Nelly Bassily | September 15, 2008
In November 2007, Farm Radio sent out a package of radio scripts on the distinctive health issues of rural women and girls. Our partners wasted no time in determining which scripts would suit their audience, translating them into local languages, and putting them on the air. A partner survey completed by 38 partners from 18 African countries revealed that the following two scripts were the most popular:
–“Violence against women and HIV/AIDS,” used by 89 per cent of respondents
–“Appropriate farming tools for African women farmers,” used by 71 per cent of respondents
All of the scripts from this package (Package 82) can be found online at: http://www.farmradio.org/english/radio-scripts/numerical.asp
Dominic Mutua Maweu from Mang’elete Community Radio in Kenya wrote to tell us how the scripts became a starting point for community discussion. He wrote: “As for the November package, we have used script no. 9, about widow cleansing. The issue is somehow different in our community: if there is a woman with her period the funeral process cannot go on until the woman is given to a man who is not from that community to sleep with her. So we had two live call-in discussion programmes at the Studio for one hour each, about this topic and about women taking the body of the dead to the tomb, which is also against the culture. The other programmes were from script no.2 [Selenium can help people living with HIV and AIDS] and script no 5 [When parents die of AIDS, farming knowledge often dies too] of which I conducted interviews from the PLWHA [People Living with HIV/AIDS] in the area who have formed support groups and the agricultural officers in the area.”
The names of all Farm Radio partners who responded to the Package 82 survey were placed in a draw. George Atabong, president of the Lebialem Community Radio in Cameroon, was picked in the draw, winning a high-quality digital audio recorder for his station. Don’t forget to fill out your Package 83 survey, on the work of farming, for a chance to win a digital recorder for your radio organization!