Media Impact and Fundación Social Launch Four Youth Programs in Colombia

(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) April 21, 2011 - From April 4^th to 9^th, PCI-Media Impact (Media Impact) and Fundación Social jointly hosted an Entertainment-Education (E-E) workshop in Chinauta, Colombia.  Entertainment-Education is the purposeful incorporation of educational content into entertaining media to simultaneously inform and amuse audiences.

More than twenty people, including several youth, community leaders, community-based organizations, including Fundación Social, our main partner in this program, participated in this workshop led by Media Impact Regional Programs Manager, Javier Ampuero, and Partnership Officer, Sylvia Torres.  The workshop resulted in storylines for four soon-to-be-produced E-E programs to empower Colombian youth to participate in the design of community development plans.    “Javier and I were so impressed with the talent and passion in the room,” said Ms. Torres.  “The use of video and comics will really help bring the messages to our target audience. We have no doubt the stories will be successful in catalyzing change throughout Colombia.”   In 2003, a quality of life survey led by DANE, the Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (National Administrative Department of Statistics), showed that in Colombia, 66.27% of the population from 0 to 26 years of age lives in extreme poverty. These youth not only face the consequences of living without the support from the government, but also “temptations” offered by drug dealers, guerrilla fighters and gangs.    “I’m the first generation in my family to have formal education -- my parents are farmers,” said Lucho, 23.  Lucho will now lead a team to produce a comic book and community competition that will reach more than 15,000 students in Bogotá.    The initiative specifically targets nearly 100,000 youth in four regions of Colombia – Bogotá, Ibagué, Pasto and Union and Barbosa – all of which have been identified by Fundación Social as high priority areas.   The total population of these four regions is more than 2.2 million people. The program will use a variety of media to give legitimacy to youth cultural expressions in their communities; encourage youth participation in community development planning; and promote peaceful co-existence for citizen.     PCI-Media Impact empowers communities worldwide to inspire enduring change through creative storytelling. 
For 25 years, we have worked with local partners to produce programs that address the most pressing social and environmental issues. Using our unique My Community methodology, we engage and empower audiences around the world to improve their own lives. Working with local partners, we change the world one story at a time. For more information, please visit: www.mediaimpact.org PCI13311