Moyo ndi Mpamba goes rural

An organised procession of bicycle taxis, popularly known as kabaza, is a rare but amazing sight behold. Like most bicycle processions, the convoy of bicycles at Mangochi’s Jalasi Trading Centre was tight and neat—about 30 bicycles with all riders dressed in white T-shirts and flying colourful flags on the sides of the front wheel.

What made this particular procession more admirable, though, was the fact that half of the riders were female, something of an unusual phenomenon among bicycle taxi riders.

Steadily, the women rode alongside their male counterparts, two rows, abreast, in a side-by-side formation; until the parade poured into the arena, a procession of delegates and dignitaries in tow. And with that, the last of the Moyo ndi Mpamba zonal launches was underway.

A component of a five-year Support for Service Delivery Integration (SSDI-Communication) social behaviour change communications project, Moyo ndi Mpamba is a Ministry of Health campaign being implemented with funding from United States Agency for International Development (Usaid). The campaign aims at helping people connect their simple, daily choices and actions to their health and motivate them to value their life as capital (mpamba) and take action for ensuring their well-being.

Minister of Health Catherine Gotani Hara launched the campaign on May 30 2013 at a national function held at Masintha Ground in Lilongwe.

And following the national launch, the Moyo ndi Mpamba campaign has been taken to the four health zones that anchor the 15 districts in which the SSDI project is being implemented, the last of which was Mangochi, which is in the South East Zone.

Three other zonal launches had been conducted in Ministry of Health zones of Karonga (Northern Zone), Salima (Central East Zone) and Chikhwawa (South West Zone) in previous weeks prior to this Mangochi finale.

And a befitting finale it was. Over 10 000 people thronged the venue of the event to welcome the Moyo ndi Mpamba campaign. Just like the other three zonal launches before it, the event in Mangochi was characterised by a mouth-watering menu of local drama, song and dance amidst speeches from district commissioner (DC), the district health office (DHO) and the traditional authority of the area.

Headlining the event was a duo of Malawi’s top music sensations—R&B music maestro Lulu and gospel songbird, Ethel Kamwendo. What took the cake, though, was an initiation dance performance that was loaded with positive health messages. As far as behaviour change is concerned, the relationship between health communication and initiation ceremonies has always been an uneasy affair.

Behaviour change communicators have always considered some forms of initiation ceremonies as institutionalised barriers towards positive change as they are seen as vehicles that fuel transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV in particular. This emanates from the fact that some initiation ceremonies encourage initiates to undergo sexual cleansing as a part of rite to passage, thereby exposing initiates to STIs and HIV. In the same manner, initiation ceremonies that involve circumcision have also been seen as vehicles for transmission of STIs based on their potential for improper use of surgical tools during the circumcision process. And Mangochi, happens to be Malawi’s leading district in as far as initiations are concerned.

It was, therefore, encouraging to see a performance of an initiation dance, the very vehicle that has been blamed for undermining positive behaviour change, becoming a conveyor of positive health messages. And with just that, single performance, a statement was made on how initiation ceremonies can easily transition from pariah to partner for good health.

At all the four zonal launches, the ceremonies were graced by dignitaries from the Ministry of Health, SSDI and other stakeholders; the events kicked off with street parades, which were led by the guests of honour. The Moyo ndi Mpamba campaign logo was unveiled amid speeches and performances of traditional dances, a drama sketch as well as the star artists.

The Mangochi event took place on September 20 2013 while in Karonga, Salima and Chikhwawa, Moyo ndi Mpamba was launched on 11th, 13th and 18th of September 2013  respectively.