Culture and Health Programme for Africa (CHAPS)

PATH works with committees made up of community members and representatives from local organisations to administer the projects. These committees select projects that are community-driven, engage culture to promote health, and are respectful of cultural complexity. Priority is given to projects that: promote individual and collective rights and the well-being of the community and the environment; enhance the status of the community; encourage equitable gender relationships; and offer useful lessons to other communities.  Many of the projects use traditional cultural values to solve difficult health issues and critically reflect on practices that are barriers to good health.

Examples of CHAPS projects:  

Reviving intergenerational dialogue (Kenya)
CHAPS funded a programme called Mama na Dada in Bondo district, which brought young and older people together for discussions about HIV and AIDS, adolescence, and relationships. Prior to Mama na Dada, young people did not know who to talk with about their questions and problems. Mama na Dada revived and reinvented the tradition of intergenerational dialogue. Unlike in the past when boys and girls were taught separately by their grandparents and when they also kept the information they learned separate from each other, in Mama na Dada boys and girls are together brought into dialogue with elders. Now young people and older people, as well as boys and girls, talk about issues openly and honestly. In addition to hosting the sessions with elders and youth, Mama na Dada built a centre in the village where they have a variety of programmes to empower girls.

Improving health through community dialogue (Nigeria)
In Nigeria, the Human Empowerment and Development Project used a CHAPS grant to engage communities in critical discussion about the practice of nkukut, a cultural practice that places untrained religious workers in charge of maternal health care. Among the Annang, an ethnic group in southeast Nigeria, it is common for women to give birth in religious centres, rather than hospitals. The community believes that to not do so will bring poor health to the child. Workers at these centres are not required to undergo training and are often distrustful of modern medicine. Adherence to nkukut has often led to poor health outcomes for mothers and children.

The project encourages dialogue about nkukut, hoping to reduce reliance on the practice. Project participants share information with community members through communication materials such as documentaries, posters, flyers, and pamphlets. Workshops and meetings encourage individuals to discuss their experiences and consider nkukut’s impact on the community. Project staff also designed a training curriculum to provide workers at nkukut centres with the skills needed for safer delivery and postpartum care; 55 workers were trained as traditional birth attendants.

Revising the role of traditional healers (South Africa)
The Organisation for African Herbalists, in Free State province, received a CHAPS grant to support education and training activities for traditional healers. The organisation, which is managed and operated by traditional healers, trains traditional healers in HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections (STI’s), and tuberculosis (TB).

The organisation facilitated a number of training workshops which explored the role of traditional healing in HIV/AIDS treatment and support. After each training workshop, the trained traditional healers trained other traditional healers in their communities, shared information with traditional healing training programmes and held regular meetings to discuss information on treatment issues. Trained traditional healers are now equipped with knowledge and skills to provide professional care to their clients and have become distribution points for condoms and information about HIV/AIDS in their communities.

The organisation aims to create an effective referral system between traditional healers and the Health department and to strengthen linkages between the two.

Preserving traditional foods (Egypt)
A CHAPS grant for the Bedouin community in the South Sinai region of Egypt revived a traditional food preservation technique. Drying is the oldest food preservation method in Egypt – fruits, vegetables, meat, and medicinal plants can all be dried. Mahmoud Mansour, the CHAPS grant recipient, promoted drying foods in South Sinai to stop the disappearance of this traditional practice. In the past, harvested food was dried every summer to preserve it for the winter season when food was scarce.

As supermarkets began to stock processed food, drying became less popular. Drying foods provides an inexpensive and healthy alternative to the processed foods in the supermarkets. He used the grant to construct a green house where he could dry food for himself and others. Mansour has been able to revive traditional food preservation techniques and in doing so, has contributed to food security among the Bedouin. In addition to drying food himself, he has taught community members how to dry and store foods, ensuring project sustainability.

Health, Reproductive Health, HIV/AIDS, Rights.

CHAPS seeks to support ideas and changes that are already in motion, helping accelerate the momentum of positive cultural evolution. Grant amounts range from $6,000 to $26,000, and support usually lasts for one year. Almost 70 percent of grants have been awarded to individuals and organisations in rural areas, where traditional values are deeply rooted and health challenges are greatest.


PATH is an international, nonprofit organisation that aims to create sustainable, culturally relevant solutions, enabling communities worldwide to break longstanding cycles of poor health. By collaborating with diverse public- and private-sector partners, they help provide appropriate health technologies and vital strategies that change the way people think and act.