• Hire all local writers, producers, and actors

• Choose best language for that area/audience

• Test pilot episodes with local audiences

Soap Operas for Social Good

PMC Rules: All Local

• 208 episodes over two years is ideal

• Characters to evolve at believable pace

• Time for audience to evolve

• Time for emotional bonding with characters

Soap Operas for Social Good

PMC Rules: Long Running

• Communication Theory (Shannon & Weaver)

• Dramatic Theory (Bentley)• Theory of the Collective

Unconscious: Archetypes Stereotypes (Jung)

• Social Learning/Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura)

• Triune Brain Theory (MacLean)• Tonal Theory (Sabido)

Soap Operas for Social Good

PMC Rules: Theory-Based

does it work?

Entertaining, but…

Saliwansai (“Puppet On A String”)

• Radio serial drama

• 208 episodes

• Broadcast for 2 years (April 2012 -- April 2014)

• Produced in Krio, a language that 95% of the country speaks or can understand

Saliwansai in Sierra Leone

In the nationally representative survey at the end of the drama, 50% of the respondents said they listened to the drama one or more times per week while 40% said listening made them think about their own behavior and 42% discussed the drama with someone else.

Clinic monitoring at the mid-point found 50% of clients cited Saliwansai as their primary motivation for seeking family planning and reproductive health services.

Abu’s Story

Abu is 35 years old and newly married. He must re-evaluate the role of husband and wife or risk losing his wife, and ruining the family financially, due to repeated pregnancies with complications. He must also evaluate his relationships with his brother and his mother.

Hingah’s Story Hingah is a college student having unprotected sex with his friend Monica. Hingah must learn about STDs and pregnancy through difficult experiences. Plus, he risks his scholarship as his grades continue to fall.

Wara’s Story

Wara is 15 years old when her father marries her to a man for a dowry. Wara delivers a stillborn baby and develops obstetric fistula. She hides in an abandoned hut until a friend’s mother takes her to a hospital to repair her fistula and she finds a way to return to school.

Saliwansai Main StorylinesGibo’s Story When Gibo falls in love with his girlfriend, he sees nothing wrong with verbally and physically abusing her as he’s seen his brother do with his wives. Gibo must change his ways and his views of his brother if he’s to marry his girlfriend and be successful.

Listeners compared to non-listeners were:• 3.9 times more likely to have

heard about obstetric fistula• 2.4 times more likely to

know that having more than four children can put the health of the mother at risk

• 2.2 times more likely to believe that access to contraception would not encourage infidelity

Saliwansai Family Planning

Listeners compared to non-listeners were:

• 1.8 times more likely to say that they intend to use a family planning method to delay or avoid pregnancy in the future

• 1.6 times more likely to say they talked to their family, friends, or neighbors about family planning in the last three months

Saliwansai Family Planning

Listeners compared to non-listeners were:• 4.1 times more likely to think

it is acceptable to provide information on condoms on the radio

• 3.7 times more likely to know that it is possible for a healthy looking person to have AIDS

• 3.1 times more likely to know that consistent use of condom can reduce risk of getting AIDS

Saliwansai Sexual Health

Yeken Kignit (“Looking Over One’s Daily Life”)

Ethiopian radio serial drama in Amharic, the national language.

257 episodes, 2.5 years

46% of Ethiopians listened to the drama.

63% of new clients seeking reproductive health services said they were listening to one of PMC dramas.

18% of new clients seeking RH services named one of PMC’s programs by name as the reason for seeking services.

Photo by Monique Jansen

Yeken Kignit Results

Yeken Kignit Ever Use of FP (Any Method): Differences

between Baseline and Post-Intervention for Listeners and Non-Listeners

28.323.9

44.447.4

69.679

0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

Married Women Married Men

Perc

ent

Baseline Non-Listeners Listeners

Listeners were more likely to have used family planning than non-listeners.

Yeken Kignit Results

Yeken KignitRespondents Who Had Blood Test for

HIV/AIDS

7.4

28.4

6.67.19.1

28.8

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Women Men

Perc

ent

Baseline Non-Listeners Listeners

Listeners were more likely to have been tested for HIV.

Yeken Kignit Results

In Cote d’Ivoire and Mali, listeners of PMC dramas were half as likely as non-listeners to prioritize educating boys over girls.

In Ethiopia, Dhimbiba (“Getting the Best Out of Life”) and Yeken Kignit (“Looking Over One’s Daily Life”) resulted in a 51.7 percentage point increase among men and 20.8 percentage point increase among women who recognized the importance of girls’ education.

Real Results: Girls’ Education

In Senegal, Ngelawu Nawet (“Winds of Hope”), listeners were 6.3 times more likely to state that women should be 18 years old or older before marriage.

In Nigeria, Ruwan Dare (“Midnight Rain”) resulted in listeners being twice as likely as non-listeners to say that a woman should delay getting married for the first time until she is aged 19 or older.

Real Results: Child Marriage

A Few Other PMC Projects

Gugar Goge (“Tell It To Me Straight”)

Radio Serial Drama – Nigeria

• 33% of reproductive health clients cited Gugar Goge as their main motivation for seeking services

• 54% of fistula clients cited Gugar Goge as their main motivation for seeking services

• Funder focused on US

• Research revealed that more than 50% of Latinas give birth before 18

• Research showed that finishing high school very difficult

East Los High: United States

• In the first month, East Los High rose to be one of the top five shows on Hulu, and also the top show for Hulu’s Latino viewers.

• In the first month, more than 27,000 people used Planned Parenthood’s “The Check” widget available on eastloshigh.com to explore their risk and need to get tested for STDs, HIV, or pregnancy.

• Of the more than 27,000 people, 55% were new visits to Planned Parenthood

East Los High: Results

• 48% of the target sample (Latinas 24 years old or younger) visited the eastloshigh.com resources page

• 81% of visitors to the resources page shared and recommended the resources they learned about

• On the day East Los High premiered, website traffic to StayTeen, a recommended resource, doubled

• During the first month of East Los High, direct traffic to StayTeen increased by 53%

• More than 60% of viewers said they referred East Los High resources to a friend

East Los High: United States

PMC Projects in Development

EthiopiaIndiaNigeriaPhilippinesRwanda

Burkina FasoNigerPapua New GuineaSenegalSierra Leone

KenyaNepalPakistanUgandaZambia

Population Media CenterPMC@populationmedia.orgwww.populationmedia.org+1-802-985-8156