Nelly Bassily | June 14, 2010
What’s new in your community? What initiatives are contributing to creating a healthy community in your region? Farm Radio International wants to hear your stories about healthy communities for our new scriptwriting competition. This is a great opportunity for you to share true stories about healthy communities with others across sub-Saharan African through the Farm Radio network. Free training is offered – and you have the chance to win great prizes!
In collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and other partners, Farm Radio International is launching a radio scriptwriting competition on healthy communities. The Radio Scriptwriting Competition on Healthy Communities is open to organizations and individuals that work with radio in Africa, including radio stations, broadcasters, production organizations, NGOs with a radio project, farmers’ associations with a radio program, health NGOs interested in collaborating with a local radio station, etc.
Competitors are invited to submit a radio script that tells the true story of an initiative in their region that is contributing to a healthy community. The following categories are suggested for script themes:
Healthy environment: community solutions for environmental health, including sustainable land use, transportation, water, sanitation and waste management, and healthy home conditions (for example, reducing air pollution from cooking, and separating livestock and human living spaces).
Agriculture and health: agricultural practices that help farmers contribute to a healthy community, such as safe use of pesticides, and minimizing the impact of fertilizers on drinking water.
Maternal health and family planning: community initiatives that promote maternal health and family planning.
Access to information and health services: increased community understanding of health issues, and community health education or services on topics such as sexually transmitted diseases – for example, knowledge about HIV and care for people living with HIV and AIDS.
Healthy living: healthy eating practices, treating addictions, addressing mental health issues.
Equality and social justice: opportunities for women to make informed decisions about their health; promoting equal opportunities for marginalized groups.
Community peace and safety: initiatives that enable people to live in peace; projects that help people resolve conflict; preventing work-related accidents.
The competition is committed to promoting gender equality and encourages scripts that feature stories of healthy community initiatives that are operated by and/or benefit rural women.
To assist participants with their entries, a free, 10-week on-line scriptwriting training course will be offered, starting on August 16, 2010. For those with limited internet access, the course will be available on CD-ROM.
Submitted scripts must be prepared by talking with people who are involved in creating or delivering an initiative that contributes to a healthy community, and people who benefit from the initiative. All scripts should feature the voices of rural people. Scripts can be written in a variety of formats – for example, dramas, two-host conversations, or interviews. The script must be an original piece of work written specifically for this competition. It must be in English or French, between 500-2000 words with an approximate airing time of five to 10 minutes, including music, and include references to all information sources used to prepare the script (e.g., rural people, health institutions, NGOs, documents, etc.). Above all, the radio script should engage and inspire listeners. Entries must be received no later than November 1, 2010.
The scripts will be reviewed by an international panel of judges. Top entries will be eligible for a variety of prizes, ranging from digital audio recorders to training opportunities. The winners will be announced in January 2011. Winning scripts will be published and distributed to radio stations across sub-Saharan Africa and made available on Farm Radio International’s website.
To learn more about the competition and to register, go to: http://scriptcompetition.farmradio.org.
For further information on the radio scriptwriting competition, contact Blythe McKay, Program and Partnerships Manager bmckay@farmradio.org.