Mucho Corazón Captures Hearts of Viewers in Chiapas, Mexico

Mucho Corazón (A Lot of Heart), a new Entertainment-Education television drama, captured the hearts of viewers across Chiapas, Mexico during its debut on Wednesday, January 25^th.   The drama, the result of an exciting partnership between the State Government of Chiapas and PCI-Media Impact (Media Impact), a leader in Entertainment-Education programs, is helping spread the word about the importance of sustainable development, gender equity and respect for Indigenous Peoples.    “Mucho Corazón is critical in promoting women’s access to health services and new laws designed to protect women and girls,” said Media Impact Programs Director Brenda Campos.   Entertainment-Education (E-E) programs incorporate critical information into entertaining media to simultaneously amuse and engage listeners.  The creators and producers of Mucho Corazón will use the drama to discuss provisions to promote the rights of women in the State’s new constitution, the first in the world framed around the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  The MDGs are eight internationally agreed upon to address the needs of the world’s poorest communities.    Mucho Corazón tells the story of Maruch, a young indigenous woman from a rural community in Chiapas:   Maruch suffers from harassment, corruption, racial and gender discrimination and a lack of opportunities because of her social class.  In the absence of her mother, Maruch supports her alcoholic father and tries to help him overcome the disease. Determined to see her father get better and improve her own life, Maruch takes advantage of government programs for women and empowers other women in her community to start their own tomato farm. Everything seems to be going well until Don Justo, the town’s leader, forces Maruch’s father to give his daughter’s hand in marriage, even when Maruch loves another, Justo’s son. In her struggles, Maruch is confronted by several dangerous situations and falls victim of injustice before overcoming it all.   The 35-episode drama is written by Georgina Tinoco and Alberto Aridjis, both seasoned telenovela scriptwriters for Televisa.  One new 30-minute episode will air weekly on Canal 10, run by the Chiapas Radio, Television and Cinematography System for the duration of the program. The television drama will be complimented by a weekly television talk show, ongoing promotion through the State of Chiapas radio and television networks, and community action campaigns to encourage viewers to adopt behaviors modeled in the drama.     Two additional agreements have been signed to expand the program’s reach.  Televisión de América Latina (TAL) will make the drama available to its network of 23 stations throughout Latin America, and Mexicanal and Mexico TV will broadcast the drama to Mexican immigrants in the United States.

The program partners previously collaborated to produce and broadcast Corazón de Mujer (The Heart of a Woman), which began broadcasts on the International Day of Women in 2011.  The drama promotes women’s access to government health services and legal rights.  Corazón de Mujer was originally broadcast on the State Government’s radio station, and has since been rebroadcasted on more than 50 stations in three countries.

PCI-Media Impact empowers communities worldwide to inspire enduring change through creative storytelling. 

For 25 years, Media Impact has worked with local partners to produce Entertainment-Education and social change communications programs that address the most pressing social and environmental issues. Using its unique My Communitymethodology, Media Impact engages and empowers audiences around the world to improve their own lives.  Working with local partners, Media Impact tells the stories that change the world.  To learn more about this program and others like it, please visit: www.mediaimpact.org.

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