KidzAlive goes live on radio!
South Africa has the highest number of children accessing Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) in the world. Governmental lockdown regulations aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19 raised many challenges for children. A key factor identified was the lack of face-to-face support normally provided to these children by healthcare workers in facility and community settings.
“We simply can’t get to the children who have come to trust us. Now that we don’t see them at our clinics we worry about how they are doing. Do they take their medication the way they should? They are alone. We are not there to help them anymore. It so painful for us.”
Children are a particularly vulnerable group in the fight against HIV and AIDS, often relying solely on caregivers to make sure treatment is given correctly, essential to keeping them well and free from serious diseases. Lockdowns created changes to normal family dynamics, such as new people moving in or children being sent to live with other family members or households. These disruptions coupled with drastically lowered on-going psychosocial service provision put children at a greater risk of defaulting on medication. The world had never experienced anything like Covid-19 before and life as it existed changed overnight.
Through our current work and talking to those we serve, we realised a gap few had addressed. Who was talking to our children? Who was helping them to navigate their way through this difficult time, helping to work through their very real emotions and loss of social connection?
So Zoë-Life embarked on an exciting innovation in partnership with Aidsfonds, a Dutch Not-For-Profit Organisation, working towards an ambitious vision; “a world with no AIDS”.
Radio is a popular and effective medium to communicate key information within the African context. It is not unusual to visit a household in South Africa and find a family listening to their favourite radio station together. Community radio stations are common with large listenership numbers.
Leveraging the potential radio has to reach children in their homes, KidzAlive Storytime was created.
Storytelling, a form of play therapy, is a valuable tool used to engage and keep children interested, while conveying information critical to their wellbeing. Play is the universal language of childhood and upon which the foundation for a lifetime of learning is built.
Zoë-Life identified 3 community radio stations (IMBOKODO 96.8 FM, Izwi Lomzansi 98.0 FM and Umgungundlovu 107.6 FM) based in KwaZulu-Natal, where existing KidzAlive projects are running, maximising years of stakeholder relationship building and working with existing recipients of support.
A 5 part series of already developed KidzAlive stories, aimed at ongoing, child-friendly adherence support, was used for the campaign.
Sibusiso’s Winning Ways
What’s Inside Sibusiso’s Blood?
Sibusiso and his Medicine Mates
Sibusiso Helps His Friend, Bheki
Sketch, the Sneaky Snake
However, to address the lack of child-centred information available on Covid-19, a new story was written and was included as part of the radio campaign. We were very honoured that internationally acclaimed author, poet, playwright, director, performer and storyteller, Dr Gcina Mhlophe read our brand new Covid-19 story, Rona Corona.
The campaign was completed in January 2022 and preliminary data shows promise.
A copy of the full evaluation findings will be posted as soon as complete.
Special thanks to Aidsfonds and Qualcomm Wireless Reach.