1. Media For Health:
As the world’s population surpasses seven billion, health issues have never been
more important. Good health is a complex issue. It is dependent on our actions and
choices as well as our external environment and social factors, such as income, access
to health care services and education.
PCI-Media Impact uses proven storytelling
strategies to create narratives and characters that
address a broad range of health-related issues to
reach into the hearts and minds of people. These
stories catalyze individual and community behavior
change that lead to positive outcomes.
Our Media for Health programs promote healthy
behaviors and social change and address health
issues relevant to population, including family
planning and sexual health, teenage pregnancy,
public sanitation and hygiene. We target vulnerable
groups in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and
North America.
PCI-Media Impact is a leader in Entertainment-
Education. For over 25 years, we have empowered
communities worldwide to inspire enduring change
through creative storytelling. Using our unique
My Community methodology, we are engaging
coalitions of individuals and organizations
around the world to use serial dramas, interactive
talk shows and community action campaigns
to address pressing global health issues. Our
programs increase knowledge, change attitudes
and facilitate behavior and culture change on the
critical health challenges of our time.
Working with partners around the world, we have
produced over 3,000 episodes of 75 productions.
These programs have reached more than one
billion people in over 40 countries. Currently,
we work in over 30 countries throughout Latin
America, the Caribbean, North America, Africa and
Asia.
“When I heard it from a doctor, I
wouldn’t really listen, but when
I heard it on the show, I was like,
‘Wow, maybe there is something
to this.’”
– listener from Huntsville, Alabama
Entertainment-Education for Health
Promotion and Disease Prevention

2. Preventing and Managing
Disease in Alabama:
Body Love, Staying Well in Camberwell & Promesas y Traiciones
Major health risk factors in
the United States include
hypertension, elevated
cholesterol levels, alcohol
consumption, tobacco use, illicit
drug use and obesity. These
risk factors are linked to serious
health conditions, such as heart
disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Many chronic diseases can be
prevented through a healthy
lifestyle and responsible disease
management can increase the
life expectancy of affected
persons.
Alabama has one of the
highest rates of diabetes in
the U.S. and 70 percent of
its population are considered
obese or overweight. To address
this growing health problem,
PCI-Media impact worked with local and national
partners to create three radio serial dramas:
BodyLove, Staying Well in Camberwell, and
Promesas y Traiciones (Promises and Betrayals).
Each drama is geared towards a specific
demographic; Promesas y Traiciones, targeted at
Hispanic immigrants, won the Multimedia Award
from the American Public Health Association.
Health issues are woven into the story including
good nutrition, exercise, diabetes, stress,
cardiovascular disease, drug and tobacco use, and
depression. Impact studies showed that frequent
listeners were more likely to discuss diabetes, get
health screenings, increase their physical activity,
and eat healthier.
Partners on the projects include Media for Health,
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
American Diabetes Association, the UAB School of
Public Health, the Jefferson County Department of
Health, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
“… I started monitoring my
blood sugar. I started making
sure I took my medicine… I did
the whole nine yards… It was
extremely powerful to me…”
– BodyLove Call-in Listener, Alabama

3. Promoting Health in New York:
My School – My Community
Middle and high school students grapple with a
variety of social and environmental issues that
range from teenage pregnancy, bullying, and drug
use to the cleanliness of their schools. In New York
City’s public school system, PCI-Media Impact’s
My School-My Community helps students identify
and solve the problems that affect them. The
program engages the students in conversations
from which they are normally excluded, an
empowering approach that positively impacts
academic achievement and later civic involvement.
Students become agents of change and plan,
design, produce, broadcast and evaluate their own
compelling serial drama, a discussion platform to
engage their school community, and a creative
community action campaign. Partners include the
W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Urban Assembly.
Preventing Teenage
Pregnancy in California:
Yo Soy tu Niña
More than half of Latina teenagers get pregnant
at least once before age 20. In California, Latinas
account for 73 percent of all teen births which are
significant contributors to high school drop-out
rates among girls. Teenage pregnancy can be
prevented by improving family communications
about the delicate topics of relationships, sexual
health, and birth control. Working with partners,
PCI-Media Impact developed Yo Soy tu Niña, a
36-minute video mini-series that targets Latino
families to help parents have honest conversations
with their children about sex. Flor, is a 15-year
old teenage girl in Southern California from a
traditional Latino home. When her father, Jesus,
finds an inappropriate text on Flor’s phone from
her boyfriend, tensions escalate. Program partners
include Novelas Educativas, the National Campaign
to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, and National Council of
La Raza.

4. Preventing HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean:
Callaloo
Communities across the Caribbean face multiple
challenges, including the spread of HIV/AIDS
which is the leading cause of death among 25-44
year-olds in the region. Contributing factors
to the epidemic include low HIV testing and
treatment, inconsistent condom usage, poverty,
stigmatization, and gender inequalities.
PCI-Media Impact’s My Island–My Community
program helps improve the health of these
communities by promoting safe sex practices,
open discussions, HIV testing and treatment, and
gender equity. The program uses an integrated
approach that addresses population, health
and environmental issues to deliver sustainable
outcomes for both human and ecosystem health.
In the island community of Riverbend, Dennis
McLaren struggles as a distracted and philandering
single father who runs a nightclub which brings
his children into contact with shady characters.
The local and promiscuous police officer, Gregory
Singh, finds out that he is HIV positive and is
terrified to tell his wife.
Callaloo airs in 15 island nations and targets 3.8
million islanders. In 2012, the 150-episode series
received the Best Monitoring ad Evaluation
Methodology Award from the Rainforest Alliance’s
Eco-Index. Callaloo works with 60 partners
including USAID, KfW, Options, The Secretariat of
the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, and
Population Services International.
“The very rich oral tradition of storytelling really brought in all
the issues, connected the world to me. I see the world not just as
a place I live now; but as my house. And if I can have my house
clean, then I’ll be a better person. I’ll be a happier person. I’ll be
more tolerant.”
– Wilfred (Willy) Noel, Broadcaster, Grenada

5. Sanitation, Hygiene, and
Water Resource Management in Peru:
My Community – My Water: The Story of Our Water
Globally, inadequate access to safe water and
sanitation kills or sickens thousands of children
every day, and leads to poverty and diminished
opportunities. In Peru, a country of 28 million, 24%
of households — and as many as 60% in rural areas
— do not have access to piped water; in addition,
millions do not have access to safe drinking water.
PCI-Media Impact is working with partners
USAID, Kallpa (a local human rights and youth
development NGO), Radio Cultivalu, and Calandria
(Social Communication Association) to motivate
social change to address this problem. My
Community-My Water/Sed de Ti Ti (Thirst for
You) consists of a national
90-episode radio drama
and regionally-produced
radio talk shows to deal
with sanitation, hygiene
and water resource
management. The program
helps listeners understand
and support water and
sanitation activities and shifts social norms around
water consumption and hygiene. It also addresses
gender equality since women typically shoulder
the burden of ensuring their households have
water.
Preventing HIV/AIDS in Jamaica:
Blackburns of Royal Palm Estate
In Jamaica, PCI-Media Impact developed an
innovative partnership with Mediamix and wove
messages about HIV/AIDS in ten episodes of
Jamaica’s favorite TV show, the serial drama
The Blackburns of Royal Palm Estate. Story lines
promoted consistent safe sex practices, open
conversations about sex, HIV testing, and social
support. One character, Rochelle, who was raped
by her boss, is depressed because she fears she
may have HIV; but her friend, Michelle, educates
her about the disease and convinces her to get
tested.
Preventing Teenage Pregnancy in Peru:
My Youth – My Community
Teenage pregnancy is a virtual epidemic in Peru,
one in five young women has been pregnant at
least twice before her 20th birthday. Adolescent
use of contraception is below 2.6% and illegal
abortions are on the rise. PCI-Media Impact’s
My Youth–My Community program helps reduce
teenage pregnancy and promotes reproductive
health. Two radio serial dramas, When Love Grabs
Hold and Pages of Love, which aired in Ayachucho
and Ucayali, reached more than 59,000 young
listeners and 450,000 adults. The serial dramas
and live talk shows are produced entirely by young
community members who leverage social media
platforms such as Facebook. The goal is to build
and empower a community of students, parents
and decision-makers who believe that the youth
should have access
to sexual education,
reproductive health
care and rights.
An impact study
found an increase
in knowledge
regarding local resources and sexual and
reproductive rights. Partners include UNFPA
(United Nations Population Fund), Regional
Council of Adolescents and Young People, and
Regional Departments for Education and Health.
The program was recognized as a UNFPA top five
global practice for Adolescents and Youth and
won “Best Practice” for all of Latin America.

6. Promoting Women’s Health in Mexico:
Mucho Corazon, Corazon de Mujer & Vibra Chiapas
The Mexican state of Chiapas,
home to the largest indigenous
population, is one of the poorest
states in Mexico and ranks near
the bottom of numerous human
development indicators. The
people of Chiapas, especially
the women, face severe
economic and health threats.
PCI-Media Impact is working
with local partners to develop
Entertainment-Education dramas
to address a range of issues
that affect these communities,
including racial and gender
discrimination and alcoholism.
Corazon de Mujer( The Heart of a
Woman), a 40-episode radio drama broadcast on
51 radio stations in Hispanic countries, promotes
women’s rights, supports the welfare of families,
and helps improve access to health and advocacy
services. Effective community mobilization
activities included giving 5,000 taxi drivers arm
sleeves with the drama’s logo to transform them
into advocates for the drama’s messages.
The success of the radio drama led to Mucho
Corazon ( A Lot of Heart), a 36-episode television
drama that promotes gender equality and
improved health, and encourages financial literacy
and girls’ education. The drama also deals with the
difficult topics of alcoholism and breast cancer.
The 30-minute episodes are broadcast on 23
stations throughout Latin America as well as in
the U.S. and Canada. An impact study found that
67% of respondents who watched Mucho Corazon
reported being concerned about high levels of
alcoholism compared to 50% who didn’t watch it.
Partners include the Chiapas State Government of
Mexico, World Bank, and Women’s World Banking.
In one story-line, Maruch and Candelaria, young
indigenous women from a rural community in
Chiapas, suffer from harassment, corruption,
racial and gender discrimination and a lack of
opportunities due to their social class. Candelaria’s
mother dies from breast cancer and Maruch
helps her alcoholic father overcome his disease
as the women in the communities learn to work
collectively to improve their lives.
Another initiative, Vibra Chiapas, consists of
radio call-in shows (80), television shows (18),
and large-scale events such as concerts (19) to
create an open platform for participants. The
shows and events are designed by the young
people in the community and promote a variety
of issues, such as sexual and reproductive health
and rights, HIV/AIDS, gender equality, tolerance,
and diversity. Vibras Chiapas also brings together
local musicians, athletes and artists with thematic
experts to discuss these issues with the audience.
During the events, over 2,000 HIV tests were
administered and over 45,000 condoms were
distributed. Partners include Sistema Chapaneco
de Radio (governmental radio and television
agency) and DIF Chiapas (System for Family
Development).
An impact study found that 67%
of respondents who watched
Mucho Corazon reported being
concerned about high levels of
alcoholism compared to 50%
who didn’t watch it.

7. Ending Gender-based Violence in Liberia:
Mobilize4Africa- Liberia
Sexual violence is rampant in Liberia, a situation
made worse by a weak justice system and
unwillingness to report the attacks. PCI-Media
Impact has partnered with the THINK home
(Touching Humanity In Need of Kindness) to
empower survivors of gender-based sexual
violence in Liberia through photography. Ranging
from ages 13 to 24, half already mothers and most
below a fourth grade reading level all of girls at
THINK have been victims of sexual violence. After
camera training and storytelling workshops, the
girls each take a series of photos that explain what
they believe it means to be a woman in Liberia.
The presentation of these photos calls attention
to the larger social issue while the process of the
project encourages individual reflection of the girls’
individual stories of perseverance and hope.
This initiative also uses the healing and
transformative powers of music help galvanize
social awareness and generate dialogue about
sexual violence. PCI-Media Impact has partnered
with Takun J, the country’s premier “Hip Co” artist,
to produce several anti-rape songs. Takun J drew
inspiration from the girls at THINK when writing his
hit “Song for Hawa” and the music video stars the
girls themselves, a production idea proposed by
Takun J himself.
“It is our responsibility to not just learn how to do other things, but
also to share with others... If other girls are going to change and
have different experiences in life, then they will have to learn from
our example.”
– THINK Photovoice participant

8. For more information, contact PCI-Media Impact
Alex Cottin, Director of Partnerships acottin@mediaimpact.org : +1-646-326-8377
Family Planning, Health and
Environment in Ghana:
Biribireba– Something is
About to Happen
Ghana’s coastal areas are experiencing adverse
environmental impacts due to overfishing, pollution
and erosion, problems that may get worse as the
population in this West African country is expected
to double in the next 20 years.
Biribireba is a 52-episode radio soap opera that
reaches up to 2.5 million people in six coastal
districts of the Western Region of Ghana.
Listeners tune in to stories of intrigue, corruption,
temptation, and love that simultaneously address
social and ecological issues, such as family
planning and responsible parenting practices. The
program also conducts interactive talk shows and
community mobilization campaigns to turn up the
volume on the issues addressed in the show and
make it easier for listeners to adopt the behavior
changes the characters role-model in the drama.
The drama promotes Biribireba is part of a larger
sustainable development program, Hen Mpoano
(Our Coast), a five-year program funded by USAID
implemented in partnership with the Coastal
Resources Center of the University of Rhode Island,
SustainaMetrix, Friends of the Nation Ghana and
the World Fish Center.