The designer who defends rights in Africa

Juanita Rodríguez, design and business administration graduate from the Universidad de los Andes, never imagined that the direction in which she wanted her professional life to go was going to take her so far away. At only 28, she has developed design solutions to improve the lives of people in countries such as Kenia, Somalia, Tanzania, and Ivory Coast. Inspired by the idea of transforming the world and improving the lives of the most vulnerable people, this Uniandes alumnus designer who has a master’s degree in Social Innovation Management developed a strategy to introduce the PrEP pill to Kenya and, therefore, prevent HIV in five of the country’s provinces.

A research project she undertook led her to immerse herself in sex workers’ reality and understand the barriers related to the lack of knowledge about this pill and the reasons that have prevented them for taking it. Through co-design strategies, Juanita and her team together with sex workers, doctors, experts in HIV, and nurses created various packets of solutions that were identified through research. 

The designer said that, “They themselves had the idea of making and sticking stickers on the buses that serviced the most popular routes with the telephone number from which they would receive informative messages and reminders. Also written on the sticker, as a call to action, was ‘Sex work is real work’. This is a change that has begun to have effects on these women’s lives”.

Juanita and her team won the Core 77 Design Awards 2018 for this project in the strategy and research category, which is an award that recognizes the excellence and perseverance of design professionals in 14 disciplines. In rural areas of Tanzania, she worked to increase adolescents’ use of contraception.

In Ivory Coast, Juanita and her team developed three approaches to promote and support the HIV self-test for high-risk men. One of the most interesting approaches was to give barbers in different barber shops around the country information so as they could inform their clients about the test.

This design thinking enthusiast continues to work on the development of public health behavioral change strategies for Africa, Central America, and Guyana. “I have achieved more than I ever dreamt of. I never imagined so much”, she expressed. And she does not hesitate to affirm that she will continue to work so that design and innovation are a vehicle to transform people’s realities.