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. 

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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Kick TB Campaign

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Launched in December 2009, Kick TB is a South African based international awareness campaign designed to unite people in the fight against tuberculosis and HIV, focusing on young, school-going children. The South African National Department of Health in partnership with the Desmond Tutu TB Centre at the Stellenbosch University launched the campaign under the banner "Let’s play, let’s learn, let's save lives!" The campaign uses football as a means to reach out to school children, and uses activation teams visiting schools throughout the country who give each child an illustrated, match quality soccer ball with a strong TB/HIV awareness message.

Communication Strategies

Kick TB is comprised of various activation teams that visit different schools throughout the country, giving each child an elaborately illustrated, match-quality soccer ball with a strong TB and HIV awareness message. During the first phase of the initiative, 115 000 soccer balls will be distributed throughout South Africa. The messages on the balls are designed to be simple and clear, listing the types of symptoms that indicate the need to visit the nearest clinic. The messages also encourage good health habits and precautionary measures that one needs to take to maintain a healthy body.

The school visits are designed to be exciting and memorable, using colourful and bold activities intended to help the children remember what they learnt through the memory of sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste. The DVD that is played during the activation depict children blowing up balloons, playing with toys, and blowing on vuvuzelas as a means of demonstrating how the different diseases work in one's body. The children also get to play soccer with the Kick TB mascot, Turbo Boots, who epitomises the ideal South African child; healthy, smart, aware, and physically active. The children are encouraged to imitate him and to kick the ball into goalposts, the ball representing disease as well as a careless, unhealthy lifestyle.

The project has also developed A Guide to Making Kick TB Live in Your School which contains ideas and planning information for the management and implementation of activities and events at schools.

As of July 2012, Kick TB has reached 67,000 learners and their communities throughout South Africa. Kick TB has also facilitated international capacity building workshops in the Philippines, Zambia and Ghana, making Kick TB a global initiative.

Kick TB has now developed into "Kick TB and HIV" and is planning to address TB in South African gold mines.

Development Issues

Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS

Partners

University of Stellenbosch, Department of Health (Republic of South Africa), Desmond Tutu TB Centre

Sources

Kick TB website on May 2 2012.