PICTURE CODES COMMUNICATION PLAN (MILITARY)

Background

Picture codes are designed materials or drawings, which vividly describe something, a story or a situation. They are an essential communication technique because they encourage distinctively full participation, as the audience is actively involved in the activity they see with their own eyes. Picture codes also help in sharing personal experiences, as they may portray a certain story or situation the audience has been in or is still in.

In addition, picture codes will be used during general discussions with the military before showing MVU spots or a full-length video. Eight picture codes have been produced and categorized in accordance with major behavior change barriers they intend to address among the military. Open-ended questions will be asked to try to lead to a positive, but realistic behavior for protection against HIV/AIDS/STIs at the end of the discussion.

Target group:Soldiers of RDF

1.Characteristics

Demography:

  • Age: 18 – 35
  • Residence:All military units
  • Marital status:Majority are single
  • Level of education:Generally Primary and secondary education
  • Socio-economic level:Generally medium i.e. their

purchasing power is higher than that of most people in communities where they live (rural & suburban) because they have a steady monthly income

  • Profession:Soldiers

Life style.

  • They like hanging out in-groups and making friends.
  • They Love leisure.
  • They are sexually active.
  • They are not reserved in their speech among their peers especially but reserve some information not relevant to the general population.
  • They like joking especially with their peers.
  • They like discussing sexual issues amongst themselves
  • Like drinking alcohol

Values/ aspirations.

  • They like elegance, always try to be smart.
  • They place a high value on luxurious things like cars, good houses etc
  • They admire leadership and/ or aspire to be leaders.
  • They are brave and want to do something extraordinary to stand out the crowd.
  • They like being recognized and always agitate to give their opinions in any discussion they are involved in.

Barriers to behavior change (persistent condom use)

  • Low self-efficacy as regards sexual behaviors of the military e.g. they lack confidence to use condoms correctly i.e. their personal risk perception is low and does not favor evaluating risks surrounding HIV/AIDS from an individual’s perspective which leads to low decision-making.
  • There is a high level of fatalism since soldiers are exposed to danger, they tend not to value and plan for their future. For example some say “I need to enjoy myself after all I can die any time”
  • There is a high level of alcohol consumption, which affects their ability to use proper judgment regarding sexual behaviors.
  • Fatalism related to their past unprotected sexual behavior(s), prevents soldiers from feeling that they need to use condoms because they assume they are already infected.
  • Their risk perception is not high enough to play a role in decision-making e.g. a soldier may have unprotected sex with a CSW simply because he has no more condoms for more sex.
  • The low knowledge of one’s serostatus among the military, does not favor making a "new start" (i.e. changing sexual behavior).
  • Accessibility of condoms is a problem because the supply of condoms is inadequate compared to the level of demand and even those (generic) available are not appreciated. In some cases, soldiers deployed in deep rural areas have no chance to get condoms within their vicinity.

Activities common to each session:

  • Distribution of generic promotional materials bearing messages addressing priority barriers after the session.
  • Link messages to a call for action to use condoms consistently for " a healthier better future".
  • Ensure everyone gets used to condoms through condom demonstration competition.
  • A participatory system in an IPBCC session.
  • Organizing smaller groups to facilitate more open and intense interaction.

Questions that you may ask on each of the picture codes

Questions on the Picture code.

1)What do we see in this picture?

2)What is the picture about? And, whom is the picture meant for?

3)Do you think people in the picture are happy or sad? Why are they happy?

4)Some things make you happy and some make you sad, let’s share the things that make us happy because we don’t want to be sad! Shall we begin with the left or right? (To build rapport with audience)

5)How are the people in the picture related? Are they brothers, sisters or a family?

6)Do you at one time plan to have a family too? I mean, your own family!

7)Does the picture make you aspire to be like them or above them or different from them or it doesn’t matter to you?

8)Is it possible for us to predict our future? If yes, how? For example: did you know you would be a soldier in the past? If no, what was your aspiration? Then, we can say, life changes!

9)If we should continue thinking about our future, what is the most important thing to bear in mind? Explain that the future is unpredictable but is the best, what is important is to stay healthy and try to overcome anything that might be an obstacle to our future.

10)If we go at least 12 years back, what do you think was the lifestyle of the soldier in the picture? Shall we say he knew what his future would be?

11)Twelve years from now, can we predict what our future will be? Let’s go back to our game. Read through what the audience wrote and ask them to imagine being want the want to be. Ask them how it feels like.

12)Back to our picture, does it portray a picture of someone we know, admire or aspire to be like him? Note that: it’s not important to mention the names of those individuals.

13)If those soldiers could have acted differently in the past for instance say: “after all, I can die any time from now so I will enjoy every moment in my life, I do not know what tomorrow will bring”, What do you think could happen?

14)Do you think that can influence our future? How, making it happy or sad?

15)How can we relate that belief to our sexual behaviors? Do you think the belief favors safer sexual behaviors? Supposing it doesn’t, what could be the likely consequences of such beliefs on the family, country and the person? Emphasize that: a person with such beliefs is likely to expose himself to HIV infection which would deprive him of his strength as a soldier, discontinue the support for his family etc.

16)Has anyone among us ever had same belief in the past but for some reason decided to change it? If any, can you share your personal experience on that? The facilitator can as well share his.

17)What attitudes do you value to have a positive influence on your future? Emphasize hoping for the best and the determination to achieve your aspirations no matter what?

18)What measures should we take to ensure that we stay healthy and strive to become what we want to become?

19)From the discussion, did you gain anything new you did not know before? Please feel free to share it with us.

Conclusion: After the discussion on this picture code, ask at least two volunteers from the audience to summarize the discussion but make sure they emphasize that:

  • You can be whatever you want to be provided you lead a healthy life.
  • Current situation does not portray tomorrow’s situation, you can attain your future dreams if you stay healthy.
  • Your strength is important to your family, your country and yourself. Don’t weaken that use condoms correctly and consistently.
  • “What’s your dream, attain it”

Ending the session:

State that:

  • If you have questions you may wish to ask, please don’t hesitate to do
  • Thank them for participating
  • Give the T-shirts to the winners of condom demonstration
  • Tell them your address (in this case, they may write to PSI or DMS-Kanombe)

Focus:

a)Distribution of generic promotional materials bearing messages addressing priority barriers after the session.

b)Link messages to a call for action to use condoms consistently and “a healthy future”

c)Ensure everyone gets used to condoms through condom demonstration competition

Other

  • A participatory system in an IPBCC session
  • Organizing smaller groups even if many would love to join at the same time

END

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