MANY THANKS TO THE SBCC PRACTITIONERS WHO HAVE BEEN INTERVIEWED ON THIS BLOG

1] ERIC 'MAQ C' GITAU - based in Nairobi, Kenya 2] ADEPEJU SALU - based in Lagos, Nigeria 3] AMY HENDERSON RILEY - based in Philadelphia, USA 4] MOSES ODONGO - based in Kampala, Uganda 5] JOSE MORIANO - based in Quito, Ecuador 6] ROBYN KALDA - based in Toronto, Canada 7] MICHAEL D'ANTUONO - based in New York, USA 8] MONICA CURCA - based in Los Angeles, USA 9] MICHAEL D'ANTUONO - based in New York, USA 10] TOSIN AKIBU - based in Abuja, Nigeria 11] JESUS MATSUKI - based in Madrid, Spain 12] ANDERSON OGOYE - based in Galkacyo, Somalia 13] CHARLIE BECKETT - based in the United Kingdom 14] STACY HILLIARD - based in the United Kingdom 15] CHIAMAKA ADLINE - based in Abuja, Nigeria 16] MAULID HAMIS MSHAHAME - based in Mombasa, Kenya 17] COLLINS 'COBS' OTIENO - based in Mombasa, Kenya 18] ERICA DI RUGGIERO - based in Toronto, Canada 19] SUCHI GAUR - based in India 20] YOSHITH PERERA - based in Canada 21] GAURAV GARG - based in South Asia

CAREER GUIDANCE FROM ERIC 'MAQ C' GITAU, SOCIAL AND BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATION PRACTITIONER BASED IN NAIROBI, KENYA

Eric 'MaqC' Gitau can be reached on Twitter [ @MrMaqC ]

1. What qualities do you look for in the people you hang out with?
My best friend calls me sapiosexual – attracted to people who have a good head above their shoulders and some good content in it. I am drawn to people who want to achieve more with life, people willing to try and change narratives that surround our daily lives in whichever field they are in, regardless of their background. Often, I find that these are young people who are discovering their passions, and I am glad to help them transition into their optimal selves. It gives me great joy to see a few of the ones whom I hang out with break barriers and do exploits that are beyond their age and mental capabilities. It is quite reciprocal, as I am also at my best with them as well.

2. What do you do?
My 24 hour very huge job description is that of a husband and father :) . However in view of this blog, I influence evidence based policy and programming for positive outcomes in young people’s health and development. It is often a fine mix between working directly with the community where teenagers and youth are facing every day social and economic issues on one hand, and high level policy advocacy for the prioritization of the solutions to these issues on the other. I am grateful for and love what I do daily.

3. Why do you do what you do?
Whereas by and large passion drives me, evidence fuels me. I am very fortunate to have a job that aligns to my interests of working with, for and through young people. Evidence shows young people are key to shifting the tide in development at local, national, regional and global levels, especially in fields which I have acquired a lot of knowledge and valuable skills in research, policy and programming: sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV and gender-based violence.

4. What does your career journey look like and is this where you thought you would end up?
I have not ended up just yet :) . Actually I am not sure I will ever end up. No one just ends up. Choices are made that lead to particular paths. For me, everything, despite a multidisciplinary education and practice background has added up well to contribute to where I am today. Here’s my 18 year journey thus far in this thing we call career…

- As I did a diploma in ICT while awaiting to determine what to do with my life after high school 18 years ago, I took on acting and brought set books to life in high schools across the country; my confidence on stage and with communicative language grew a great deal as a result.

- Starting as an intern at Nation Media House (NMG) in 1999, I matured to produce and host several broadcast (TV and Radio) programs for 5 years at a time, while I also did Media Studies and Journalism in college; NMG is as private sector an organization as they come. It was a blessing to acquire vital skills in corporate Kenya at an early age. I learnt the value of working hard, time management, going the extra mile, and biting more than you can chew, but chewing it nonetheless. This period shaped me as a daring soul, a go-getter, a young person setting goals larger than myself and working hard to achieve them.

- Between 2004 and early 2007, I had a period I call “in-between” where I did a lot of “gigs” that seemingly didn’t relate to each other: artists/creatives management; running a gospel artists website; rites of passage and mentorship programs in urban settlements; writing academic papers, research and proposals for graduate students; Church ministry and pastoral work; modelling and voice over artistry; while at the same time undertaking my undergraduate degree in Business Management. Interestingly, disjointed as all this looked, it was a discovery period that shaped in me a spirit of enterprise, an appreciation for diversity and contributed significantly to how I express myself, and how I relate to one and all, including creating great contacts that have been useful through me for others.

- In April 2007, I took on a consultancy assignment with I Choose Life – Africa (ICL) to produce a radio program targeting campus students on Capital FM, which would be later dubbed “Lust, Love and Life.” That and other opportunities I harnessed while at ICL led me to a path into SBCC. I volunteered to train University of Nairobi peer educators on gender and sexuality in a life skills training in Limuru. I followed the guidance in the training manual but added a little bit of my personal flavour from the acting, TV & radio presenting and preaching days, which made my delivery of the session quite interesting, From the post training evaluation, students found my session the best. I would then be roped into subsequent trainings and when the consultancy for the radio program was ending, I was made into a program officer in charge of training and communication and later an assistant program manager. Over the next four years, I would do extensive curriculum development, manage Behaviour Change Communication programs, organize and host a number of high impact thematic events in Universities of Nairobi, Kenyatta, Daystar and USIU. This gave me valuable experience through dedicated work on SRH with adolescents and young people in schools, out of school youth and other key affected populations.

- During this time, I also completed my undergrad, did a post graduate certificate in project management and enrolled for my masters in Communication for Development. What I studied gave a great basis and theory to what I did in practice daily at work.

- My time at ICL was holistic for various reasons, chief amongst which is (I met my wife during my first year at the organisation, and as we went through staff orientation one day, she and I would be passing on love notes to each other :) not sure we concentrated much – but that’s a story for another day).

- The passion for young people became so addictive that I started by the side, to host a features talk show dubbed 7-2-7, a weekly experiential interaction that challenged and motivated young urbanites to innovatively and decisively impact different spheres of life. This ran from January 2011 through to January 2012, and great SBCC results and impact on individuals was achieved in the process.

- I undertook a yearlong SBCC consultancy at this same time, in which together as a team of technocrats with diverse strengths we reached over 500,000 girls and young people across the country with life skills education in addition to a push for contraceptives and HIV testing.

- I then took on a job offer to manage an organization working on rights and wellbeing of sexual and gender minorities. My management (admin and project) background helped me to settle in pretty fast to the management roles, as did my background in SRH and HIV programming. That said, I got a serious baptism by fire, needing to quickly learn the ropes on human rights based advocacy and programming. It was a great on-the-job training in policy work as well as I was often thrown into the deep end, being required to represent and be accountable on various issues at a community, national and international level. I learnt the value of consultation, negotiation, meaningful community engagement and consensus building, which were previously only units I got good A’s in while undertaking studies. The thesis for my masters’ program sought to do a comparative analysis between mainstream media and development communication vis-à-vis usefulness for the well-being of sexual and gender minorities in Kenya.

- Towards the end of 2012, I made yet another transition to become a Program Coordinator for Youth with one of the leading Civil Society Organizations working on Health in Kenya – LVCT Health. My work here built on the years of SBCC work I had done and I used that to inform policy and programming for key affected populations including adolescents, youth, MSM and sex workers. This background also helped me lead a great team running a flagship for-youth, with-youth and by-youth evidence based program (one2one) which boasts of an innovative integrated digital (web and mobile based) platform that reached over 200,000 young people with credible, accurate and relevant information on sexual health, HIV and young peoples development.

- After two years of dedicated service and demonstrable results in policy advocacy, another seamless transition occurred. Slightly over a year ago, I joined UNICEF as Adolescents HIV and AIDS Specialist where I now advice and support the UNICEF country office, Government and partners in designing effective programmes and practices to promote the prevention, treatment, care and support of adolescents’ vulnerable to, affected by, or infected with HIV/AIDS and where I also act as a focal person for adolescents’ interventions, innovations across sectors and in different emergency and humanitarian situations. It is a simple yet complex assignment and gives me great delight to do what I do daily.

- And as I now enter into my second year at this position and also the second of a four year doctorate fellowship in social policy, my career and life journey continues. I love myself a challenge; I thrive in the unknown. Comfort zone is the most uncomfortable place for me. I become restless. I start testing new waters; I love unchartered territories; I take risks; so yes, it is hard to say I thought I would “end-up” here, as it hard to tell you where I will be in 5 or 10 years. As opportunities harnessed and decisions carefully prayed over and made have led to where I am as I complete the first quarter of my life (turning a cool 35 on 14th January), so will the next ¾ of this life/career yet to be lived.

5. What values are you committed to?
I am committed to integrity and excellence. I believe the pursuit for both is complimentary, and it transcends work but even personal life. Pursuing these has taught me two important virtues – Patience and flexibility. In life, and especially in my field of work, these are a requirement. Results take time. Nothing of life long impact and sustainable happens fast. The things that you want urgently will often be overridden by those that are important. And that’s just the way it is.

6. How many hours do you work in a typical week?
My work week can’t be termed typical because no week is the same as the other. I can be in a village or slum with kids, teens and their caregivers pretesting some treatment literacy materials; or a faith based, government or private sector health facility assessing how adolescent responsive youth friendly service guidelines are; or at an out of town hotel or boardroom with fellow technocrats developing, reviewing or launching a policy, guidelines or standards for most affected and vulnerable adolescents; or by the coastal breeze of Mombasa conducting a focus group discussion with young key populations; or in the Kakuma Refugee Camp conducting a needs assessment for children and adolescents HIV, GBV and SRH services at the camp; or at a roundtable with donors in the UK, Norway, or US making a case for the prioritization and resource allocation for high impact interventions for adolescents; or breaking ground with the first lady of Kenya for the beyond zero campaign clinic in Homabay; or at statehouse with the president and the cabinet secretaries for health and education giving a state of adolescents HIV report; or at a live media interview at prime news bulletin in the evening or early in the morning discussing the rot in society due to drugs and alcohol abuse by teens and underage sex; or in the office with different section chiefs and specialists designing a strategy to ensure displaced adolescents living with HIV continue receiving lifesaving medication during an emergency situation; or at a UN joint team meeting/ international conference learning and sharing best practices with colleagues from other agencies; or at a mall on the outskirts of Nairobi hanging out with my friends over a soft drink analysing the latest TV series on Netflix; or in the house streaming TedTalks and YouTube videos. It is pretty unpredictable, which makes it fun. However, I average 40 hours a week, in order to balance with other family, school and social commitments.

7. Are there any negatives to your job?
Negatives would assume that there are extremes in every job. I would say it is just like any other job, it’s not all rosy or a walk in the park. It’s a stretch being a PhD student while still at work. They can both be very demanding, not forgetting the family (wife and son) who need me as much as I need them; and close friends whom we share life with. There’s good understanding across the board which reduces the burden and which has taught me that even with time, quality is more important than quantity.

8. What skills are required in your position on a day-to-day basis?
Fostering and upholding clear communication, working with people, drive for results, leading and supervising, formulating strategies and concepts, analysing data, evidence and trends, relating and networking, deciding and initiating action, applying technical expertise and staying abreast of developments in Adolescents, HIV, Policy environments, Social and Behaviour Change Communication.

9. What are the top 5 technical skills that entry-level SBCC enthusiasts should strive to horn?

- Communication tops the list

- Drive for results

- Community engagement

- Resilience

- Decision making 

10. Considering all the people you have met in your line of work, what personal attributes are essential for success?
I think there is no formula par-sè. However, I have seen that the people who succeed are those who keep trying against all odds. They get tougher with each challenge they face and it makes them resilient. Success is simply a matter of overcoming failure.

11. What is the best piece of professional advice you've ever received -- and used or implemented?
Make mistakes fast and forward. I don’t beat myself too much for not getting it right always. As a Social Communication and Policy Practitioner, everything can be messy or very slow at some point. From retrogressive policy and programming environments, to antagonistic or long winded processes and procedures, etc. I now worry less, and enjoy the process more which makes the learning curve shorter.

12. What's the best advice you can give to help plan a career rather than simply work to keep a job?
Find what you are good at and leverage it in any job you have, your career course will reveal itself to you in time. Everything works as it should. If you do what you are supposed to do, everything else aligns itself eventually.

13. What should keep entry-level SBCC enthusiasts up at night?
Innovation. The only constant is change. Stay ahead of the game. At worst, keep up. Playing catch up isn’t a good bet.

14. Can you recommend a "must-read" book that will help us broaden our skills as working professionals or inspire us to reach our highest potential?
Authors such as Stephen R. Covey, Malcolm Gladwell and Robin Sharma have nice titles that can help put perspective on reaching your full potential.

15. As a communicator, if you could write a book on a social issue; what would it be and why?
I have been writing one for the last four years. And it’s taken quite a turn from what it begun us. Now it is about intimacy – with the self, with personal struggles and private victories’, with friends and family (family), with creation, with communities, with those in need, with God, with the world around us. I have dubbed it “In2MeSee”. It has moved from my story, to other stories that motivate, challenge and inspire. It's essentially an SBCC outlet of sorts that has moved beyond my story, to those of others that intimately reach to, inspire, motivate and challenge individuals, communities and nations for transformative gains.


END//

CAREER GUIDANCE FROM ADEPEJU SALU, SOCIAL AND BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATION PRACTITIONER BASED IN LAGOS, NIGERIA

 Adepeju can be reached on Twitter [ @ibafighter ]  

1. What qualities do you look for in the people you hang out with?

I can hang out with any type of person so long you are peaceful person and are not lazy.

 

2. What do you do?

I am the founder and executive director of the only youth-led malaria focused organization in Africa called The Iba – Malaria Eradication Foundation.

 

3. Why do you do what you do?

I founded the organization because of my personal experience with the disease while growing up. I missed some of my primary school education because of the disease.

 

4. Is this where you thought you would end up?

Though I studied Forest Resource Management, I had no idea I would be doing this but they say passion and ideas evolve and I think I have not ended yet. This is only the beginning. There are plenty challenges to solve in the world.

 

5. What values are you committed to?

My values are hard work, selfless service, ingenuity, ambition and adjustment.

 

6. How many hours do you work in a typical week?

I am my own boss so I can work at any time or period of the day. Typically, 8am – 12:00 midnight everyday but with a lot of breaks and very serious moments so it is pretty difficult to calculate.

 

7. What skills are required in your position on a day-to-day basis?

You need to be up there with your innovation skills and ability to do not only more than local organizations but also international organizations despite your lean budget and all the factors associated with running a start-up in a developing country. You also have to be flexible and teachable.

 

8. Are there any negatives to your job?

Malaria has been around for so long that you need to battle with that perception by innovating to combat malaria and constantly implementing projects, in order to give your organization visibility, a chance to survive and be reckoned with.

 

9. What do you wish you knew at our stage? (IE: Entry-level SBCC practitioners)

I wished I knew that promoting social change through communication is not a one-day job and an organization needs to consistently promote behavioural change messages. I also wish I knew the relevance of technology and how to integrate it into our work.

 

10. What is the best piece of professional advice you've ever received -- and used or implemented?

"Don’t give up whatever the situation is," and I guess I am using it well.

 

11. If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?

I would apply to study social work with special concentration on public health at the Bsc level.

 

12. What should keep entry-level SBCC enthusiasts up at night?

The fact that your actions, innovations and interventions can save a life anywhere should be enough reason.

 

13. What professional organizations are you associated with, and in what ways?

I have partnered with so many, both local and foreign based and I have a mentorship and working partnership with some of them.

 

14. What mistakes have you made?

I wasn’t too tactical about my plans to start up my own organization hence I lost my job several times.

 

15. What one thing do you still struggle with?

I don’t know how to give myself adequate rest. I find people close to me warning me several times about how I “use” myself.

 

16. What are the top 7 technical skills that entry-level SBCC enthusiasts should strive to horn?

• Research
• Innovativeness
• Adaptability
• Inquisitiveness
• Analytical mind
• Open mindedness
• Partnership/Collaboration

17. Considering all the people you have met in your line of work, what personal attributes are essential for success?

Perseverance and you must possess the strength and ability to stay on your lane.

 

18. What's the best advice you can give to help plan a career rather than simply work to keep a job?

Be a risk taker, experiment and be very tactical.

 

19. What has been your most rewarding accomplishment?

Ability to run a start-up successfully, and not just a start up but one that is saving lives.

 

20. What developments in the horizon could affect future career opportunities in this field?

If a cure to malaria is found, it definitely will affect our organization but we are a team of young, efficient and capable people.

 

21. As a communicator, if you could write a book on a social issue; what would it be and why?

I would write a malaria comic book and that’s because it is my area of focus. By the way, I am about to publish one.

 

22. What's the most valuable question we should ask the next SBCC maven who is interviewed on this blog?

How do you communicate change to a people with strong cultural and religious bias?

 

END//

CAREER GUIDANCE FROM AMY HENDERSON RILEY, SOCIAL AND BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATION PRACTITIONER BASED IN PHILADELPHIA, USA

 Photo: Tricia Burrough, Lilac Blossom Photography

 

   Amy can be reached on twitter [ @AmyHRiley ]

1. What qualities do you look for in the people you hang out with?
I find myself drawn to passionate people, like myself, who are driven in their field, whether it is in public health, communication, the arts, or a different area entirely. I also look for people who have a great sense of humor and who like to try new things.

2. What do you do?
I am a doctoral candidate and researcher at the Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health in Philadelphia in the “all but dissertation” (ABD) phase (http://drexel.edu/dornsife/). Drexel has a contract with UNICEF Mozambique to monitor and evaluate “Ouro Negro” (Black Gold), an entertainment-education radio program, and I work as the Project Manger for the project under the guidance of Dr. Suruchi Sood, the Principal Investigator and my research advisor. My research focuses on health communication, global health, entertainment-education, and the intersection between the arts and health promotion. I have worked in research and evaluation in the United States, Ghana, Mozambique, India, and overseen projects in Belize and Nigeria.

3. Why do you do what you do?
At the root of my research and work is the belief that communication, particularly storytelling in all its forms, is a powerful way to reach audiences, to deliberately promote health and prevent disease, and to inspire social change.

4. Is this where you thought you would end up?
Nope. I moved to New York City when I was 18 years old to study to be an actress. My bachelor’s degree is in theater and I thought I would end up with a stage or film career. In my mid-20’s, I decided to pursue a master’s program in health education at Columbia University. It was in this master’s program that I first learned about social and behavior change communication and entertainment-education, which has shaped my career and professional goals ever since.

5. What values are you committed to?
I am committed to dedication, dependability, and creative thinking.

6. How many hours do you work in a typical week?
I’d rather not know.

7. What skills are required in your position on a day-to-day basis?
For the Project Manager position, the skills required include research coordination, delegation of tasks, organization, and attention to detail. As a doctoral candidate working on my dissertation research, the skills include research skills, communication skills, and plenty of self-motivation.

8. Are there any negatives to your job?
Quality research and evaluation takes time. It can sometimes feel like progress is slow, but the time is worth it in the end.

9. What is the background of most senior-level executives in your SBCC circles?
The Principal Investigator (and my research advisor), Dr. Suruchi Sood, has a PhD in Communication and over 20 years of experience working in health communication around the world.

10. What do you wish you knew at our stage? (IE: Entry-level SBCC practitioners)
I remember learning about theory in my master’s program and not really understanding its role in planning, implementing, and evaluating programs. I wish I had better understood the importance of theory earlier in my career.

11. What is the best piece of professional advice you've ever received -- and used or implemented?
The best advice comes from my father, a family physician, whose motto is: “Be good to people.” It’s a simple and direct message and is applicable for any professional or personal situation.

12. If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?
I would start my master’s and doctoral work earlier. I am 33 years young but there are still so many things I want to learn, so many projects I want to contribute to, and so many places I want to travel and work.

13. What should keep entry-level SBCC enthusiasts up at night?
Thinking about how we can work with colleagues outside of communication fields to nurture our messages and translate them into tangible change.

14. What professional organizations are you associated with, and in what ways?
I am a member of the American Public Health Association, the Society for Public Health Education, and the International Communication Association.

15. What mistakes have you made?
I have made plenty of mistakes, but I always try to learn something from each one.

16. What one thing do you still struggle with?
Saying no. I am very passionate about this field so it is hard for me to pass up opportunities, whether big or small.

17. What traits impress you the most in a working professional, irrespective of their area of expertise?
I am most impressed with people who are confident in themselves and their work.

18. Considering all the people you have met in your line of work, what personal attributes are essential for success?
One the greatest lessons for success comes from my background in theater: make the other guy look good. The best actors are not focused on themselves, but instead make their fellow actors look good. The same is true in research and evaluation. When you trust, support, and make your colleagues look good, everyone succeeds.

19. What's the best advice you can give to help plan a career rather than simply work to keep a job?
Enjoy what you do. You won’t love it every day, but do something you enjoy and are passionate about or you will never be happy.

20. What has been your most rewarding accomplishment?
My most rewarding accomplishment will be in 1-1.5 years from now: completing my doctorate!

21. What developments in the horizon could affect future career opportunities in this field?
Shifting global priorities and frameworks for change.

22. Can you recommend a "must-read" book that will help us broaden our skills as working professionals or inspire us to reach our highest potential?
“Entertainment-Education and Social Change” – Edited by Singhal, Cody, Rogers and Sabido. It is a few years old now but a wonderful history of EE and still very relevant.

23. Which other SBCC maven would you recommend for this interview?
Carmen Cronin, MPH, Fulbright Fellow in Uganda


Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of your blog! Please connect with me on Twitter @AmyHRiley to converse about all things health communication.

END//