AFRO-NETS> The Drum Beat - 91 - The Communication Initiative

[Warren Feek <wfeek@comminit.com>]

The Drum Beat - 91 - The Communication Initiative
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PROGRAMMES

1. Corporacion Cactus - Colombia - works to improve conditions for 
workers in the flower industry. Cactus promotes the participation of 
communities located near the flower production sites in industry de-
cisions on the use of natural resources and shared spaces. They pro-
vide training in labor rights, legal defense mechanisms and worker 
health safety and advocate for protecting labor rights in Colombia. 
Because Colombian-grown flowers are directed towards international 
markets, Cactus has focused on establishing relationships with Euro-
pean fair trading organisations, including the International Flower 
Campaign. They publish a newsletter, and broadcast a radio programme 
in the region where the flowers are produced. The radio programme 
features exchanges between workers and the local population. 
Contact Patricia Sierra 
mailto:cactus@colnodo.apc.org


2. Lake Chilwa Theatre Project - Malawi - a social mobilisation pro-
ject of The Story Workshop, using action theatre produced by a team 
of community drama facilitators and radio soap opera stars. Aim is to 
focus residents of Lake Chilwa on their roles as guardians and bene-
ficiaries of the area designated as an internationally important wet-
land. Sponsored by the Lake Chilwa Wetland & Catchment Management 
Project in collaboration with the Department of Environmental Affairs 
and DANIDA. 
http://www.storyworkshop.org/chilwa.html 
Contact:
mailto:info@storyworkshop.org


3. Awassa Tukol Vocational Training & Arts Center (ATVAC) AIDS Educa-
tion Circus - Ethiopia - 40 homeless teenage performers, part of a 
self-sufficiency programme in Awassa, recently performed an AIDS Edu-
cation Circus with audiences numbering in the thousands. The youth 
are producing shows targeting their peers that increase awareness of 
AIDS prevention practices. Performances include gymnastics, martial 
arts, drumming, acting, song and dance, and are written by the youth 
performers. ATVAC is seeking support from various international and 
Ethiopian agencies for a performance tour of the Southern Regions. 
Contact Mr. Girma Melesse
Managing Director, ATVAC
Tel: + 251-6-201-804
Fax: + 251-6-202-900 
or 
David Schein 
mailto:david@freestreet.org


4. Radio Forum - Global - The 1st Radio Forum to be held at a World 
Summit on Media for Children took place at the conference held in 
Thessaloniki, Greece, bringing together programme makers from many 
different radio production and broadcasting organisations. Digital 
radio, internet radio, innovative education radio, children's radio 
in transformation, participation, access and the Digital Divide were 
all issues to be discussed. The Radio Forum's guest speakers included 
representatives from national, local, community and grassroots radio 
groups with producers, station managers and programme makers from 
Europe, Africa, India, USA and Latin America. 
Contact Sarah McNeill 
mailto:sarahmcneill@dial.pipex.com


5. Center for Media, Education & Technology (C-MET) - Sierra Leone - 
a resource for Sierra Leonean media professionals, indigenous NGOs, 
and civil society institutions. Established to promote the use of 
journalism as a source for positive change. They provide subsidized 
Internet access for media professionals and staff of local NGOs; 
skills training for media professionals, including computer-assisted 
research and reporting; and Internet cyber cafe, for use as a work-
shop and a training center; and, a website for the media of Sierra 
Leone. Future projects scheduled for implementation in 2001 include 
initiatives supporting legal and judicial reform, and capacity build-
ing for legal professionals, the judiciary, and for higher education 
and cultural institutions. 
http://www.cmetfreetown.org 
Contact David Tam-Baryoh 
mailto:c-met@sierratel.sl


6. Pacific Media Initiative (PMI) - Australia - The PMI is funded by 
the Australian Government's Overseas Aid Program (AusAID), and pro-
vides customised short-course training to media professionals, in-
cluding government, private sector and community media liaison offi-
cers in the Pacific region. The PMI aims to increase the role of the 
media in the Pacific region in promoting government accountability 
and to assist community development. Activities include: customised 
workshops using trainers from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific 
Island Countries; university scholarships for media professionals; 
and work attachments to established media organisations. 
Contact Louise Morrison 
mailto:l.morrison@mei.unimelb.edu.au


7. Nigerian Association for the Promotion of Adolescent Health & De-
velopment (NAPAHD) - Nigeria - the umbrella organization for youth 
serving NGOs on health and development. Objectives include overseeing 
adolescent reproductive health programs in Nigeria; facilitating the 
exchange of information and ideas among youth-serving and youth or-
ganizations; building the capacity of youth-serving and youth organi-
zations; and liasing with government, donors and other stakeholders 
for provision of enabling environment, resource mobilization and ef-
fective youth programming. 
Contact Dr. Oluwole Odutolu 
mailto:livanig@skannet.com


IMPACT DATA

8. Sida dans la cite (SDLC) - Cote d'Ivoire - SDLC is a television 
soap opera based on the life a family touched by AIDS. Researchers 
from Population Services International (PSI) investigated the impact 
of the soap opera. The weekly show has a large audience, reaches many 
poor people and those in rural areas, who have limited access to AIDS 
information. Exposure to SDLC is very high. About 70 percent of urban 
people know about the programme and have seen at least 1 episode. Al-
though rural populations have less access to television more than 1/2 
of respondents have seen the show. Over 3/4 of young people who are 
not yet sexually active have seen SDLC. 
http://www.comminit.com/id2001/sld-1649.html


E-FORUM

9. Discussion Forum focusing on HIV/AIDS & stigma, denial, shame & 
discrimination in Africa. Although AIDS-related stigma is one of the 
key obstacles in accessing care for persons and families affected by 
AIDS, little has been done to understand the root causes and plan 
stigma-reducing interventions. This e-mail forum is launched as part 
of a strategy to facilitate the development an African operational 
research agenda on stigma. To join, send an e-mail to:
<join-stigma-aids@hdnet.org>


WEB SITES

10. Understanding Poverty, Health & Development in Africa - a site in 
development. Its goal is to help ordinary people to easily comprehend 
the policy and practical dimensions of poverty, its measurement and 
interplay with health and development. 
http://expage.com/chpsspovertystory


11. The Population & the Environment pages of Johns Hopkins Center 
for Communication Programmes (JHU/CCP) website. Includes articles, 
evaluations, and an available CD-ROM. 
http://www.jhuccp.org/popenviro


EVENTS

12. 10th International Conference of People Living with HIV/AIDS - 
Port of Spain, Trinidad, October 27-31 2001. The programme will move 
on four tracks: 
1) Positive Living - Treatment Access, Treatment Literacy, Complimen-
tary/Alternative Health issues, Gender-related health issues, health 
research, home and community care; 
2) Positive Environment - Issues related particular aspects of the 
HIV+ community: women, indigenous and minority communities, sex work-
ers, gay/lesbian/bisexual, secondary prevention; 
3) Positive Engagement- Skills building and leadership development: 
working with networks, fundraising, board development, national level 
involvement, advocacy training, program development; 
4) "The Parallel Forum" - opportunity for allied (non-HIV identified) 
organisations and institutions to work with the HIV+ leadership from 
around the world, 600 assembled in one place, on themes of mutual in-
terest. 
http://www.comminit.com/events_cal/2001/91-event.html
Contact Stu Flavell 
mailto:gnp@xs4all.nl


13. "The Art of Getting Attention," an Advertising Council Conference 
in Washington, D.C., May 14-15 2001. Programme includes: The State of 
Public Service Communications; Know Your Audience: A Macro View of 
America; Laying a Solid Foundation through Research; Powerful Crea-
tive: The Key to Getting Results through Public Service Advertising; 
Public Service Communications Online; Beyond the Ad: Public Rela-
tions; Options for Funding Public Service Advertising Campaigns. 
http://www.comminit.com/events_cal/2001/99-event.html
Contact:
mailto:seminar@adcouncil.org


MATERIALS

14. "The Strange War: Stories for a Culture of Peace" by Martin Auer 
- a collection of stories for children and young people. The book has 
been translated from German into English, Albanian, Chinese, Czech, 
Danish, Dutch, Estonian, French, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Serbian, 
Spanish and Ukrainian. All downloadable free of charge at 
http://www.peaceculture.net/


15. Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health Materials - from Family 
Care International.

a. "Stepping Out": a Training Kit (Video & Discussion Manual)
   http://www.comminit.com/Materials/sld-563.html

b. "You, Your Life, Your Dreams" 
   http://www.comminit.com/Materials/sld-581.html

c. "Get the Facts" 
   http://www.comminit.com/Materials/sld-1650.html 

Contact:
mailto:fcipubs@familycareintl.org


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velopment activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement 
or support by The Partners. 

Please send material for The Drum Beat to 
The Editor
Deborah Heimann
mailto:dheimann@comminit.com

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