Giving Compass' Take:

• Sara Creta explains how hip-hop and other forms of culture can be used to spread important information, including facts about HIV. 

• How can funders find the most culturally-appropriate vehicle for the delivery of important messages? 

• Learn about the need for public space in emerging media. 

Images of very ill, abandoned patients have been used for years, contributing to this culture of fear around HIV and a confusion between HIV and AIDS.

I wanted an innovative behaviour change campaign for Doctors Without Borders here in Democratic Republic of Congo to push for new practices of information dissemination, with a new view on HIV, where artists and activists can create and interpret the world of their image, exploring photography and visual culture as mediums of empowerment for wide-reaching social change.

Hip-hop is everywhere in Kinshasa. In the clubs, on the street, on the radio, playing from people’s phones. If we were going to do this, hip-hop would be the way to make it work.

Since we launched it the video has been watched on Facebook over 52,000 times, and played on Kinshasa radio and TV stations. Lexxus  Legal and Sista Becky have given interviews about their involvement, and after getting tested themselves, they shared the results on Facebook to encourage other people to get tested too.

The campaign includes Q&As and locations of clinics in Goma and Kinshasa where people can get tests and treatment.

Read the full article on HIV and hip-hop by Sara Creta at Doctors Without Borders.