Rotaractors in Nepal create radio program to disseminate health care information
Posted by Anthony Gilmore
on May 18, 2012
Rotaractors from Nepal today received top recognition at the 2012 Rotaract Preconvention Meeting for a radio program that provides health care information to people in the eastern part of the country.
The Rotaract Club of Dharan Ghopa’s twice-monthly "Rotaract Swastha Darpan" includes a drama written by the Rotaractors, interviews with medical professionals, answers to common health questions, and news and facts related to health. Listeners can send in questions by email, social media, and mail.
The initiative was recognized as RI’s Outstanding Rotaract Project international winner. It was one of seven projects singled out for honors at the annual meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.
How the idea came about
The Rotaractors, many of them medical students, came up with the idea for the radio program after holding a series of health camps, one for street orphans and others that addressed hepatitis, breast cancer screening, and dental care. The events revealed that many people in eastern Nepal lacked knowledge about personal hygiene and disease prevention. They also exposed the difficulties in reaching a large number of people with basic health information.
After conducting a street theater presentation that dramatized good and bad health care practices, the students realized that a similar approach would work on the radio -- and reach a wider audience.
Rotarians from the sponsor Rotary Club of Dharan Ghopa secured free studio time to produce the program, provided Rotarians with medical experts as speakers, and promoted the program to other Rotary clubs in Nepal. The students now use software programs and their own laptops to produce the radio show.
"This was not a project that could be completed in a day or two. It is a continuous effort that requires determination, hard work and, most important, vision," says Satish Prasad Barnawal, the radio program’s chief coordinator. "We have been able to broadcast important medical information, sharpen our own medical knowledge, increase positive interactions with our [sponsor] club, and enhance the image of our club among medical professors."
By Arnold R. Grahl
Rotary International News -- 4 May 2012
The initiative was recognized as RI’s Outstanding Rotaract Project international winner. It was one of seven projects singled out for honors at the annual meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.
How the idea came about
The Rotaractors, many of them medical students, came up with the idea for the radio program after holding a series of health camps, one for street orphans and others that addressed hepatitis, breast cancer screening, and dental care. The events revealed that many people in eastern Nepal lacked knowledge about personal hygiene and disease prevention. They also exposed the difficulties in reaching a large number of people with basic health information.
After conducting a street theater presentation that dramatized good and bad health care practices, the students realized that a similar approach would work on the radio -- and reach a wider audience.
Rotarians from the sponsor Rotary Club of Dharan Ghopa secured free studio time to produce the program, provided Rotarians with medical experts as speakers, and promoted the program to other Rotary clubs in Nepal. The students now use software programs and their own laptops to produce the radio show.
"This was not a project that could be completed in a day or two. It is a continuous effort that requires determination, hard work and, most important, vision," says Satish Prasad Barnawal, the radio program’s chief coordinator. "We have been able to broadcast important medical information, sharpen our own medical knowledge, increase positive interactions with our [sponsor] club, and enhance the image of our club among medical professors."
By Arnold R. Grahl
Rotary International News -- 4 May 2012