Social Media for Social Change: Young People Leading the Virtual Response to COVID-19

When Kenya reported the first case of a Kenyan contracting COVID-19, many Kenyans’ hopes were crushed. For weeks before the announcement, the country was rife with rumors that the coronavirus would not be contracted by people of color. This revelation led to a more pronounced fear of the unknown which continues to prevail among many the country’s 52 million people.

In the weeks to follow, the number of confirmed cases increased simultaneously with the growth of fear among the public, begging the question: “Who would ultimately balance the scales by restoring hope in the people?”

A National Day of Prayer on 21 March was televised countrywide – an interreligious group of religious leaders leading the country in seeking divine intervention – but this helped to quell the rising tension only for a while.

This sequence of events made me realize the importance of timely, accurate, and complete information—especially when this information is of the upmost importance to the health and wellbeing of a people. This moment allowed me to harness my skills and training as a member of the newly established Religions for Peace Youth Media Team— a group of global, multi-religious young people who participated in a Digital Media Fellowship with the DW Akademie in Germany in preparation for the RfP 10th World Assembly in Germany with the support of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.

I quickly hatched a plan to utilize my training in order to support the younger population on various social media channels to access and utilize credible information about the COVID-19 situation in Kenya. In my assessment, this was an urgent need that would allow people get factual information from trusted sources to compliment the guidance provided by the Government of Kenya. This social media effort would aid in the restoration of hope in a people that is bombarded with distressing information.

Using Canva, an online graphic designing and photo editing website, I designed social media post with some of the basic prevention and monitoring information that has been verified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centers for Diseases Control (AfricaCDC) on the coronavirus. Basic steps like regular washing of hands, keeping away from crowded places, seeking medical care and observing social distancing guidelines were commonly known measures, but many young Kenyans may have taken these for granted. Therefore, this messaging from a peer increased the legitimacy and urgency of these messages.

We live in an age where technology and social media have the potential to impact millions of lives in diverse ways within a short time, and for this reason I am committed to utilizing these very platforms for positive impact, to counter the fear that is being spread by others. This realization has led me to volunteer as moderator of online discussions with the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), geared towards ensuring that factual and accurate information is circulated online for the consumption of young people who are active social media users and consumers in Kenya. Also, as an Ambassador for YouthLead, a USAID funded activity of Youth Power Learning, I am coordinating colleagues from Kenya in disseminating basic information on the Coronavirus from our connections with the Ministry of Health, WHO and AfricaCDC through the use of creative digital content to disseminate facts and quell fear. Not all young people get news from, or have access to, these trusted and credible organisations, so it is important for young people like me to spread this information in a more easily accessible way. I use my twitter and Facebook to share these messages in abundance.

At this time, when the world is grappling with a pandemic and fear is ever present, hope becomes the primary point of convergence for all of us. It is also for this reason that many are passionately and remorsefully turning back to their sense of the Divine, from whatever their tradition, as the reliable shelter in this time of storm. Divine inspiration is being sought as both the source of hope and as a general pacifier to the depressing news that is dominating the airwaves. For this reason, I am partnering with my senior religious leaders and radio panelists to translate COVID-19 messages into the common vernacular. The messages are being shared via Ramogi FM, a part of the Royal Media Services, which is the currently one of the leading media houses in Kenya. The wide listenership of Ramogi FM will go a long way in spreading the accurate information on the pandemic, while also restoring hope in the populace who might not understand English and Swahili. Everyone needs hope. We need it; the World needs it; We can all make it happen.

• Twitter: @paganyo
• Facebook: Philbert Aganyo

To learn more about the work of RfP’s Interreligious Council in Kenya, including how the RfP Kenya Interfaith Youth Network are spearheading a COVID-19 messaging campaign targeting 1.5 million people, click here.