Honduras
A Chance Conversation Changes Policy
In early July, Jorge Cruz, HCP Honduran consultant, was on a small boat, returning from one of the farthest Garifuna Communities in Colon after a youth training workshop. Among the other passengers on the boat, he struck a conversation with the man sitting next to him on the boat. He asked Jorge what he was doing; and he explained he had trained some Garifuna youth on how to develop theatre skits with HIV/AIDS prevention messages. The man responded positively about the importance of accurate information for youth. Jorge also mentioned that he was one of the script writers for the Garifuna Radio drama, currently on the air, but unfortunately the main radio station in the area, Radio Catolica, was not broadcasting the radio drama with HIV/AIDS prevention messages, because it had information about condoms, and it was against church policy. That meant many Garifuna youth had no access to the information.
As it turns out, this man was the Archbishop of Colon, Monsignor Luis Sole. He explained that he personally supported broadcasting HIV/AIDS prevention messages via radio for a group that desperately needed the information and he was going to contact Radio Catolica. He believed that Radio Catolica's role was to support the people who listened to the radio station. This started a series of meetings and community mobilization events to gathers numerous letters from community leaders, NGO's and community members requesting Radio Catolica to broadcast the radio drama. As a result, on September 4, 2006 the radio drama Larubeya was on the air in Radio Catolica. The program now reaches all of the Garifuna communities with HIV/AIDS prevention messages.
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Note about materials: Some of the materials and resources listed on each page are available in their full form, others are represented by image or citation only. For more information and resources, go to www.jhuccp.org
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