MY ISLAND MY COMMUNITY PROGRESS UPDATE – AUG TO NOV 2012
Dear My Island My Community Partners,
The past few months have been rewarding and challenging for Media Impact. Our New York office has been reminded that we all face increased dangers from a changing climate with the impacts of post-tropical Hurricane Sandy. It serves also to remind us how critical it is for us all to take urgent action to adapt to climate change.We were fortunate that none of our staff were injured or had houses badly damaged however our NYC office was offline for a full week with some staff still without heat and hot water. We do hope that all your friends and families in the Caribbean and USA are safe.On brighter notes, here are some of the highlights from the past few months: We are getting very close to our 100th episode with Callaloo now broadcasting episodes 80 to 91!
Our team and partners in St Lucia have been full steam ahead engaging school groups in activities to promote awareness of climate change adaptation and biodiversity conservation in our first My Island Community Action Campaign.
HIV/AIDS story lines have been integrated into prime time TV broadcast across the Caribbean. 8 radio magazines were produced and broadcast in Grenada and St Vincent & the Grenadines to raise awareness around climate change and ecosystem based adaptation as part of the The Nature Conservancy’s At The Water’s Edge (AWE) program.
HIV/AIDS radio call-in shows have been hosted in Grenada and will be rolled out in another five OECS countries in the lead up to World AIDS Day in December 2012.
A significant My Island mid-term evaluation is in progress including an evaluation survey, in-depth interviews, focus groups and clinic-exit interviews. These results will be the basis of the final report for the CARISMA II project initiated in late 2011.Our team would like to sincerely Will Banham for his time and commitment to My Island My Community and programs of Media Impact and we wish him well in his future endeavors. Brenda Campos will now be responsible for oversight of the My Island program with the support of Alleyne Regis (Caribbean Regional Manager) and Jessica Robbins (Islands Communications Manager).
Please see the attached document for more on the latest achievements for My Island My CommunityCommunity Action Campaigns on the Ground!
Many thanks for your ongoing support!
Media Impact
Realizing the 3 C’s: capacity strengthening, building community and promoting positive change
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING:
“The very rich oral tradition of storytelling really brought in all the issues and connected the world to me. I see the world not just as a place I live now but as my house. And if I can have my house clean then I’ll be a better person. I’ll be a happier person. I’ll be more tolerant”
- Willfred (Willy) Noel, Broadcaster, Grenada
Callaloo continues to be a great success, with its steamy storyline now being broadcasted twice a week in ten countries across the Caribbean. With 104 episodes already broadcasted, Callaloo is now entering its second season and becoming even more popular as it expands its broadcast reach to Barbados, Belize, St Martin and Trinidad. .
Media Impact will be launching a series of radio talk show in participating countries which allows listeners to engage in discussions with local leaders and experts on HIV/AIDS issues raised throughout the drama. Completing the three-part My Community approach are the community mobilization campaigns focus on climate change adaptation and environmental conservation. These campaigns galvanize community members and directly engage the public in activities related to each issue such as beach clean-up and mangrove rehabilitation.
Callaloo is now entering its second season, for which scriptwriting guides have been developed to focus each storyline on the most pressing issues that have been highlighted by the results of a thorough knowledge, attitude and behavior change (KAB) baseline survey conducted earlier this year. By incorporating these results, as well as in-depth research analysis undertaken by key partners, each episode will include relevant messages and actions to address knowledge, attitude and behavior changes in the three key results areas of the My Island – My Community project (HIV/AIDS, climate change and biodiversity conservation).
In the area of HIV prevention, Callaloo will address stigma, erroneous beliefs of the risk of contracting HIV and low prevalence of efficacious behavior still seen in the KAB survey results. By role modeling supportive “peer networks” – a tactic that has proved successful in driving consistent condom use with partners – the team hopes to improve attitudes and behavior towards sex, HIV and reduce domestic violence.
To reduce vulnerability to climate change for coastal communities, Callaloo is focused on increasing understanding and awareness of the adverse effects of climate change in island communities and promoting cost-effective, nature-based adaptation activities.
In the area of biodiversity conservation, Callaloo addresses poor waste management and its adverse effects on public health and the environment.
Each element of the My Island My Community program is targeted towards specific segments of the community and its most pressing needs. The program both role models conversations around sensitive issues and also allows community members to engage in a dialogue or get help. . Getting people talking about these topics is a pivotal step in addressing these important issues and laying the groundwork to significantly improve each issue in each island.
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2012 has been a busy start to the year for the Media Impact team!
Callaloo is now on the air in 10 countries, with as many as 40 episodes (depending on the station) having aired thus far. Negotiations are continuing to get Callaloo on-air in Trinidad, Belize, Barbados, Bahamas and St. Maarten by the end of the summer. The letters of agreement with the partner stations in these additional locations will ensure that Callaloo is on-air 3 to 5 times per week, and will guarantee each station hosts radio call-in shows to promote dialogue about the issues in each episode of the drama.
The My Island - My Community Team met in New York City from April 2nd to 6th. Our Caribbean team members joined the New York City-based team for a week to revise the program's twelve month work plan to achieve the program goals and commitments. This meeting was highly successful and provided an opportunity to refine our approaches to ensuring a high quality and impactful program as well as strengthen the team overall. The meeting allowed for the team to review preliminary results from the baseline survey and draft a plan to roll out of radio call-in shows and campaigns.
The preliminary results from the Knowledge Attitude and Behavior (KAB) Baseline Survey, conducted in St. Lucia, Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, indicate that listenership to Callaloo is 9% overall, a promising start since the radio show had only been on-air for a few months. The My Island team created a revised marketing plan to continue to increase listenership over the coming months based on the successes from our first marketing and promotions campaign.
The team is presently focused on development of scriptwriter guides to focus storylines and messages based on the KAB survey results. For example, 89% of respondents have heard of climate change and of these, nearly all believe the climate is changing now; however, only 17% have done something to protect themselves from impacts of climate change. Therefore the program will thread storylines highlighting the impacts of climate change on individuals and actions that they can do to protect themselves – overall demonstrating how easy it is to take action. In relation to HIV/AIDS, the results indicate that only about one-third of sexually-active respondents report having talked about condoms or family-planning with their partner. Therefore storylines in the drama will role-model such conversations.
Your support enables us to strengthen our efforts to deliver an impactful program that will help the more than 6 million residents of the Caribbean prepare for, and adapt to, the changes brought by climate change. Thank you for partnering with us in this important work!
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