Open Education 2013

Phukusi la Moyo, a health, Integrated Management of Child Illnesses and Safe Motherhood radio program started with funding from Commonwealth of Learning (COL) in 2009 to Maimwana in Mchinji, Malawi. As one of the trainers and facilitator in radio programming we came up with a participatory radio programming model. The participatory model involved all the stakeholders on ground in radio program designing workshop. The stakeholders included: Miamwana?s facilitators; Ministry of health?s District Health Officer, and Communication and Health education officer; Mudziwathu (in My Village) Community Radio producers, and last but not least the women?s group members representing the affected and common people.
The radio program designing workshop included messages development basing on the issues nad problems outlined in baseline survey by Maimwana, choosing a program format based on complexity of issues, program naming, Programs matrix that includes communications objectives and targets of each program, participatory radio programming training nad monitoring procedures and tools. The stakeholders owned the program though the designing workshop.
Therefore this paper describes the process and results of the participatory radio programming model which was used in Malawi. The program succeeded in achieving the goal of providing the non-formal education to the communities surrounding Mchinji and within Mudziwathu Community Radio Catchment area in giving the women?s groups discussion platform for health and safe motherhood issues. Issues discussed included those which could hardly be discussed as they were taken as taboos but were form of gender oppression on women and children. Some notable results included improvement in health care as personnel were now kind and good to clients, increased awareness of health services and danger signs of illnesses, improvement in health care seeking behavior as husbands and village headmen knew their roles in maternal and child health issues and hence reduced mortality rates.