.
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
A principle of participatory learning
Techniques should reflect local cultures and enable
people to express themselves freely
Participatory Techniques
Focus Groups
StorytellingReflexive Journaling
Role Playing Art
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
How the virus works in the body …
Prepare for
trouble and
make it double. I am the
virus!
Wow I came to party in your
blood, how are you?
We are fine thank you, how are you – what are
you doing here?
I have multiplied more, come on children do my
work…
Ha ha, what a joke, I am strong enough to fight this virus…
Meanwhile the virus enters the immune cell and changes itself to hide from the immune system soshas.
The virus enters the body and attacks the immune system, destroying the sosha cells
The immune cells fight against the virus. HIV starts to destroy them. It may take many years for the body to get sick because the immune system cells keep fighting.
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
Singazenzela -‘We can do things for ourselves‟
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
Part Two: Communication for Social
Change: Research and Practice
• An assessment of students perceptions of the ABC
prevention strategy: Towards Students participation in
HIV/AIDS message design at the University of KwaZulu-
Natal
• Entertainment Education in HIV prevention through
FBO‟s in South Africa : Towards new approaches to
promoting abstinence
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
• Understanding responses to the ABC Strategy in Higher Education towards influencing policy and practice for prevention of HIV infection among KZN university Students
• My study focused on participation of students in the design of HIV/AIDS Messages: the role of dialogue in preventive interventions and programmes
• Review of development communication theories and debates surrounding them
• Explored how Communication for Social Change can be used following the 10 steps of community dialogue
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
INDIVIDUAL
SOCIAL
NETWORKS COMMUNITY SOCIETALBehavior and intention;
knowledge & skills; beliefs &
Values; emotion; perceived
risk; self-efficacy; self-
image; subjective
norms
Partner and family
relationships
(communication, trust,
understanding, agree-
ment, & power), peer
influence, gender
equity, bounded
normative influence
Leadership;
level of participation;
information equity;
access to resources;
shared ownership;
collective efficacy;
social capital; value
for continual
improvement
National leadership;
per capita income;
income inequality;
health policy and
infrastructure;
mass media;
religious and
cultural values;
gender norms
Physical Environment and InfrastructureBurden of disease; climate and seasonality; transportation and communication networks,
access to health care facilities, access to water, sanitation, and household technologies; etc.
Types of Communication
DIRECTIVE
Dissemination
Persuasion
Compliance
NONDIRECTIVE
Dialogue Social Influence
Counseling Communication
Entertainment- for participatory
Education development
PUBLIC
Advocacy
Regulation
INSTRUCTION
with practice and
reinforcement
SOCIAL ECOLOGY MODEL OF COMMUNICATION AND BEHAVIOR
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
Findings from MA study
The role of government in HIV/AIDS
Pregnancy indicates failure of the condom
Condom use in long term relationships
Early marriage as a solution
Change of sexual behaviour
University a contributing factor to HIV??
Religion, a positive role in HIV prevention
Open heart to communication
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
• Civil Society in SA is defined as registered charities, non-governmental organisations, community groups, women organisations faith-based organisations, social movements, trade unions and advocacy groups.
• FBOs, are defined by USAID as groups of individuals who have come together voluntarily around a stated spiritual or belief system that informs and guides their work together.
• Faith-based organizations are a vital part of civil society," since they provide a substantial portion of care in developing countries, often reaching vulnerable populations living under adverse conditions (De Cock, WHO).
• The Christian denomination was selected as a study conducted by UNAIDS shows that the Christian faith is the largest in Southern Africa (2007)
• When government services fail, FBO are increasingly being asked to back up and support previously functioning systems
• How can FBO‟s be used as a tool to bring about convergence with other government, civil society and community approaches and strategies for HIV/AIDS prevention.
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
Theoretical framework
• Three paradigms of Entertainment Education (Tufte 2005; 2008)
• Convergence theory of communication (Kincaid 2007, 2009)
• Convergence deals with maintaining a community with mutual understanding through the process of dialogue it does not account for conflict, emotions and group motivation.
• Communication for Social Change/Participatory Development - used to address these missing elements (Kincais et.al 2002; 2007; 2009: Tufte and Gumucio-Dragion 2006)
• Bounded normative influence is the tendency of social norms to influence behaviour within relatively bounded, local subgroups of a social systemrather than the system as a whole. (Kincaid 2004:38).
• Kincaid highlights that active minorities play a large role in social change and emphasizes that how the minority can become the majority to the point that they are the majority in their minority, resulting in everyone reconsidering their normative position(2004:40).
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
Civil Society, Participation and
Empowerment in SAMEDIeA to consider:
• Participatory processes more important than the product
• Interpersonal and ICT (Balance of top-down and bottom-up)
• Participation towards empowerment
• Role of civil society which extends to faith based
• Central to empowering Civil Society for collective action is the
processes of dialogue and CFSC
• Review the Communication for Participatory Development model
(Kincaid et.al 2007, 2009)
• Importance of state, private and civil society partnerships
• Youth advisory board
• Participatory monitoring and evaluation processes which incorporate
participants
MEDIeA Project Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1st December 2009
Eliza Govender (née Moodley)
Tel: +2731 260 1044
Thank you and questions…