Soul Beat Africa
African development action with informed and engaged societies
Soul Beat Africa
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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Camatondo

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Produced in Angola by IRIN Radio Southern Africa and Radio National de Angola, Camatondo is a serial radio drama that aims to support Angola's post-war reconciliation, and to provide information related to healthy living. The series explores the stories of refugees and displaced persons, while providing information about other developmental challenges. It is designed to reach:
  • populations resettling in rural areas: returning internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, and demobilised UNITA soldiers and their families.
  • populations vulnerable to ongoing social conflict, resulting from enduring resentments from the war, and from new disputes over land rights.
  • the general population, whom organisers consider to be under-informed about HIV/AIDS, governance, and their civil rights.
Communication Strategies

The drama uses entertainment-education to create informative stories. Camatondo mirrors the evolving realities and challenges faced by the resettling rural population, including storylines about reconciliation, psychological trauma, agricultural modernistion, HIV/AIDS, gender issues, micro-credit schemes, governance and electoral education, among others. The series is set against a love story, based in a small, rural community in northern Bie. The characters deal with everyday issues such as difficulties with drinking water, access to health care, agriculture and the danger of landmines. The drama uses simple language in an effort to be accessible to rural Angolans.

The drama encourages participation by involving a network of advisors, and "stringers" who are humanitarian and development workers based in other organisations working across the country. The stringers are encouraged to submit story ideas for the drama and to provide the scriptwriters and organisers with feedback.

To increase access of listeners to the drama and other programmes, IRIN distributed 2000 Free Play wind up radios in 2004. In addition, the organisation has made some of the programmes available for online listening; Click here for access and additional information.


Development Issues

Conflict, HIV/AIDS.

Key Points

Camatondo's objectives are to:

  • introduce an entirely new radio format to the Angolan media environment
  • train script writers, actors, producers and technicians in the production of a radio soap opera
  • air the issues and problems facing Angola's rural population and give voice to their views and concerns
  • educate the audience in a range of fields, including agricultural techniques, preventive health and sanitation, and electoral procedures
  • engender behaviour change, deterring social conflict and the transmission of HIV/AIDS.
Partners

IRIN Radio Southern Africa, Radio National de Angola.

Sources

Email from Daniel Walter to Soul Beat Africa on May 25 2005.