Change Begins With Me

I have talked to myself and said, 'I will communicate to others with the honor and respect it deserves'. Advocacy, communication and social mobilization shall no longer be about me or about duty as a health promotion officer. It’s about the other person, the community and the world. Allowing participatory communication, learning from the experts in the communities, allowing them to reflect and talk about their challenges, experiences and allowing people share their success stories. Where they have come from, where they are, where they want to be in the future.

Communication is about the other person's feeling and realizing there is some good in everybody else. We all have beautiful dreams, you touch a heart through communication and one is compelled to a healthy and sustainable action using the gifts at hand from self conviction.

Each day I have something to give. I am a duty bearer to help communities realize their human rights and empower them negotiate positive change in society. When time is appropriate, I shall also become a rights holder, standing up for what health communication is and demanding access to health provision for citizens of my nation. I shall watch and identify the Bright Stars and allow them to tell their stories. My love for children and youth - it’s a wakeup call to engage with them for social change. I shall mingle and rally with them for their rights to be heard in a more appreciated manner. It’s time for us to listen to their little voices. Not only to listen but also to ask Why? each time they make a statement. I have to listen, listen and listen. Listen to what goes on in their lives. The youth also have to be engaged in communication in a more meaningful way. Give them space to tell us why, who, where, what, when……. Then let them tell us how they would want to deal with their situations.

It’s not about tomorrow. The future begins now. Change begins now. And change begins with me. I need you to be Me, and you need me to be Us.