Nicaragua Network of Child and Adolescent Communicators
August 2008 - Issue #7
The future of children’s broadcasting in Nicaragua lies in the hands of its children. This month, we focus on the empowering Network of Child and Adolescent Communicators. It is allowing children under eighteen to produce their own written, radio, theatrical and televised material which is then broadcast throughout Nicaragua. After an extensive four year training period, the children are fully capable of directing, producing and organizing their work on an advanced level, allowing the opinions of young journalists and radio anchors to been heard, all before their high school graduation.
- Children gain media training through Network of Child and Adolescent Communicators of Nicaragua
- Learning ‘how to listen and how to speak’ with youth radio
- Links
- Join the discussions!
VIDEO Children gain media training through Network of Child and Adolescent Communicators of Nicaragua
The Network of Child and Adolescent Communicators is an educational programme and studio that allows Nicaraguan children under the age of 18 to engage in media-based and theatrical projects.
The network was founded in 2003 with support from UNICEF and the Radio Nederland Training Centre, and was implemented by Los Cumiches Association for Communication and Social Mobilization, a local partner.
Since then, the network has organized a series of workshops and presentations in the form of radio, video, music and print media to promote young people’s rights, gender equality, environmental protection and the prevention of violence and sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
Four years of workshops
To participate in these workshops, students are chosen by various Nicaraguan child-rights organizations when they are 11 or 12 years old, as a reward for their achievements. The children then receive extensive training in the field of their choice for four years.
During their first year in the workshop, participants get an overall education on children’s rights, HIV awareness and other issues in which UNICEF is deeply involved. The second and third years are devoted specifically to the study of radio, television, dance, theatre, music and other forms of artistic expression.
The final year deals with the more practical aspects of communication, as each fourth-year participant is given a first-year partner to mentor and guide through the programme. This approach allows the older adolescents to teach new generations the skills they’ve acquired.
Youth-produced radio
One of the most widely distributed forms of media produced by the network is the programming done by its radio station, Radio Cumiches. Sixty per cent of Radio Cumiches programmes are produced and directed by children under 18, and the station is on the air for 16 hours each day.
The content usually combines live interviews and songs to promote awareness of child rights and the prevention of HIV and domestic and sexual violence. The programmes are broadcast on 11 radio stations around Nicaragua.
Network member Lorena Cristi McClawth has been inspired by the project. "Before, I was too embarrassed to speak in public or ask questions," she says. "Since I have been in the network, I’m no longer afraid."
Lorena and her friend Vilma Mayela Blanco have been sitting behind radio microphones every Monday through Friday for the past two years, as part of the programme, ‘Love in the Time of AIDS’. The show creates a space for participation, discussion and information about the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Plans for expansion
The Network of Child and Adolescent Communicators was originally formed by 50 young people selected for their communication and leadership skills by organizations that defend child and adolescent rights in Nicaragua. By its third year, the programme had extended to the country’s Caribbean Coast, strengthened by support from the University of the Autonomous Regions of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua.
More than 1,000 children and adolescents are now part of the network, and it is hoped that the new Programme of Cooperation that UNICEF has signed with the Government of Nicaragua will help this number grow even more.
AUDIO Listen to
an example of Radio Cumiches
(In Spanish)
Learning ‘how to listen and how to speak’ with youth radio
‘Love in the Time of AIDS’ is a radio programme produced by and for adolescents, and broadcast by Youth Radio in Bilwi, the capital of Puerto Cabezas in Nicaragua).
The programme serves as a weekly meeting place where advice and information about preventing sexually transmitted diseases, personal development and other issues of concern to children and adolescents can be aired on the radio waves.
Hosts Lorena Cristi McClawth and Vilma Mayela Blanco have been behind the microphone from three to four o’clock in the afternoon every weekday for the past two years.
Caribbean Coast adolescents
The friends became interested in collaborating on the programme after they took part in various workshops as members of the educational programme, Network of Adolescent Communicators of the Caribbean Coast, which is supported by the University of the Autonomous Regions of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua and UNICEF.
According to Vilma, the pair "felt the duty to share all they had learned with other young people."
"When I participated, I thought that it would be one more boring workshop," explains Vilma, "but my expectations were completely surpassed. I’ve taken part in workshops on music, theater, photography, radio and HIV-prevention, and I’ve learned how to transmit educational messages through songs, theatre and even photographs – where there are no words."
A ‘world network’
Vilma’s co-host, Lorena, is taking accelerated classes so that she can finish high school as soon as possible and then share all that she has learned in her community. She is proud to be a member of the Network of Adolescent Communicators. While leafing through one of the five books she’s reading, she confesses that thanks to the network, she has much higher self-esteem and better relationships with other young people.
"Now I have friends in Puerto Cabezas, Mulukukú, Bonanza, Waspán…" she explains enthusiastically. "Before, I was too embarrassed to speak in public or ask questions, and I couldn’t express myself well. Since I have been in the network, I’m no longer afraid, and I almost don’t get nervous."
Lorena is passionate about radio and is a proponent of what she calls an eventual "world network of adolescent communicators" that will allow young people from every municipality to relate to each other and learn that it is important to safeguard and defend their rights.
Awareness of HIV and teen pregnancy
Vilma is a student at the Leadership High School in Bilwi, where she shares what she has learned with others.
"We also organize talks and theatre productions to explain HIV and how we need to protect ourselves during sexual relations, the need to take care of ourselves, domestic violence and other topics," she says.
Married and awaiting the birth of her first child, Vilma notes that a high percentage of girls her age are also pregnant. But thanks to the theatre pieces, many have learned how to prevent pregnancy and disease. They have also learned how much having a baby changes one’s life.
"Since young people like the theatre productions more than anything else," she says, "we decided to present one every Monday – and not only talk about the things that are addressed in the network, but also other problems that affect us, like teenage pregnancy."
Importance of communication
Lorena Cristi and Vilma Mayela are two examples of the work being carried out by the Network of Adolescent Communicators of the Caribbean Coast.
"Two main things stand out from the training I got from the network," explains Vilma. "The first is dealing with people with HIV in a different way. The other thing is that I see how important communication is for expressing things that go beyond words, and also in relationships. It’s important to know how to listen and speak."
Links
International Youth Day
It’s a global holiday dedicated to embracing our youth and addressing the global issues young people face. Celebrated every year on 12 August, this year’s theme is Climate Change. A major focus of the Day is practical action to further encourage the empowerment and participation of youth in the processes and decisions that affect their lives. The media have especially important role to play in support of the observance of the Day to promote public awareness of youth issues. Email your plans and ideas on how you will be commemorating International Youth Day in your country: youth@un.org. For more information, visit http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/iyouthday.htm.
3rd International Youth Media Summit
Media Education Centre invites organizations, schools and other institutions working with media to nominate two young media enthusiasts 15-22 years old to participate in the 3rd International Youth Media Summit, 20-27 August in Belgrade, Serbia. Beside the official delegates for the Summit, there are other ways in which you or your interested students can participate: the Summit’s One Minute’s Film workshop, Documentary Film and TV studio workshop, Internet Radio workshop or Online Summit workshop. For more information, visit www.iyms.eu/index1.html.
OURMedia Conference
This event is jointly organised by the ZDF (German broadcasting station), the University of Applied Sciences Essen and the German centre for political education. It will take place 14-17 August in Mainz and Essen and is addressed to German-speaking youth and students who are interested in media. For only 25 Euro (including accommodation) participants gain the opportunity of participating in seminars and discussions providing them with inside-information. For more information: http://www.jugendmedienevent.de/.
Balkan Kids For Kids Festival
Third edition of the Balkan Kids For Kids Festival will be held this August in Belgrade, and organized by Media Education Centre from Serbia. For complete information, rules and regulations, entry forms, go to : http://www.balkankfkfestival.eu/.
Summer Media Course - Youth Press Portugal
Youth Press PORTUGAL, together with the European Youth Press and its associations, is organising a Summer Media Course 21-30 September 2008 in Lisbon, Portugal. This academy will be a unique opportunity for 40 young journalists from all around Europe to experience journalism and media on an international environment with a totally new approach: it is run by young people for young people. If you’re between 18 and 25 years, active in the field of media, feel comfortable working in English and have already participated in an international event, check it out! Deadline to send applications: 2nd of August or visit the website for more information: http://youthpressportugal.wordpress.com/.
Lola Kenya Screen
The annual international audiovisual media platform festival, production workshop and market for children and youths in Eastern Africa will be take place on August 11-16, 2008 in Nairobi. The festival's theme "Keeping Films for Children and Youth in Focus." In its third year, Lola Kenya Screen received more than 389 films from 53 countries in formats running the gamut of music videos, television programmes, and video games. The full list of selected films is online at http://www.lolakenyascreen.or.ke/ and http://www.artmatters.info/.
Media Magic Digest is a monthly e-newsletter produced by UNICEF's International Children's Day of Broadcasting and the Voices of Youth Media Magic project. The digest is for people interested in how young people create media around the world and aims to promote dialogue between broadcasters and young media enthusiasts.
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