The Drum Beat 159 - Communication and Change News and Issues

PROGRAMMES

1. ATO-IRE: Health & Afro-Brazilian Religions - Brazil - a health promotion campaign. Activities include research, visits to terreiros, meetings with mães and pais de santo (religious leaders in the terreiros), training for the religious leadership, production of informative materials and an educational video, and the organisation of seminars. In the worldview of Afro-Brazilian traditions, the body must be healthy so that Afro-Brazilian deities can communicate with human beings. Terreiros play a fundamental role in this society since, as shared spaces, they allow the construction of collective networks that can produce positive changes in terms of quality of life. Contact José Marmo da Silva mguimar@uol.com.br

2. TV Programmes About Refugees - The Gambia - a programme about human rights issues affecting refugees in The Gambia. Explored why The Gambia has become a magnet for displaced persons, and how, with few natural resources, the country copes. The 30-minute TV programme included interviews with refugees and support staff in urban and rural areas. The programme revealed that, unlike in most countries, refugees in The Gambia are not confined to camps. The majority live in the community, and are actively encouraged to seek employment in all professions. The programme identified the relief infrastructure, self-sustaining initiatives, and empathy of Gambian citizens as crucial to the compassionate treatment of these refugees. Contact Sally Ann Wilson sally-ann@cba.org.uk

3. Bhoomi (Land) - Karnataka, India - an e-governance programme consisting in the computerisation of 20 million records of 6.7 million land owners in 176 taluks (farming communities) in Karnataka. Any farmer in the state can visit a Bhoomi kiosk and obtain a copy of the Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTC), a critical document of ownership required to secure bank loans, for a user charge of Rs.15. Before Bhoomi, the process of obtaining land use documents took weeks and required farmers to pay between Rs.100 and Rs.2,000 in bribes to officials. Now, manual land records in operationalised taluks are illegal. Contact as-lrf@revdept.kar.nic.in

4. Maternal Health/Family Planning Project - Senegal - a 5-year project (2000-2005) to increase demand for quality MH/FP services using mass media, interpersonal communication, community mobilization, and outreach. Project includes: radio broadcast of Family Planning spots and a radio soap opera on men's involvement in family health; service providers and community health workers trained to conduct community activities; group discussions, film projection, and home visits; a traditional song and poem contest on Maternal Health topics organised with youth. Contact mblake@jhuccp.org OR asow@jhuccp.org

5. Aiding Youth for Life (AYL) - Canada and Tanzania - in July 2002, AYL sent 5 university students on a working visit to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The team participated in a 4-week internship at the Aga Khan Hospital and organised and implemented an HIV/AIDS awareness and education campaign addressing young high-risk Tanzanians. Their strategy began with arranging various small forums to share messages of awareness, prevention, and education. They then mapped out what kind of efforts were already in place by other NGOs and the government through site visits. This assessment stage also included meeting with 20 student volunteers from local secondary schools to find out which schools had HIV/AIDS curricula and to learn about means of increasing public awareness that are culturally sensitive and appropriate to each setting. Contact Ali D. Kanji ali.kanji@AYL.ca OR Jessica Farah Shaikh Farah.Shaikh@AYL.ca

6. Forest Resources and Technologies (FOREST) Project - Russian Siberia and Far East Russia - fire-prevention promotion materials including badges, posters, flyers, factsheets, and keychains. Forest fire danger level announcements and public service announcements are broadcast on TV and radio. There is a competition for journalists as well as contests for the best mass information campaign and targeted information campaign on forest fire prevention. Tip sheets, fact sheets, articles, and audio and video broadcasts have been produced, and are available online. Contact info@forestproject.ru

7. SATELLIFE's Health Information Project - Ghana, Kenya, & Uganda - personal digital assistants (PDAs) were used for conducting field surveys in conjunction with a measles immunisation program in Ghana in Dec 2001. 30 Ghanaian Red Cross volunteers, trained in the use of PDAs over a 2-day period, were able to complete over 2,400 surveys in 3 days (the traditional paper-and-pen survey method would have yielded only 200 surveys). From April to Dec 2002, SATELLIFE will collect survey data and monitor how the participants use the PDAs and the information resources provided. An independent evaluation will then be conducted to explore how the technology impacts the behaviour of health professionals and the quality of care they deliver. Contact Amy Galblum agalblum@usa.healthnet.org

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IMPACT DATA

8. Impact Data - STOP AIDS - Switzerland - condom use among men between the ages of 17-30 increased from 8% to almost 50% and between the ages of 31-45 from 22% to 35% between 1987 and 1990. It had been suggested that the campaign's support of condom use would promote promiscuity among young adults and result in an increase in the number of individuals' sexual partners. This was contradicted by a study conducted between 1987 and 1989 that found the number of people that considered mutual faithfulness effective protection against HIV transmission had increased from 18% to 49%. Contact Ruth Rutman ruth.rutman@aids.ch

9. Impact Data - "Truth" Anti-Smoking Campaign - Florida, USA - results of a 1998 telephone survey testing awareness of the campaign showed that only 5 months into it, they had achieved a brand awareness of 92%. According to a survey conducted in 1999, between 1998 and 1999, the number of middle and high school teens defined as "current smokers" declined by 19.4 % and 8.0% respectively. Contact Frank Penela frank_penela@doh.state.sl.us

AWARDS

10. St Andrews Prize for the Environment - Global - practical and original solutions to environmental problems. Applicants may choose whatever problem they wish. Deadline Oct 30, 2002. Contact Shona Hood prize@st-andrews.ac.uk

11. Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships - 6-month working fellowships for non-U.S. print journalists from developing and transitional countries with an emerging free press. Deadline Feb 1, 2003. Contact afpf@aol.com

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Programmes that foster open discussion and debate on HIV/AIDS are as important as programmes that distribute condoms.

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STRATEGIC THINKING

12. Utilizing creative dramatized traditional Taita dance and music to increase public awareness about HIV/AIDS in Wongonyi community - by Leonard Majalia Mjomba
Participation in development can only be increased in Africa if communication systems will start serving the needs of the vast majority in the rural rather than the few urban inhabitants. This study identifies creative dramatized traditional Taita (African) dance as one medium that could lead towards increased participation.

13. Indigenous Knowledge, Policy and Institutional Issues for Collaboration between Mountain Adjacent Communities and Management Agencies
- by Samuel Mwangi
Takes a look at possibilities existing within the indigenous knowledge systems, community structures, institutional management agencies and other resource users for sustainable mountain and site-based resources conservation.

14. Crisis Communication and the Internet: Risk and Trust in the Global Media - by Martha C. Monroe
Does the Internet increase trust in global crisis communication? Does Internet communication force a structural transformation of the public sphere?

PLANNING MODELS

15. Agricultural Knowledge and Information System for Rural Development (AKIS/RD) - links people and institutions to promote mutual learning and generate, share and utilize agriculture-related technology, knowledge and information.

16. SCOPE - from JHU/CCP Population Communication Services - developed as an interactive computer software simulation programme, has been redeveloped as a planning tool to assist users in designing and implementing effective health communication projects in their countries. The basic framework is the "P-Process", a 5 step health communication planning process.

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The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.

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