Pakachere

The project originally adapted media materials that Soul City used in South Africa in its behavioural change communication campaigns, which included radio, print, and television. They then made the shift to producing original materials in radio, print, and television.

Print
Print media was initially in the form of a full-colour, easy-to-read booklet entitled "Living Positively with HIV/AIDS" designed for the general population. The second booklet, "HIV/AIDS and Treatment" was printed and distributed in 2006. According to Pakachere, collectively, both publications have been distributed to more than three million people in Malawi.

Click here to view the Living Positively with HIV/AIDS booklet on Google ebooks.

Click here to view the HIV/AIDS and Treatment booklet on Google ebooks.

Radio Drama
Pakachere produced a radio series which was based on and used the scripts from the Soul City Radio drama series II. It was aired from July 2005 to June 2006. A second radio drama adapted from Soul City series IV aired in August 2006.

Pakachere then moved to producing their own materials and produced two Chichewa-language radio series which were broadcast on six radio stations. The first was a 45-episode series dealing with drug abuse, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, stigma and discrimination, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The second was a 60-episode series dealing with high blood pressure, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, and entrepreneurship. According to Pakachere, radio has a very high reach in Malawi - more than 85% of the population in both rural and urban areas.

Television
The Pakachere Television Talk Show was produced for PSI/Malawi by Kings-Multi Media productions. The Talk Show was an interactive programme that aimed to bring Malawians together to discuss various issues affecting their health. Issues included HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, bullying in schools, and housing problems. The weekly show was made up of an episode of the Soul City drama series, and a locally produced talk show, which discussed emerging themes while bringing relevance to the Malawian context. The show featured expert speakers, government officials from different departments, individual case studies, and an audience.

Two additional talk shows have since been produced, both consisting of 13 episodes each, that deal with HIV/AIDS, orphan-hood, and domestic violence. In addition, three 13-episode series of the TV drama Soul City have been broadcast.

As part of the Soul City Regional Programme, Pakachere also produced a short film called "The Test". It formed part of the Untold Stories series, which was broadcast on television across Southern Africa in 2008.

Pakachere also uses community mobilisation and advocacy activities to complement the campaign products and messages. It identifies existing clubs or encourages new ones who can be trained to use the print materials or be used as listening clubs for the radio dramas. The groups are also trained in Village Participatory Drama to impart the information they learned to others in their villages.

HIV/AIDS, Health

Pakachere was originally established as one of the communication programmes within PSI Malawi in 2002. Pakachere IHDC eventually became an independent local health communications NGO in March 2008, specialising in media communication programmes.