Outreach Strategies to Recruit Low-Income African American Men to Participate in Health Promotion Programs and Research: Lessons From the Men of Color Health Awareness (MOCHA) Project

African American men continue to bear a disproportionate share of the burden of disease. Engaging these men in health research and health promotion programs—especially lower-income, African American men who are vulnerable to chronic disease conditions such as obesity and heart disease—has historically proven quite difficult for researchers and public health practitioners. The few effective outreach strategies identified in the literature to date are largely limited to recruiting through hospital clinics, churches, and barbershops. The Men of Color Health Awareness (MOCHA) project is a grassroots, community-driven initiative that has developed a number of innovative outreach strategies. After describing these strategies, we present data on the demographic and health characteristics of the population reached using these methods, which indicate that MOCHA has been highly effective in reaching this population of men

Building Non-Violent Social Justice Movement Through Innovation in Community Justice Systems: Turkana Village Courts Experience; Northwest, Kenya

Pastoralist communities in Kenya have suffered burdens of the legacy of both colonial and post independence legal system alienation, and marginalization. The perceptions that these communities are independent, belligerent and antidevelopment have consistently continued to be political sentiments held by the political elite to justify marginalization. The current constitution of Kenya continues to retain some of the discriminatory provisions like the Trust Land Act. The land in Turkana is still owned by the government of Kenya, held in trust by the local authorities. Given the economic lifestyle which is based on livestock (not recognized by the state as viable economic opportunity), alternative livelihoods system is dismal. There is no real government of Kenya political solution (the only viable option now) to alleviate the suffering of such communities to tackle the endemic and virulent poverty. This calls for an alternative citizen direct action engagement with the government through non-violent ways. Building Non-Violent Social Justice movement through innovation in community justice systems is both a process and strategy of attaining political consciousness among pastoralists. As a process, it seeks to create knowledge around historical injustices deep rooted in the formal legal system and redefining coherent social identity of marginalized groups. As a strategy, it is a tool of social mobilization and building social capital that will be conducive for creating political consciousness and conscious social change at different levels of the society. When pastoralists use their traditional institutional arrangements as interaction point with formal system, there is better understanding of how the systems functions. This awareness will allow pastoralists communities to channel growing discontent and anger into something positive, creative, non-violent and inclusive and to renew the passion for change and put an end to injustice

No More War: A Public Health Approach to Identifying Successful Steps to Promote Peace in the Horn of Africa

War and violent conflicts make major contributions to morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is, however, an issue that is infrequently discussed, poorly understood, and under-conceptualized in the field of public health. Wars and violent conflicts impact public health in different ways: the effects of conflicts on people’s health, the destruction of public health infrastructure and public health human resources, the proliferation of new diseases due to the adverse impact on the environment, and the worsening of pre-existing health conditions. In analyses of the causes of conflicts in developing countries and Africa, western theorists have focused on identifying presumed essentialist traits with pathological proclivities that lead to outbreaks of violence. The purpose of this research is to apply an indigenous research methodology to examine the types, quality and perceived effectiveness of social practices that aim to reduce violence and bring about peaceful, non-killing communities in the Horn of Africa. This research used a mix of indigenous research methodologies and elements of qualitative social science research to identify and recruit key stakeholders involved in peace work in Turkana. The participants were people who had direct and indirect knowledge of the negative impacts of violent conflicts in Eastern Africa. A total sample of 76 individuals were contacted individually from a pre-identified, theoretically robust target population: peace officers, peace promoters, peace committees, Kraal leaders, the directorate of peace of the Turkana County, national government representatives including the local chiefs and Turkana County administrators, and from other peace actors including representatives of the international NGOs, faith based organizations, community based organizations and national government agencies. The results show that there are constellations of factors affecting historical events. These are: ethnicity and predisposition towards violence; access to natural resources—changes in environment, drought and famine & discovery of oil and gas; poverty and legacy of colonialism- desperation; political incitement; increasing access and ready availability of small arms and light weapons-raiding as show of power; shortcomings of international law; and socialization, early exposure to conflict and customary practices. This study finds public health intersectoral approach as a unifying service that can play a role in mitigating the harmful effects of conflict. Thus, equipping community health workers with the knowledge and skills on conflict early warning, peace education, health promotion activities and livelihoods programs increases chances of conflict prevention and peace promotion. While many situations have many factors in common, it is important to remember that each particular conflict situation is unique. There are a broad range of factors that press towards the instigation of violence, but the relative salience or weight of any single factor will vary for each particular situation