Young African men in Melbourne’s west are turning to social media to help cut heavy drinking in their community.
Peer mentors are working with filmmaker Ez Eldin Deng to create a series of short videos as part of the cohealth arts generator “be a brother” project.
Lead peer mentor Augustino Daw said it is time to open the lid on the complex issue of young men in the African community drinking heavily, often to erase memories of a war-torn past or to deal with the difficulties of finding stable work and housing.
“It’s a fact that many young African men are drinking heavily – but the community isn’t talking about it,” he said.
“What we want to do is to make some short and compelling videos that will grab the attention of young Africans about the dangers of heavy drinking.”
Mr Daw, originally from Sudan, said you never saw or heard from African-Australians in existing health messages, making it difficult for them to connect with the community.
“Health messages will be made by young Africans for young Africans,” he said.
“We need to see our faces, hear our languages, and see our situations so we recognise our real experiences of being part of African and white Australian communities.”
Mr Daw wants the VicHealth-funded video messages to prompt young Africans to think about and support each other to feel less alone and to be less likely to drink to cope with problems.
“We will include young Africans talking about what alcohol has done to their life and other young Africans who can show a different way of life,” he said.
“We want to encourage people to become brothers and sisters, provide support and offer alternatives to getting drunk.”
Cohealth chief executive Lyn Morgain said the project builds on the successful story of arts improving the health of hard to reach people.
“We need to try harder to reach out and connect with people who do not see themselves represented in mainstream media, health messaging or health promotion.”
