Frequently Asked Questions

Answered by co-founders, Amy Taylor and Dan Cwirka

 

What is Humanitarian Notes?

We founded Humanitarian Notes because we believe that a new and innovative approach to HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns is necessary to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa.  Humanitarian Notes produces CDs that educate, empower, and raise HIV/AIDS awareness among Africans by mobilizing local musicians and resources.  The music incorporates messages that educate listeners about HIV/AIDS prevention and empower them to take control of their future.  The messages also address stigmatization and encourage acceptance.  These messages are developed and delivered by musicians that the community respects. This helps to ensure a sense of ownership and cultural relativity.  This approach succeeded in Namibia, where we were able to create and distribute 5,000 HIV/AIDS awareness CDs to long-distance bus and truck drivers—a  population that had been previously overlooked in traditional campaigns.  This project is easily adaptable to different countries, with local needs determining the target population, language, and method of distribution. back to top

What was the inspiration behind Humanitarian Notes?

Namibia has one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the world.  To outsiders, it might seem that effective awareness campaigns are underway--HIV/AIDS posters, ribbons, and t-shirts blanket the country.  As a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, we learned otherwise. My moment of obligation occurred when I saw that many of the people attending HIV/AIDS awareness events left with full stomachs and new t-shirts, but no intention of using the information they had just received to change their lives. I began to develop my own projects to create behavioral change, but I knew that for an idea to work, it had to take a new approach to spreading the message; t-shirts and ribbons just weren’t working. It was on a long-distance bus ride that the light bulb went on:  if I could couple popular music with a message of change, imagine the potential impact. I recognized that Namibians are much more likely to follow the advice of a local musician whom they love and respect than the advice of a foreign volunteer.  Having realized the futility of many existing HIV/AIDS campaigns and the comparative power and influence of musicians, an idea was born. back to top

Why is Humanitarian Notes necessary?

UNAIDS estimates that AIDS has claimed the lives of 2 million people in Africa in the last year alone.  In response to this crisis, huge sums of money are being poured into HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs.  The Global Fund has approved grants totaling $3.3 billion to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa, and PEPFAR has allotted another $1 billion to the cause.  With this aid, African countries have launched aggressive HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns with varying degrees of success.  Research based in South Africa concluded that knowledge about HIV/AIDS has increased, yet disconnects still exist between young people’s knowledge and their behaviors (Hartel, Cycil George).  Humanitarian Notes aims to bridge this gap by using music to bring HIV/AIDS education and behavioral change together.  According to a Rand Corporation study, music lyrics affect behavior in young people.  Our lyrics share positive messages about HIV/AIDS and influence behavior changes that promote long, healthy lives. Humanitarian Notes uses local resources, so our work is cost-efficient.  Moreover, it does not depend on large sums of external funding. back to top

Why do you think the rate of HIV/AIDS in Africa is on the rise?

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Africa increases each year due to discrimination against those affected by HIV/AIDS and young Africans who continue to engage in sex with multiple partners and without protection.  The current HIV/AIDS campaigns are ineffective and have failed to change attitudes and behaviors. Humanitarian Notes takes an approach that educates and empowers people at the local level, taking into account the social barriers that might have prevented outsiders from succeeding in past campaigns.  Humanitarian Notes is able to disseminate information more effectively because we understand the culture and we take a participatory approach that utilizes local resources.  Musicians create messages that are important to their audiences and deliver them in local dialects, thereby avoiding the pitfalls that come with the poor secondary language skills and high illiteracy rates that are common in our target audience.  This enables us to provide accessible education that fights the HIV/AIDS stigma, combats misinformation, and provides young African with information about safe sex. back to top

What exactly does Humanitarian Notes do?

The primary work of Humanitarian Notes is to produce and circulate music that promotes HIV/AIDS awareness.  Humanitarian Notes uses a participatory planning approach to identify the target population and musicians.  It works with the musicians to develop appropriate HIV/AIDS awareness messages and to record quality music.  We then work with government officials and other not-for-profits to create a distribution plan.  In conjunction with music releases, Humanitarian Notes creates promotional campaigns that utilize print, radio and television media to heighten interest in the project.  A secondary objective of Humanitarian Notes is to facilitate cultural exchange and publicize the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa.  It accomplishes this through its website, which features African music and artists, and personalizes the HIV/AIDS epidemic by including stories from the field.  Humanitarian Notes also coordinates special events and participates in cultural festivals to increase global awareness of the African AIDS epidemic. back to top

What do you hope to accomplish through Humanitarian Notes?

Humanitarian Notes's long-term goal is to decrease the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Africa, which can be measured using current baseline data and national surveys.  However, it recognizes that using African music to educate, empower, and change behaviors only contributes to this end-goal.  The primary desired outcome of our organization is to produce effective HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns. We will use focus groups and surveys before and after each project to gauge participants' knowledge, understanding, and application of the HIV/AIDS information included on our CDs.  On a country-specific basis, we determine the number of people reached and musicians involved at the outset of the project (ex, in Namibia 5,000 drivers received CDs, and 14 musicians contributed messages and songs).  Publicity is measured by air-time and the number of interviews and articles the project generates.  A secondary desired outcome is to produce cross-cultural understanding and awareness about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa, which is measured by site hits on the Humanitarian Notes website and attendance records for events. back to top

How is Humanitarian Notes different from other HIV/AIDS organizations?

Humanitarian Notes utilizes popular African musicians to spread HIV/AIDS awareness. This allows Humanitarian Notes to have a greater impact than other international organizations and government agencies, which disseminate useful information about HIV/AIDS, but have little impact on the way people—particularly young people—live.  Their ineffectiveness is not due to poor information, but poor information dissemination.  People need to change their sexual behavior to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS, and having somebody whom they respect and idolize offer them direction makes for a much more effective message.  Humanitarian Notes is not the only organization that realizes that the medium of the message is vital to its success.   The Red Hot Organization uses music to raise funds for HIV/AIDS, LIFEbeat uses the American music industry to provide HIV/AIDS education, and musicians from around the world make music with HIV/AIDS awareness messages each day. Humanitarian Notes is unique, however, because it creates messages for Africans by Africans and provides a sense of ownership and understanding that the other campaigns lack. back to top

How does Humanitarian Notes support its activities?

Humanitarian Notes was incorporated in June 2007 and received its tax exempt 501(c)(3) status in November 2007.  Humanitarian Notes plans to commence fundraising activities under its organizational name in 2008.  Fundraising efforts will include grant-writing, sponsoring benefit concerts and events, making requests for in-kind support, and soliciting website donations.  The work will be conducted by board members (without compensation) and unpaid volunteers.  The estimated total budget for each of the next two years is $25,000.  Based on past projects, funding will be divided almost equally between individual donations and grants.  The NamibiAlive campaign was funded by PEPFAR ($3,000), GTZ ($3,000) and private individuals ($5,000).  We will also benefit from the in-kind support of individuals and corporations. back to top