From On Air - Spring 2000

One Story, Four Islands

In the Caribbean, PCI gears up to go on the air with a multi-island radio serial.

In the eastern Caribbean, where a rising population threatens the fragile ecological balance between people and the environment, PCI is working on the development of a new multi-island radio project in collaboration with the RARE Center for Tropical Conservation, an organization dedicated to protecting tropical biodiversity. This radio serial will be produced and broadcast simultaneously to four islands: Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, and St. Vincent and The Grenadines. These islands are all English speaking, offer comprehensive services through family planning clinics, and share a history of radio-based information programs.

Over 1999, Alleyne Regis, RARE's Assistant Director of Conservation Education, toured the four islands' radio facilities and asked each one to create sample serial episodes that were then played to focus groups. Based on audience feedback, Grenada was selected to serve as the "host island" where the serial will be produced. Valerie Cornwall, a native of Grenada, was hired as the project's coordinator. With the help of PCI research consultant Dr. Peter Vaughan, Ms. Cornwall led a team that conducted and compiled formative research data from October 1999 to February 2000. The research included personal interviews, questionnaire surveys, focus group meetings, and a review of local literature and legislation, and was later developed into a "values grid" identifying the region's cultural values.

Using the formative research results as a guide, PCI held an intensive Methodology and Script Design Workshop in Grenada from March 20 to March 31. David Andrews and PCI’s VP of International Programs Kate Randolph attended the opening ceremony on March 20; PCI's Senior Program Officer, Susan Rhodes, and Senior Consultant, Dr. Kimani Njogu, led the two-week workshop. Among the participants were representatives from Grenada's Ministry of Health and the local Planned Parenthood affiliate; independent researchers and producers; and writers and actors affiliated with the Heritage Theatre Company.

Over the first week, the workshop introduced participants to PCI's methodology, studied the values grid, and focused on issues of HIV transmission and prevention and gender sensitivity. PCI invited Trish Williams, an independent consultant who regularly conducts gender sensitivity workshops, to run the gender portion of the workshop, which examined local gender stereotypes and how the media influences gender roles.

During the second week, PCI’s Training Program Manager Ann-Marie Ali joined the workshop and helped the writers identify major themes for the serial's story line, develop the main characters, and plot four pilot episodes. The final two days covered radio production techniques: using sound and music for added effect and drama. Over the next few months, the pilot episodes will be produced and pre-tested, and a full series of scripts will be developed. PCI and RARE expect the multi-island radio serial to premiere by the fall.

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