Ricky Nyaleye: Real Man Behind the Success of Youth Alert! Mix

Ricky Nyaleye is not a strange name to many young people in Malawi.  They catch him presenting the youth radio program, Youth Alert! Mix, every Saturday at 6.40 p.m. on MBC Radio 2 and at 7.30 p.m. every Wednesday on MBC Radio 1.

Ricky joined PSI/Malawi as the Youth Alert! Mix presenter and co-producer in
2002.  Before joining Youth Alert! Mix, Ricky worked as a producer and reporter at Dzimwe Community Radio in Mangochi, close to Lake Malawi, as a volunteer.

The Youth Alert! behavior change communications program is funded by the
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is implemented by PSI/Malawi across Malawi.  Youth Alert! Mix is the ‘voice’ of Youth Alert!.  Other components of the program include Youth Alert! Mix Listeners Clubs, which seek to translate mass media communications into interpersonal communications at the community level, Youth Alert! Life Skills Schools Program, which visits every secondary school in Malawi at least once a year and Youth Alert! Peer Education, co-funded by KfW, which operates in two pilot districts close to Blantyre.

Youth Alert! seeks to prevent HIV, STIs and unwanted pregnancies among young people in Malawi by adopting an integrated, balanced, and targeted approach to promote important risk avoidance and risk reducing behaviors to young people, such as abstinence, delayed sexual debut, partner reduction and correct and consistent condom use for those young people who have chosen to become sexually active.

According to the 2004 Malawi All Media Survey, Youth Alert! Mix was voted the most popular youth radio program in Malawi.  Being one of the pioneers of the show, Ricky is not surprisingly proud of this achievement.  “I was one of the people who felt great when it was reported that Youth Alert! Mix is the most popular youth magazine program in Malawi.  I knew that I had a stake in the success of the show,” recalls Ricky.

To many young people, Ricky has become synonymous with Youth Alert!
Mix.  They see Ricky as a trusted source of information and listen to him.
“I often wonder why some young people come to me with very sensitive and personal questions about their sexual reproductive health problems.  Sometimes I ask myself, why me?  Why all this trust?”

Ricky realizes that what he says on Youth Alert! Mix is trusted by young people in Malawi and has an impact on their behaviors.  This realization convinced Ricky that he must act as a role model for young people and abstain from sex until he is married.  He also advises young people to have goals in life and try their level best to achieve those goals.

In August 2006, Ricky and his fiancée, Elsie, were married in Blantyre.  Ricky says he truly feels like a ‘Real Man’ as he has resisted the pressure to have sex until he is married and hopes his behavior will act as a model for other young people in Malawi.

Ricky is one of a select group of young Malawians chosen to participate in the Interaction Africa Leadership program operated by the British Council.  The program, which is run in 19 African countries, brings together emerging leaders to discover their journey in leadership and energize them to transform their societies and communities.
Ricky has proved that attention to future goals can bring happiness in both personal and professional life.