Mexico - Cortando Sueños

Mexican adolescents have a very limited knowledge of reproductive health. Unprotected sex among young people often leads to unwanted births and risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s) including HIV consequences that affect the lives and opportunities of girls and boys alike.

In order to face this situation PCI-Media Impact created the radio drama Cortando Sueños (Cutting Dreams), which is the main feature in the thirty minute live show magazine: Valorando a la Familia (Valuing Family), reaching over 4,000 households. Through PCI-Media Impact training, funding and technical assistance, the radio program was co-produced with the local radio station Ecos de Manantlan A.C.

The goal of the program was to inform about birth control methods, adolescent pregnancy, and HIV/AIDS in the state of Zapotitlán. The show covered the following issues during its broadcast.

• Gender equality
• Family violence
• Migration
• Adolescent mothers

Adolescents Pregnancy Facts: Mexico 

• In 2000 Mexico reported 2,798,339 newborns. 15% of the newborns were from mothers between ages 15 – 19.
• There are 23 millions mothers in Mexico. 75% are married or have a partner, 20% are divorced or widows and 5% are single mothers.
• One out of five households depends on the mother’s income.
• 60% of adolescents’ pregnancies are not planned. Source: INEGI

Broadcast Information

Broadcast Period: August 2006 – November 2006
Target Audience: Teenagers and pregnant adolescent mothers in the development stage, ages 12 -23. The radio magazine registered 5,000 calls received from the south of Jalisco.
Broadcast Reach: Ecos de Manantlan 107.9 FM. Toliman, San Gabriel, Zapotitlan de Vadillo. The station covers 100% of these three municipalities of the south of Jalisco. There are over 10,000 people in the three municipalities.
Number of Episodes: Radio Drama – 17 episodes, 5 minutes each. Magazine Show – 17 episodes, 30 minutes each.

The Serial Drama

Plot: Mariela and Ernesto are dating, but at the same time, Ernesto takes every opportunity to flirt with other girls, especially with Ana. Dealing with the uncertainty of a pregnancy, Mariela discovers Ernesto’s double life and the true love from his best friend. (Left - promo poster)

Radio Drama Main Characters Profile
Mariela: A month after her first sexual encounter, she feels worried because she has not had her period yet. Mariela is heartbroken after discovering her boyfriend is married and economically supported by his wife.
Ernesto: Mariela’s boyfriend. He is an immigrant in the US and is back in town for a period of time.
Ana: Mariela’s sister and single mother of a baby. She finds out her boyfriend is not the father of her baby. Ana was raped by her father who is an alcoholic.
Gabriel: Mariela’s best friend. He tries to convince Mariela that her relationship with Ernesto is not good for her.

Excerpt from one episode of radio drama

MARIELA: Ernesto....I think… (Silence)

ERNESTO: ¿You think what? Tell me, don’t make me wait.

MARIELA: (Exalted and worried)…that… I’m pregnant

ERNESTO: (Alarmed) ¿What are you talking about?

MARIELA: (Worried) I think I’m pregnant, I’m late for 10 days and the truth is that this had never occurred to me before; (shy) I have a regular cycle.

ERNESTO: Oh! Just for that! Don’t worry, you’ll get your period there is nothing to worry about

MARIELA: But I’m telling you, it never occurred to me in the past, (exalted) What if I’m pregnant? What are we going to do Ernesto?

ERNESTO: Shh, (quietly) Shut up, Mrs. Petra is walking by, if she hears us we are in trouble. Please, don’t be silly, if you are pregnant we’ll get married, that’s it

MARIELA: How can you take it so lightly! It’s a baby, a baby no!

ERNESTO: (Affirming) We’ll take care of him, (Sweet) he’ll be a product of our love

MARIELA: But I’m too young, how can you say so!

ERNESTO: Well, then if you don’t want it we can…!!

MARIELA:…We can what Ernesto? What are you thinking?

ERNESTO: You don’t like anything I say, do as you wish

Program Impact

When 45% of the production work of the radio magazine was done, the radio station conducted contests on Saturdays to find about the radio drama’s rating, which was transmitted during the week. In these contests, the program conductor gave a summary of the week’s episodes and then he asked the audience questions related to the series.

The community in general participated, local business donated gifts that were given to those who answered correctly the questions.

About 15 phone calls were received each Saturday.

“We are old people now, who never received adequate information. My mom used to tell me that at the moment I started to bleed, it meant that I could become pregnant anytime from then on. This radio series opened my eyes to advice my daughter, who is 13 years old, about the changes in her body.” Doña Rosa, 37, from San José del Carmen, Jalisco

Local and National Partnerships
We work with public and private partners to promote social development. Some partners included:

• Grupo de Mujeres y Adolescentes de la mujer- Promotes gender equality, women’s sexual education and HIV prevention
• Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS)Secretaria de Salud del Estado de Jalisco: Goverment health provider
• ITESO University, Guadalajara: Training on production and editing
• AMARC Mexico: Workshops on writing, production, and actors’ rehearsals

Capacity Building and Participation
We ensure the program sustainability by increasing broadcasting skills within the community. The radio program provided capacity building workshops on script development and radio drama plot.

In addition, participants identified and communicated their own needs, which created credibility among listeners.

Phone calls and mail boxes: to promote listeners participation and reach listeners with experience in different topics, such as local teachers, doctors, nurses, house wives and adolescents.

Cost–Effectiveness
To ensure program sustainability the project required cost-sharing. PCI-Media Impact provided 19.2% of the project cost and our partners provided the remaining 80.8%, often through in-kind contributions, volunteers, and sponsorship.