As a response, Soul City Institute developed the PhuzaWize Alcohol Advocacy Campaign for Louwville. The proposal was developed also as a result of the high interest shown by a number consulted community developments workers, the police, leaders, social workers and the health care workers.
The initiation of the programme is seen through the Community Dialogue held on 20 November 2015 in Louwville. This community dialogue confirmed the challenges and began a way forward with 30 people volunteering to be the change agents and ambassadors of the PhuzaWize Alcohol Advocacy. The next step will be a process of capacity building for the volunteers so that they can work together with shebeens, tavern owners, youth, the churches and broader community in reducing the impact of alcohol in the their area.
The Louwville-Vredenburg community, supported and capacitated by Soul City in partnership with Aurora Wind Power will in the next few months activate the PhuzaWize Campaign, an alcohol advocacy campaign as a parallel process to other socio-economic development interventions the broader goals of the PhuzaWize (DrinkWise) programme are to
- Prevent Violence through Alcohol Reduction Campaign, specifically Gender Based Violence on women, young women and girls
- Work towards reducing the harmful impact of alcohol on the HIV epidemic
