When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Kenya, as the rest of the world, went into a state of confusion. There was a virus on the rampage and from what was displayed on the news, it was deadly. For the first time, the country was shut down. A lot of people were laid off and there was a total cessation of all social interaction. At the same time, there was little to no information going around on the virus and how people could protect themselves, which gave way to a lot of misinformation on the virus.

To curb this, USAID, through the ministry of health planned to conduct a countrywide Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) exercise. This exercise was carried out through Centre for Behaviour Change and Communication’s DigiRedio platform.

This COVID messaging was packaged as ‘Tumaini Hewani’ (Hope is in the air). The program was conducted through a radio magazine session called ‘Makala ya Tumaini’ through which we gave people hope that if we all followed the COVID-19 guidelines of Wearing a mask, frequently washing our hands, maintaining a safe distance from other people at all times and wearing masks while we are in public, we could all contain the virus and return a sense of normalcy in our lives.