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Entertainment Education Programs
Bolivia: The Lilac Tent
Why a lilac-colored tent? The Lilac Tent was the first, most visible, and most important project undertaken by the Bolivia National Rural Reproductive Health IEC Strategy. The purpose of the Lilac Tent was to generate community mobilization efforts and strengthen local capacity for reproductive health IEC activities. In October 1998, three lilac-colored tents began to travel through rural Bolivia disseminating reproductive health information and serving as the locus for IEC skills training nationwide. Each tent was designed for a specific region of the country: highlands, valleys, and plains. The tents housed videos, live music, theater and folklore dance troupes, mimes, games, puppet shows, and print and interactive multimedia material. The distinctive color for the tents came from the lilac-colored Las Manitos logo developed in the mid-1990's. The Lilac Tent Comes to Town! Before the arrival of the Lilac Tent in each town, NGOs in charge of each tent worked with local authorities over a period of two weeks to coordinate logistics for the arrival and set up of the tent and to advocate continued support for reproductive health IEC activities in their communities. Artistic resources from the community were invited to join the enter-educate activities during the tent’s three-day stop in each town. Concurrently, community radio operators were trained to disseminate reproductive health information. As part of the training, the radio operators received prototypes scripts and a reproductive health message toolkit for local production. The arrival of the tent in each town was marked by a carnival-style atmosphere. Balloons, posters, and flyers were distributed before and during the tent’s visit. Community radio operators advertised the tent on the air and vehicles with megaphones made their way through the town. Local schools participated in reproductive health mural painting contests sponsored by the Lilac Tent. This video, Decisiones, follows Esperanza, Pedro, and Carmelo--three friends growing up in rural Bolivia. They attend school together and have dreams of going to college in the city. Pedro and Esperanza begin dating, and when Esperanza becomes pregnant unexpectedly, they decide to get married. Esperanza quits school and spends her time doing housework. At first Pedro continues to go to school and work as an assistant to a mechanic--making a little money. Soon the stress of his difficult schedule becomes too much to handle, and Pedro decides to quit school. Esperanza gives birth to a son. At the same time Carmelo goes off to study at the University in Santa Cruz. When he returns for a visit, he discusses condom use with Pedro. Pedro laments the path that his life has taken, and wishes that he and Esperanza had used contraceptives instead of having to suffer the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy. This video encourages adolescent couples to use family planning methods and finish their education in order to improve the quality of their future lives. |
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The tent was intended primarily for rural adolescents and
young couples although market days and local holidays provided
broader exposure of reproductive health messages to adult
men and women. The messages disseminated during the Lilac
Tent’s tour dealt specifically with reproductive health, including
STD prevention, safe motherhood, and informed decision-making,
. There were also messages on environmental
conservation and children and women’s rights. 
© 2005 The Johns Hopkins University. All rights reserved.