“I’ll use what I learned in this program to create change in my country.” “My boss back home can’t wait for me to return to brief the staff on what I learned.” “This has been the most important experience of my life!”
These were some of the reactions from the participants in our 2001 Media Leadership program. For the third year, PCI brought communications professionals from developing countries to the U.S. to study social content programming.

The unique training program nurtures future media leaders, broadens and strengthens PCI’s potential media partners, and trains talented professionals in social content programming and production techniques.
This year’s class included six fellows from India, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the Philippines. Their experiences cover a wide range within the field of communications.

The fellow from Pakistan is a physician who uses puppetry to promote health information in small villages. Another combines an education in clinical psychology with his experience in screenwriting to create health messages in the form of advertising.

The program is funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, which fully covers the fellows’ tuition, travel, and housing expenses.
Our partners on the program are the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television, Population Research Laboratory, and Annenberg School for Communication.

The intensive 12-week program focuses on broadcast production techniques, entertainment-education, principles of population and reproductive health, and PCI’s methodology.

Beginning in May, the fellows attended classes at the Annenberg School that examined the relationship between society and the media. Hands-on courses at the USC’s Cinema-Television school included TV and film production, music video production, editing, and mixing. To supplement their classroom and production courses, the fellows attended seminars designed to explore the aspects of social content entertainment unique to PCI.

“I wasn’t trained in entertainment-education,” said Khalil Phido, a program officer working for an NGO in Lagos, Nigeria. “But we got to take a seminar with Albert Bandura, the man who actually developed social learning theory! And from Professor Arvind Singhal’s lectures I learned that to touch people at the most fundamental level, communication with the audience must first be based on formative research, just the way PCI does it.”

The fellows also visited the set of an NBC soap opera; toured the CBS and Warner Brothers Studios; and met with directors, actors, and senior network executives.

“While it was a treat to tour the set of Friends,” said Gigi Santiago, a TV producer from the Philippines, “it was truly a thrill to speak with the U.S. TV professionals. I think all of it has helped plant the seeds of our professional development. I know I’ll be using the PCI methodology to improve the shows I plan to work on.”

In New York, the fellows learned more about PCI’s methodology, the impact of entertainment-education initiatives, sexual and reproductive health issues (including HIV/AIDS prevention), and how media programs can act as powerful advocacy tools. They met with representatives from UNFPA and their countries’ missions to the U.N., and toured the United Nations.
Femi Kayode, who works in advertising in Lagos, Nigeria, looked back at this whirlwind 12-week program and said, “We studied with the best professors, learned so much about social issues like HIV/AIDS, and got to use cutting-edge broadcast technologies. This program has broadened my horizons. It’s truly a leadership program.”

The physician and puppeteer, Dr. Amir Dabir from Hyderabad, Pakistan, said, “I liked that PCI doesn’t impose its methods, and allows the educational themes to come out of the formative research from within each country. This experience will certainly help me as I write scripts about HIV/AIDS awareness for my adult audiences.”

Shailey Motial, who works in corporate communications in India, said, “This course exposed me to so much: the latest technologies, a different culture, a greater understanding of the concepts of entertainment-education. I feel I’ve really grown as a professional and as a human being.”

“This experience touched my mind and my heart,” said Gabriela Granados, a TV and radio producer from Mexico City whose work focuses on human rights, sexuality, and health. Even with years of professional experience, “I’m now motivated to create programs with an even bigger impact. And the glue that holds together this practical and theoretical training is PCI. I’ve gotten a remarkable sense of belonging to a worthwhile network of people who work in this field. I am so grateful to PCI.”

We’re pleased to note that some of the fellows from prior years have been engaged by PCI in our overseas projects. We’ll stay in touch with this year’s fellows as well, watching as they apply PCI’s methodology in their work, and applauding as their own projects come to fruition.

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