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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY "Let the people reached, affected, influenced, and empowered by HCP's programs speak for themselves." This is the theme of this year's Annual Report covering Year 3 of the Health Communication Partnership (HCP). While indicators, benchmarks, and scientific rigor are important HCP's programs will be remembered for how they have affected and changed people's lives worldwide. Some of their stories follow. NEPAL "That [radio drama] changed my life"
One day I was traveling by bus to Inaruwa and I heard from a passenger that classes would start for illiterate people in our VDC. I was very excited to hear the news. Since I was a little girl I always wanted to know how to read and write but I never had the chance to go to school. I used to feel guilty about not knowing anything much about FP. When I got married we did not use family planning, so our first child was born. Then came our second child. My neighbors told me not to use FP because it was against the Quran. With the help of NGO people I enrolled in the literacy class. I very much liked listening to the radio program Gyane Shakti Hai in the class. After hearing the episode about Copper-T, I talked to my husband. My husband had also heard the same episode while traveling in his truck. He suggested that I come with him the next time he traveled to Inaruwa to get the service at the hospital. Ten days later we went and I had Copper-T inserted. That was 5 months ago. I am now very happy with my family and husband. I do not have to worry about becoming pregnant. I am very grateful to that episode of "Gyane Shakti Hai" Maithali radio drama serial. It has changed my life. My husband and I also heard the maulanas talking on Gyane Shakti Hai. They said that the Quran is not against temporary methods of family planning. So I feel very happy to be telling my neighbors that all of us can use contraceptives and now most of them are adopting them too! ZAMBIA "Because they care for us, they decided to come." Kalabo, a remote town bordering Angola, is hardly reachable by road and due to floods is impassable six months of the year.
During these contests, pupils aged 10-14 and 15-19 use drama, poems, songs, visual arts, dance and debate to share HIV/AIDS-related information on abstinence, VCT, ARVs and parent-child communication with their fellow pupils, teachers, parents, and local communities. The immediate indicator of success of the Kalabo zonal and district contests is that the contest organizers and sponsors defied all odds to organize and facilitate the contest under difficult conditions. As the head master for Libonda Basic School said in his opening remarks: "We are happy that the HCP thought of us for this contest. These people have taken the trouble to come all the way to Libonda from Kalabo by boat.anything could have happened. They could have lost their lives. But because they care for us, they decided to come." BANGLADESH I knew what I should do to take care of myself."
After watching the video from the Adolescent Health package, Tanzila felt empowered once she understood the facts. Now she discusses with her peers their concerns about adolescence, teasing, early marriage, violence, pregnancy, STDs, and HIV/AIDS issues. The following are some of Tanzila's comments about the video's impact on her life. "I was depressed and afraid of a deadly disease when I saw first blood dropping out of my body without any reason. My father died in my childhood, so we're not rich and I did not dare to tell my mother about it. Seeing me weeping, my sister-in-law (cousin's wife) asked about the matter. I told her and she simply gave me some pieces of old cloth and asked me to make a pad so that the blood did not drop on the ground. She did not clarify anything. Moreover she told me to be careful so that people did not see the old cloth and other things. All happened around me so dramatically that made me completely frustrated and I was feeling distressed. At that time I heard about BCCP's video show at Chowdhury Bari (name of a house of a community leader) which I attended (subject was not known me). BCCP also distributed a booklet 'Its my Puberty,' Through watching the video show and reading the booklet I knew about the changes that occur in the human body during adolescence and also I knew what should I do to take care of myself." EGYPT In discussion groups in villages across Egypt , women are doing more than just talking about health.they're taking control of their lives
"I would say no, she's too young," calls out one woman, a mother of 3 daughters. "The right age for a woman to marry is between 18 and 24," another voice sounds. "If she is younger, she can have complications with pregnancy and she and the children could be weakened," the woman concludes. Heads nod in agreement. Ms. Tammem Fathi Salama, 21, is an outreach worker from the Community Development Association (CDA) in Zohra, a rural village in the Governorate of El Minya. The community of Zohra, similar to many throughout Egypt and the region, faces a wide range of socio-economic and health hardships. Tammem was trained in 2004 in the "Arab Women Speak Out" (AWSO) program, which was implemented as part of CHL's community-level activities. AWSO uses the tools of informal education to empower women throughout the Near East by providing role models of achievement and self-esteem for women and encouraging acceptance of these roles by men and women, opinion leaders, religious groups, policy makers, and national organizations. Dalal, a 29-year old mother of three, participated in one of Tammem's first AWSO Trainings last year. Women from the community learned how integrate the empowering health messages and information included in CHL's national public health campaign into the AWSO model.
At first, the people of Zohra were a bit suspicious of AWSO. "The curriculum deals with sensitive issues, and we weren't sure it would be acceptable to the people," explained Mr. Tareq Mohammed Mokhtar, the director of Zohra's Community Development Association. But once they heard from the women who completed the first trainings, more and more women wanted to participate. "Since then, we have seen a great impact, almost right away, particularly with pregnant women accessing their right to ante-natal care," he said. In groups across the country like the ones being held in Tammem's home, women are gaining experience tackling sensitive subjects like female genital cutting, early marriage, and family planning as well as learning the danger signs of pregnancy and delivery and how to prepare nutritious meals on a budget. By focusing on health aspects, the women gather knowledge, confidence, and communication skills that they can transfer into their social and personal arenas. "A woman has to have a voice in who she marries. There has to be feelings between a husband and a wife for the marriage to work," says Yasmine, an unmarried 18-year old woman in the group. At first, her family was reluctant to let her participate in the group. "They heard we were going to be talking about reproduction." But Tammem met with them and explained how important it was for me to learn about these things so that I would be able to take care of my health better," she said. Another woman in the group faced similar resistance from her family. "My mother-in-law used to forbid me to leave the house by myself. She wouldn't even let me speak about joining AWSO, and it was not done to contradict her, ever!" Tammem again intervened, and was able to convince the mother-in-law that AWSO would be a good influence on her daughter-in-law and family as a whole. "We talk more now, and I share with her what I am learning," said the woman. The women are full of examples about how life will be for their daughters compared to their lives because of AWSO. "My children will be able to talk to me. We have a bridge of communication so that they can get correct information from me, not the streets," said one woman. "In the past, only boys were educated, but our daughters will all go to school," said Umm el Hamada (mother of Hamada), the group matriarch at age 34, and mother of 5 children. The women are eager to build on what they are learning in AWSO as well as to spread their knowledge to their neighbors, family and friends. Most of the women express a keen interest in finding ways to contribute more to the economy of the household, such as by starting small projects like raising poultry. Several of the women have also learned from others in the group how to get a micro-loan from the bank to set up their own small businesses. "What we are learning in AWSO is not the same as learning from TV or the radio. We get real information here, from real people who talk about their own lives, and we answer each other's questions," summed up Dalal. HCP is pleased to have so many wonderful stories to tell, and equally, if not more so, proud of the scientific indicators of the success of project work. In this Annual Report, organized according to HCP's Strategic Framework -- Capacity, Scale, Integration, and Research -- we present selected results from our work in Year 3, 2003-2004. |
My name is Nazima Khatoon. I am 23 years old and I live in Bhutaha VDC of Sunsari district. I am a Muslim woman. I am married with two children (5-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter). My husband works as a transport helper so he is often away. 
Communication and other basic facilities are either non-existent or not easily accessible by the majority of the people, due to the long distances. It is with this background that HCP Zambia selected the district as an intervention site for the Zambia Creative HEART contest, with the goal of promoting youth access to health information, particularly information about HIV/AIDS prevention. 
Tanzila Khatun, a 14-year-old girl living in a remote village named Kundarampur in Dinajpur district, lost her father when she was a child. She could not continue her studies after class five because it was far away, more than 4 kilometers from her home. When she saw unknown changes in her body, she was afraid. 
Every Wednesday morning, Tammem's modest front room is filled to capacity with 20 women and an assortment of their children, some nursing. "What would you say if a rich man wanted to marry your too-young daughter," Tammem's co-facilitator, Dalal, starts off the discussion with a topic from the previous week. 
"I noticed Dalal's intelligence right away. She easily took on the role of leader in the class," Tammem commented. After completing the training, Dalal became a community volunteer, holding AWSO discussion groups in homes to spread the message of empowerment and health to other women.