1) What qualities do you look for in the people you hang out with?
Likeminded people, highly motivated people and hard working.
2) What do you do?
I’m a public health specialist, with an interest in designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating health programmes. I hold a Programme Manager position at CARe (Community AIDS Response).
3) Why do you do what you do?
Passion drives what I do. This is coupled with seeing change in communities.
4) Is this where you thought you would end up?
I must say opportunities drove me in this direction. I started volunteering and assisting senior researchers and public health specialists with a passion in behavior change. Then I grew to love the sector, and I invested my time and energy to learn more.
5) What values are you committed to?
Hard work, passion and team building.
6) How many hours do you work in a typical week?
I prefer not to say otherwise you will think I’m a workaholic.
7) What skills are required in your position on a day-to-day basis?
Top of my list is conceptual skills, there is so much pressure to deliver and to drive change with limited financial and human resources, yet time is never allowing.
8) Are there any negatives to your job?
No matter how good the programme is, if the funding ends or the funding direction changes the programme gets to be abandoned. That makes me feel bad, especially during times when you can see the programme would have yielded results if there was an additional year or two.
9) What is the background of most senior-level executives in your SBCC circles?
It’s largely public health and nursing. Nursing being top on the list, some are from social work, doctors, nutrition and the rest are from other social sciences.
10) What do you wish you knew at our stage? (IE: Entry-level SBCC practitioners)
Volunteering or doing some internship at a local NGO at an early stage of a career while waiting for other opportunities better prepares anyone for the industry.
11) What is the best piece of professional advice you've ever received -- and used or implemented?
Believe in everyone around you, believe in your teams, motivate your teams and build the career of everyone around you. There is always a diamond in everyone you come in contact with and ideas on programme designs and behavior change can be born out of the people you least expect.
12) If you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?
Invest more time in assisting other people build their network and careers.
13) What should keep entry-level SBCC enthusiasts up at night?
The numbers of projects they have contributed to and the change models or strategies that they have been involved in. They need to be on a look out for opportunities to keep them busy and build their career. The more people they interact with the better.
14) What professional organizations are you associated with, and in what ways?
I interact a lot with guys from various academic institutions, non-governmental organisations and public health professional organisations. Most of my interactions involve research collaboration, lecturing, mentoring, programme reviews and assisting with the design of behavior changes programmes.
15) What mistakes have you made?
Not sharing my publications early enough or making them available to other behavior change professionals. It is so important to share research findings and to document all the work one does in social and behavior change communication. No matter how small the findings are, there is a need to document and share them.
16) What one thing do you still struggle with?
Dealing with toxic people or negative people especially when it comes to generating new ideas and driving SBCC programme innovation. Toxic people defy logic. Some are blissfully unaware of the negative impact that they have on those around them, and others seem to derive satisfaction from creating chaos and pushing other people’s buttons. That I struggle with.
17) What traits impress you the most in a working professional, irrespective of their area of expertise?
Hard working, passionate and self-driven individuals
18) What are the top 7 technical skills that entry-level SBCC enthusiasts should strive to horn?
Key skills are: Listening, writing and research
19) Considering all the people you have met in your line of work, what personal attributes are essential for success?
The most successful have been those who assist others build their career and those that collaborate with interns and help build them. Key to social behavior change has been the ability to understand the needs of the communities.
20) What's the best advice you can give to help plan a career rather than simply work to keep a job?
First know what makes you tick, what is your area of interest and as you work or volunteer try to look for the opportunity to do what you like even if your current task don’t prescribe that you do it.
21) What has been your most rewarding accomplishment?
Assisting upcoming volunteers and interns find their feet in the field of public health and providing a broader understanding of behavior change.
22) What developments in the horizon could affect future career opportunities in this field?
Social and Behaviour Change Communication will always be a vehicle through which programmes are implemented and I forsee its growth and a lot more opportunities.
23) 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?
It’s a bit difficult to make a general recommendation, considering how broad the field is. I would rather make tailored recommendations dependent on individual interested and the career direction they are planning to take.
24) As a communicator, if you could write a book on a social issue; what would it be and why?
A lot has come to my mind on this one. I have been toying around a lot of ideas and some of them have been on stigma and discrimination relating to HIV. I think it is one area that still drives the HIV pandemic.
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