INSTITUTIO14 'Washington, DC. PUB DATE 18p. · PDF fileDeforestation has been a serious problem ... Publications, posters, films and slides, and. ... Afforestation Division (CFAD)

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ED 228 986 IR 010 655

AUTHOR Manandhar, P. K.; And Others,TITLE [Communications ill Developing Countries.]INSTITUTIO14 Agency-for Internatidnal Development (IDCA),

'Washington, DC._PUB DATE Dec 82NOTE 18p.PUB TYPE Collected Works - Serials (022)'-- Viewpoints (120)

Reports - Descriptive (141)JOURNAL CIT Development Communication Report; n40 Dec 1982

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS *Audiovisual Aids; *Communications; *Community d

Development; *Developing Nations; *Display Aids;Family Planning; Information Systems; Microcompu ers;Publications; Puppetry; *Rural Development

IDENTIFIERS Ecuador; Ghana; India; Nepal; Reforestation; Su an

Eight articles on various aspects of communicationsin developing countries make up this newsletter issue: (1) "Extensionand Communications in Nepal: Reforestation Program Uses Media

ABSTRACT

Support" by P. K. Manandhar, E. Pelinck, atd R. H. Gecolea; (2)"Using Puppets to Teach Ideas. 'Khel Dori Ka', an Audiovisual with'Puppets from Bombay" by Myron J. Pereira; (3) "The ComMunicatioProcess: Why Communication Must Be a Two-Way Exchange" by R. H.Gecolea; (4) "Microcomputer-Based Information: Big Rewards for mallAgencies" by Gary Garriott; (5) "Printed Cloth Posters: Practic 1Communications Tool for African Countries" by Beverly EmersonDonoghue; (6) "Time for a New Approach to Population Communicat dn"by John L. Woods; (7) "Community Radio Thriving in Ecuador: OtaValoIndians Running Their Own Show" by Kurt Hein; and (8) "Villages: TheForgotten Resource. An Interview with Revelians Tuluhungwa,"reprinted from Development Forum, Volume 10, No. 6. (UMM)

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U.S. DEFAIITMENT OF EDUCATIONNATIONAL INSTIITUTE OF EDUCATION

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION, CENTER (ERIC)

* The_ document has been reproduced asreceived from the person or orgtMizationoriginating itMinor changes have been made to improvereproduction quaky

Points of %maw or opinions stated rn this docu

ment do irt necessarily represent official NIEposition or policy

Eommunications in Developing Countriel]

Development Communication ReportN6.40December 1982

4.

Extension and Communications in NepalReforestation Program Uses Media Supportby P. K. Alanandhar, E. Pe linck, and R. H. Gecolea

ing the

Nepal has embarked upon ama.s.sive campaign of refOresta-non in the hills by enacting newlegislation that provides .for

villager greater responsibilities fOrarid benefits from esisting .Thrests and fromplantatums to be established. Thi.s article isexcerpied trom a longer paper which de-scribes the varums steps which were taken todevelop a comprehensive rraoung and devel-opment program in support of communitylorestrv development. The original paper,

entitled "Etten.sion and Framing (thn-portents of Community tbrestry Develop-ment in .Nepal, was delivered at the

SIDA Seminar on Forestry Extensionin Semarang, Indonesia, in January 1982.

The Community Forestry Program

Background

Deforestation has been a serious problemin Nepal for inari years. Between 1950 and

, 1975, one quarter or more of the total forestarea disappeared. It has been stated that ifthis trend continues, all accessible forests willdisappear in the next 15 to 25 years.

orest products are vttal to the survival of,Nepal's predominantly rural population.Tuelyvood, which account% for over 95 per-cent of the wood consumption, will remainthe principal source of energy as long as sup-plies last. Equally, almost every rural familykeep% sorne livestock and a large percentageof the animal fodder comes from forests andtrees grown on farmlands.

As the population increases, the demandsfor the products of the thminishing forestareas grow. This has led to widespread hard-ship for the rural population and io a generalenvironmental deterioration in the hills %incethe late 1950s. His Majesty's Government ofNepal (HMG) has recognized the need -tocheck deforestation. Initially, HMG tried tosolve the problem by nationaliiing all forestareas and controlling tree cutting. But en-forcement of this policy, especially in thehills, proved to be difficult. More impor-

tantly, the hill people, who had always con-sidered these forests as communal property,were no longer inclined to apply their tradi-tional management systems which ensuredsustained yields from the existing forest.

New Po liev

In 1978, HMG adopted a neK forestpolicy. This allows for national fore0 landsto he handed over to the care of the ruralcommunities, seeking at the same time theiractive participation in refore.station andforest protection work. A vital component ofthe new policy is the communications and ex-tension service. Two new forms of land ten-ure have been introduced, the. PanchayatForests and the Panchayat Protected ForestS.

In. essence, Panchayat Forest% are newplantations established on government-owned wastelands. The local panchayatanadministrative unit comprising several

villages with a total population of 2,000 to4,(XX) personsis responsible for the plantingand protection of the trees, and, in return,obtains all rights to the produce of the forest.The Panchayat Protected Forests are existingforest% which require upgrading by partial re-planting and protection or need to be main-tained by instituting a viable managementsystem. In return, the local panchayat cancollect fuelwood,, fodder, and minor foxestproducts for local use and receives 75 percentof any revenue derived from the sale of logsor other major forest products.

Development of the Tnainingand Extension Program

Departments in the Ministry of Forest andSoil Conservation did undertake some exten-sion-related activities in the 1960s and 70s.Publications, posters, films and slides, andmaterials for radio broadcast% were producedsporadically. However, such communicationefforts were not institutionalized, nor werefield-worker's mobilized for forestry exten-sion to any significant extent.

With the athiption of the newforest policy

in. 1978, the need to establish an extensionfunction within the Ministry became quiteclear. The success of the new system of forestland tenure obviously rested farsely on thedegree to which villagers accepted custody o(the forests and on how competently theymanaged them. In planning the communityforestry program, therefore, HMG took intoaccount its motivation and education as-pects. These aspects will be'referred to collec-tively in this paper as "extension."

HMG, with assistance from the WorldBank, UNDP, and FAO, had earlier laiddown the broad framework for communica-tion and motivation activities within thecommunity forestry program. In addition,however, DTCP (The UNDP Asia and Pacif-ic for Development, Training,and Communication, based in Bangkok) sug-gested that certain guidelines or premises beused as a basis for building the extensionfunction. The basic premise, adopted fromexperience over a number of' years in differ-ent Asian countries, is that the Department'snetwork of field-workers is the single mostimportant channel of forestry extension.They are the persons living among the poten-tial beneficiaries of the program and wouldprovide the services as well as disseminate in-formation on the government's new forestpolicy. In view of the high rate of illiteracyamong the hill population, the delivery of ex-tension services must rely heavily on face-to-face or interpersonal communication. The

(continued on page 2)

In this issue . . .Communication Strategy for

ReforestationPuppets Star in Indian Slideshow 3

Some Trenchant Thoughts onCommunication as a Two-way Process 5

Sharing Microcomputers and In formatCloth Posters Carry Social MessagesA Communicator's ChecklistReorienting Population Communication 10

Community Radio Thriving in Ecuador . I I

On File at ERIC 12

Publications of More than PassingInterest 13

Revelians Tuluhungwa on -Communication at the Village Level 16

A publication of the Clearinghouse on Development CommunicationSupported by the Bureau for Scilly and Technology of the U.S. Agency for International Development

4

6

<1.CP' 4,110111110

2

(continued from page I)use of_mass communication media, mainlyradio 'and posters, would be resorted to onlyto support person-to-person or person:to-group communication being undertaken byfield-workers.

Forestry Extension Activities

Agricultural extension services were orig-inally established to help farmers increasetheir income and raise standards of living bybringing to them improved farming practices.Forestry extension essentially adopts thesame objective and can use many of the samemethods as in agriculture. However, forestryextensionand in particular community for-estry extension in Nepalposes two specialproblems not commonly found in agricul-tural extension. The first is the long periodthat must elapse before improved forestrypractices produce benefits. Where agricul-tural crop calendars can be measured in a fewmonths, it takes years or decades for trees todeliver their rewards.

Second, communal custody and manage-'ment of forests can only succeed with consen-_sus and concerted action by entire communi-ties. In agriculture, an extension program canbe pointed towards success bY initially con-vincing and aiding only a handful of farmersto try new practices on their farms. There isreasonable assurance that they will be gen-erally conscientious in seeing to it that thepracticcs succccd. It) community forcstry,such small trials cannot be depended on. Itwill not do for a handful of dedicated vil-lagers to plant tree seedlings in a communalforest, only to have their seedlings trampkdthe next day by cattle being grazed by othervillagers.

Training and Extension MaterialsVarious types of communication materials

have been developed to make field extensionand training activities more effective. Allvisual aids were drawn by a Nepali artist withthe advice of a DTCP visual media specialistwith technical inputs from national and inter-national staff at the Community Forestry andAfforestation Division (CFAD). Extensionmaterials were field-tested before final print-ing, and training materials were scrutinizedfor their technical content by several

foresters.

Training MaterialsTo standardize a number of basic prin-

ciples in nursery establishment and forestplantation and management, a number oftraining aids have been, prepared.

I. Nursery Flip-chart

A black-and-white flip-chart of 21 pages(70 x 55cm) was produced to illustrate thevarious steps in the establishment of a treenursery and the growing of tree seedlings.Printed copies of this flip-chart were distrib-uted to each Forest Division and institutionsand organizations involved in similar pro-

grams. They are being used in training priorto the esta ent of nurseries. Each flip-bilicschart fits in pecially designed plywoodbox, which serves as storage when not in useand as a stand for the chart during teachingsessions.

2. Plantation Flip-chart

The establishment and maintenance of treeplantations are the subjects of another set of17 flip-charts for training prior to the plant-ing season. -

3. Nursery and Plantation Booklet

The Nursery and the Plantation flip-chartswere also reproduced as a booklet(20 x I5cm), which the trained field officialscan keep for their future reference. Thesebooklets have the same picture as on each ofthe flip-charts on one page and a more de-tailed description of the particular subject onthe opposite page.4. Filmstrip on Nursery Establishment

A color filmstrip was also prepared tomake the training more attractive and tocarry the same message in a different form.However, the logistics of providing adequateprojectors to each of the Divisions posessome problems. Different types of projectorswith rechargeable batteries are presently be-ing tested.

Field Extension MaterialsAs community forestry is a completely new

concept of forestry, a comprehensive pro-gram has been developed to make peopleaware of the opportunities for participatingin the program. The message of communityforestry has to be brought to the villagers bythe Community Forestry Assistants and theDivisional Forestry Officers. To facilitatetheir work the following materials have beendeveloped: ,

I. Community Forestry Extension Flip-chart

Three hundred copies of a flip-chart of 20black-and-white illustrations were printed.This flip-chart is intended as a visual aid forthe field officials during their informationand motivation work in the villages. The flip-chart illustrates the need for forests and theirprodUcts, including ecological aspects, theproblem of population growth and dwindlingforest areas, and the solutions proposedunder the new policythe establishment ofPanchayat Forests and Panchayat ProtectedForests.

2. Community Forestry Extension Booklet

A 20-page booklet has been produced inresponse to a request from the CFAD fieldofficials to hand out to literate members ofthe public after their information/motivationsessions in the villages. The booklet explainsin simple language the need to protect and re-plant forests, the new forest policy, thevarious kinds of assistance provided by thegovernment, the responsibilities of the localpanchayat, and the distribution of gip.

from Pandiayat Forests and Panchayat Pro-tected Forests.

3. Posters

Several posters -have been designed, eachof which has one or two messages, e.g.: de-pendence on forest (present and future); fireprotection; free distribution of plants frompanchayat nursery; the distance to walk forfuelwood, and the scope for planting treesaround the house and in Panchayat Forests.

Posters will be cyttributed to villagers,,pan-chayat offices, and government offices.

4. Signboards

As mentioned before, nurseries are estab-lished in each panchayat which participates inthe program. The seedlings grown in thesenurseries are to be planted in the new Pan-chayat Forests or Panchayat ProtectedForests. However, seedlings are also dis-tributed free of charge to every villager whowants to plant trees in his own fields or yard.A signboard wasslesigned Tor display at theentrance of the nursery or in a highly visiblelocation close to the nursery, where it can at-tract people's attention to the distrthution offree seedlings. As there are no motorableroads in the hills, people on foot can easilysee signboards and stop and ask questions ofthe Forestry Foreman at the nursery. It dis-plays the program's logo, and the name ofthe sponsoring government agency (Com-munity Forestry Development Programme).

5. Seed Collection and Sowing Calendar

To help field-workers, in particular nurs-ery foremen, a calendar was prepared withnames of trees whose seed should be sown orcollected in each month.

Public InformationThe communication campaign pays par-

ticular attention to the primary and secon-dary schools in the program area. One reasonfor this attention is that the conservation offorests is of such importance to Nepal that itscitizens should learn at a very early age aboutthe proper harvesting of forest products andabout conservation and protection.

Another reason is that schools, which arespread throughout the country, can be an ef-fective channel of interpersonal communica-tion on a national scale. If all the teachersand student's can be persuaded to share theirknowledge with their relatives andfriends, asignificant portion of the population can bereached. Based .on this consideration, theschool publication, a combination of thlder(for teachers) and wall chart (for students),has been designed in such a way that it canalso be used outside the areas specifically in-chided in the program.

From the very beginning the CommunityForestry and Afforestation Division wasmade responsible for a weekly 10-minuteradio pro-gram by the Ministry Of Forests:While many different aspects of the program

1 (continued on page 14)

Using Puppets To Teach IdeasKhel Dori Ka, An Audiovisual with Puppets from Bombay

by Myron J. Pereira

The Xavier Institute of Commu-nications, Bombay, is a traininiinstitute for the professionalmass media. Howeyer, precisely

because in India, the organised mass mediacomprise only one section of public commu-nications, the Institute takes a great interestin group communicatickns and in the smallermedia. And one traditional medium whichhas asserted itself anew even in an urban con-text is puppetry.

The range of puppets is well-nigh infinite.At Xavier Institute, in the ASTHA Depart-ment (ASTHA is a Marathi word meaning'concern') two kinds of puppets are com-monly used, hand-puppets (also called glove-puppets) and shadow-puppets. There's areason for this. Hand-puppets (and glove-puppets to a lesser degree) are among thesimplest to fabricate., and the easiest to use,and Ashok Kondhalkar and PrakashGaikwad who head the puppetry unit, havegot the maximum effectiveness from theslenderest equipment.

Usually the ASTHA puppet unit functionsin 4his fashion: An invitation is received topresent a puppet show in a neighboringschool or welfare center or in a slum club.Ashok, Prakash, and their team present ahalf-hour program (usually one or two skits,prtsented live with a lot of leeway for au-dience participation!), and then invite reac-tions from the audience. A presentationusually leads to a request to conduct a train-ing workshop, for puppetry is one mediumwhich provides for a variety of talentsfromdesigning and fabricating the puppets, toscripting and presenting the showandalmost everyone has something to contribute.In the course of a year and a half, ASTHAhas conducted some seven workshops forgroups as diverse as fieldworkers in urbanslums to kindergarten schoolteachers.

So production, presentation, and trainingin puppets has been very much part ofASTHA's investment in folk media. Thequestion which led ASTHA to the making ofthe sound slide-tape Khel Don Ka (Puppetson a String) was of a completely differentkind. Put very simply, it asked: Can a con-crete. folldy medium like puppets put acrossabstract ideas on society and communica-tions? Puppetry was seen to be effective inentertaining and welding a group together.Could it be equally effective in teachingabstractions?

The Background: Reactions to Audiovisual'

Over the last four years, ASTHA fiascrafted a number of sound-slide programs on .roughly three topicsWork and Employ-ment, Health, and Myth and its Relation to

the Present. Thfough a series of screeningsand discussions on the shows, mainly withworking-class people in Bombay's slums andtenements, a composite reaction to the showsemerged. Writing in the ASTHA newsletter,the audiovisual producer Anjali Monteiroobserved,

The people are obviously used tothinking in terms,of 'messages' whichare given to them in a classroom situa-tion. Given this fact, they expect to be'told something,' moralised at. There-fore the slideshow is somehow twistedand made to yield messages which haveonly tenuous links with the actualslideshow itself.

The screenings also brought ASTHA faceto jace with practical problems from theanimators. Perhaps because most of theanimators came from a classroom back-ground of the traditional kindmany Wereteachers in the formal school systemtheystuck quite rigidly to the classroom situationwith all its overtones of authoritarian disci-pline. Most felt quite secure in this kind ofsituation. No dialogue, no disdission. Just aquestion-and-answer session.

Did you learn anything new from theslideshow, A House Servant?No. We already knew about adomestic servant's life before.Doesn't it help to show somethinglike this to the menfolk?

Heh-heh! As if they'll change just byseeing it!

Or again,

e ,i

N3

.a tit;

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(to a group of young men who hadkept quiet during the whole discussion)Why didn't you open your mouth?

Why didn't you say something?How could we? How can we speak

in the group unless our elders giveus permission?

How to overcome such a pedagogy? Howto tackle the pedagogy of defeatism anddogmatism, and substitute instea& learningthrough participation and dialogue?

One way we might attempt this would be todepict the strata of relationships within so-ciety which contribute to such thinking. Op-pression exists frequently in internalisedform, never realised for what it is. And couldan audiovisual slideshow attempt such a pres-entation in a more effective way than black-board and textbook?

Thus the audiovisual Khel Don Ka (Color,52 s1/12 min.) took shape.. It was concep-tualised and scripted by Feruzi Anjirbag andphotographed by Gerry Drozario. AshokKondhalkar designed the puppets, and Hri-day Lani cast the dialogue.

Content and FormFrom the- beginning it was decided to use

puppets as the chief players within the audio-visual, and to blend these 'mock' characterswith scenes photographed from real life.Thus the visual form'of the slideshow movesat two levels, that of the marionette theatre,and always in the background the easily rec-.ognised scenes (in black-and-white) of every-day city life. Similarly, the sound track,scripted in colloquial Hindi, the pidgin of theBombay streets, moves at two levels: the in-terchange of perppets who present variousscenes from everyday lift, on the street, inschool, at home and at work; played offagainst the racy, cynical comments of the

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1.flit 40%

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Puppets in the slideshow play out their drama against a realistic city street background

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.sutradhar, a narrator-like figure, a courtjester, whose barbed asides reveal the scenefor what it really is. Interspersed in thesoundtrack are also radio commercials andcurrent pop (film) music.

Probably this is the place to comment onthe need-. for k rigorous form of socialanalysis as an ifitegril part of all communica-tions study. No one disputes the need forskills in learning to use media, but withoutany kind of systemic analysis of media struc-tures, the communicator either ends uppolitically naive or heavily moralistic.

Nor do we say that such issues are com-pletely treated in the audiovisual under dis-cussion. Like any other medium, the audio-visual has its strengths and limitations. Onestrength is the visual and graphic presenta-tion wfiich by its very nature is attractive andenlightening. If the slideshow has a weak-ness, it is that of form over content: what con-clusions may one derive from the analyses?

Khel DoH Ka has been used at variouslevels and with varied audiences. Success hasnot :been unqualified. One area which holdspfomise is ASTHA'a participation in the cur-riculum for slum animators, taught in a localcollege of social work. The organizers of thecurriculum wisely decided to involve media inthe learning process, Sand not merely as"teaching aids." In earlier programs, theparticipants would have to dramatize or rep-resent in visual form (through posters) topicson their syllabus. The plan is to go one stepfurther. How to use the media itself as asource of information and reflection uponsocial reality, <and how to express thibughmediafrom the simplest to more complexformsone's grasp of abstract truths?

Herein lies the task of the artistandwe're using this term in the sense of all thosewho feel inspired to create, to translate intosymbols their thoughts arid feelingseven ar-tists from a culture of deprivation, such asexists in the urban slum.

Our challenge is to build up a curriculumwhicti would use as "texts" pop music andstreet language; film posters, newspaperphotos, folk art, hand-made slides; and pup-pets, of different kinds and in different situa-tions. An ambitious program, of which KhelDon Ka is the first hesitant step.

Wherein lies the fascination of puppetry?Perhaps in that marionettes have a humanface and a human gait. They both manipdlateand are themselves manipulated. Just like us.And so they re-create in costume and carica-ture what we go through in real life, alas,with deadly seriousness.Myron S. Pereira's present work Wades de-dialog a proven I. media education for highschools; dkecdng a project I. the mini-sediarelated to developmeot (ASTHA); sad administer-los the Network of Jesoli commookotors I. Wis.

For further information contact the author atXavier Institute of Communications, St.Xavier's College, Bombay-400 001 India.

Khel Dori Ka: A Selection(Most of the visuals take place at two levels, the actual scene with its players, and secon-dary remarks of the sutradhar (narrator/jesterj which are always scathing asides.)

Vimaal Script

Teacher Four times four is sixteen

Pupils Four times four is sixteenFour times four is sixteen .

Teacher The capital of India is New Delhi

Pupils The capital of India is New DelhiThe capital of India. . . .

Sutradhar Mere paffoting, this seems to me.(v.o.) Notice the positions of the teacher

and the pupil:The teacher stands.The pupils sit. The teacher decides,"Today we will study why plantsare green. ."As Paulo Freire says, Our educationsuffers from 'narration sickneu.'It's the teacher along who acts. Thepupils only have the illusion'of act-ins through the teacher. . .

-Teacher What's the capitaL of India?

Sutradhar Ha, Hal Will any pupil challengeher? Say that the real capital of In-dia is Bombay?

Pupils (inchorus) . . . is New Delhi,

Sutradhar And the pupil becomes a ymmgman. And then a parent. And may-be a teacher. On and on, he'll say;"Four thnes four is sixteen. Thecapital of India is New Delhi." He'sbeen domesticated all right. Tame.

Locik at this scene now.

Let's listen to her speaking.

Worker All of you have two alternatives.

Worker You either get a new committeestarted, one you can trust, or con-tinue living in the same dirty way.Don't expect me to do thinp foryou. I'm here only to help you.Understand? Help you.

a classroom

pupils' faces

teacher standing

pupils speaking

close-up picture of sutradhar

A slum setting. Crowd sittingin front of a social worker.

Social worker and crowd

Crowd (No reply)

S. Worker So don't blame me oranybody else.It's youfr choice. Either choose anew committee, or carryon in thesame way. . .

Crowd (No reply)

S. Worker I can only help you. . .

Sutradhar bh yeah, oh yeah! Notice how thesubtle manipulation goes on "I'm .only here totelp you." But I dotell youeither this or that. Freechoice? But you have to choosewhat I prescribe.

Oh dear! Aren't we always makingup their minds? Deciding what'sgood or bad for them?Aren't we all guilty of playing thePuPP?t Same?

The Communication Process:Why Communication Must Be a Two-way Exchangeby Dr. Romeo H. Geeoleaf

Communication has been de-fined in various ways, but mostsimply it is the process of sharingideas, feelings, or attitudes.

One useful way of viewing the communica-tion process is through what is known as the"SMCR Model." This term refers to the firstletters of the basic components of the Com-mtinication process, namely: Seqder, Mes-

. sage, Channel, and Receiver. These compo-nents are always present when communica-tion takes place.

However, for those involved in communi-cation% for t rural development, these com-ponent% are not adequate. There is one othervery crucial component in the communica-tion proces: Feedback. Without feedback, itis not possible to determine whether one hascommunicated effectively.

Development communicators must alwayshave a goal. For this reason, communicationmust always be thought of as a two-way pro-cess. The good communicators are those whoare sensitive to feedback. The best com-municator% are those who study the compo-nents of the communication situation and en-sure that they will get the feedpack they wanteven before they fashion and send then-messages.

fj

Sender

To take a closer look at each of the com-munication components, it is worth startingwith a familiar little story.

Let us take the case of a field-worker as-signed to a village. He is young, enthusiastic,fired vfith missionary zeal. He goes to.the vil-lage determined to lift the rural inhabitantsfrom the quagmire of poverty. So he seesFarmer A and asks him to try the newesthigh-yielding rice variety, HYV747, other-wise known as "jumbo rice." He tells thefarmer about applying fertilizer and agro-chemicals as well as telling him abouttveeding, water management, etc. He doesthe same for Farmer B, Farmer C, andFarmer D.

Then a brilliant idea strikes him. Instead oftalking to the farmers individually, why notcall all farmers in the village to a meeiing andteach them about modern farming there? So

...he announces to the villagers that he will holdsuch a meeting at 7 o'clock that evening. Ofthe 100 farmers in the village, only 30 come.But of the 30, 15 fall asleep halfway throughhis discourse on pest control. Of the 15 whosomehow stay awake, five finally agree to tryHYV747 in their fields. Of the five who trythe new 'rice, two do not follow the recom-mended cultivating practices and one almostdestroys his entire HYV747 crop because'hemistakes a herbicide for an insecticide.

After four cropping seasons, rice produc-lion in the village remains virtually the sameas its was four seasons earlier. However, theyoung field-worker no longer has the sameenthusiasm. His missionary zeal has all butfizzled out; he now suspects that farmers ingeneral are resistant to change, lazy, andtruly stupid. "Why, HYV747 cab yield twiceor even three times as much as their tradi-tional varieties! Yet they don't listen to me!"

This story involves rice technology. Butperhaps the same thing happens to fieldworkers who deal with programs concerningfarm credit, irrigation, cooperatives, or fam-ily planning. The fact is that very often whatwe want to achieve falls far short of what weactually accomplish. Why?

The reasons are-many, and not all of themhave to do with communications. However,let us examine each of the components in thiscommunication situation to find some an-swers directly related to communication.

ReeeKer

It is quite likely that ttie field-worker in theaforementioned example forgot rule No. 1 ineffective communications: "Know your au-dience." He assumed that because HYV747yields much more than ordinary varieties, itcould be expected that farmers consider itperfecily rationaljust as the field-workerconsidered it rationalto adopt the new va-riety. However, the results of his effort provethat he did not have an accurate picture offarmer% in that village. Were fainters realtyinterested in increasing their rice yieldsthrough a new variety? Which farmers wereinterested, and whyl Which were not, andwhy not? What is thabest time of day to holda farmers' meeting? Obtaining answers tothese and other questions should have beenpart of the preparatory work undertaken by'the field-worker before he charged aheadwith his "jumbo rice."

Making assumptions about the intendedreceivers of our message is a risky proposi-tion. This is particularly truelof farmers, whoare probably among the most misjudgedgroups of people, at least by those who planand implement rural development programs.We often use our own values and standardsto judge how farmers will react to our mes-sages, instead of ficst finding out their valuesand standards for kaking decisions.

Message

This brings us to the message that ourfield-worker tried to- communiCate: "PlantHYV747." This may have sounded simpleenough to him, but what are the actual impli-cations to the farmers?

HYV747 really represents a package ofnew practices involving heavier use of fer4)-

(

izer and pesticides, measured spacing be-tween plants, a sure supply of irrigationwater that can be precisely managed, and in-tensive weeding. Are all these inputsavailable? Is the money needed to use themavailable? Even if all these inputs are avail-able, how reliable is the field-worker's as-surance to farmers that yields will double?

In most rural development programs, theobjective is often to get farmers to adopttechnological innovations. Communicatorsand extension workers sometimes forgei thatanything new entails risks. These risks ofteninvolve the very survival of subsistencefarmers. If "jumbo rice" fails, not only doesthe farmer lose the cash he has invested in in-puts, but he loses his supply of staple foodfor the season or the year as well.

Rural communicators have to realize thatfarmers are generally resistant to change forvery good reasons. Traditional practices maybe inefficient in our view, but they.haveserved generations of rural families reliably.Unless the new practices that we propose inour messages prove to be better and at leastas reliable, there is no point in trying to getfarmers to accept them.

Channel

Let us assume that our field-worker did hishomework in finding out about his audienceand that he has determined that HYV747 is abetter, more feasible and reliable type of rice.Yet only a handful of farmers attended hismeeting and very few actually planted thevariety he recommended. Such poor resultscould be due to the poor or inadequate com-munication channels he used.

Words make up our most common form ofcommunicating, but they are also sometimesthe least efficient. This is because meaningsare not in words, they are in people. Statedanother way, the same words can hold differ-ent meanings and connotations for differentpeople. In fact,. in the case of technologicalinnovations, a lot of words may have nomeaning at all to farmers.

Only 30 of the 100 farmers in the village at-tended our field-worker's meeting. Thereason perhaps may have been due to a lackof publicity, but it probably was because thefarmers knew it would be a long, boring ses-sion where the fiela-worker would talk andtalk. Like any of us, farmers do not exactlyenjoy listclning to a long speech on a complexsubject, especially after a hard day's work. Inour story, the farmers' fears were apparentlywell founded since 15 of the 30 who attendedfell asleep.

Everything could have turned out differ-ently if the field-worker had not relied onwords alone to tell his farmers about HYV747.For the announcement of the village meeting,he could have improvised simple but inform-ative posters; he could have used schoolchildren to inform their parents; or he could

(continued on page 15)

5

6

Microcomputer-based Information:Big Rewards for Small Agenciesby Gary Garriott,

Debates rage on whether the ad-vent of the information revolu-tion made possible by the fallingcosts and increasing power of

microelectronics technology Will have a netpositive or negative effect on developingcountries. Disagreements on whether micro-electronics have really anything 'to offer thepoor are even more pronounced. For exam-ple, nonprofit agencies such as private volun-tary organizations and church-related groups(reportedly as many as 300 in Kenya alone)provide significant levels of development as-sistance, yet often cannot avail themselves ofthe benefits of computer power.

A Washington DC (USA) consortium pro-vides a possible model for effective use of amicrocomputer as a self-sufficient informa-tion system. The Washington Council ofAgencies is made up of over 100 small non-profit organizations which pay a membershipfee based on each group's annual opdatingbudget (typically in the U5S50,000-250,000range). Besides advocacy functions, theCouncil provides support services to its mem-ber agencies that if done individually wouldconsume significant amounts of time andfinancial resources, which small organiza-tions often cannot afford. A microcomputerwith "floppy" disk drives, a "hard" diskmass storage device, two CRT (cathode raytube) terminals capable of being used simul-taneously, and a printer are employed to pro-vide a variety of information services includ-ing the management of mailing lists, mainte-nance of skills banks, compilations of contri-butions made and of other reports and direc-tories, bulk mailings, word processing forrepetitive letters and newsletters, and a duesand subscription service. Accounting pack-ages are being developed. For these services,member agencies pay a fee that is below thetypical commercial rate, but above cost.Nonmember orgarazations can also contractfor these services; two to five new accountsare added monthly.

The result is that income generated fromthese microcomputer-based information serv-ices averaged about 25 percent of the Coun-cil's total revenues during the first six monthsof 1982. This is expected to more than doubleby the end of the year. The,Council reportsfew start-up and implementation problemswith the system. Adaptation of commerciallyavailable "user-friendly" software was per-formed by a local software house. Two yearsago the system cost approximately, $18,000including software development; the sameset-up today would be 10 to 15 percent less.

The Council deals with psychological resis-'tance to computers by encouraging potential

users to come to its facility to see the equip-ment in operation or to even operate it them-selves. They will also arrange demonstrationsheld at .,the member agency's convenience.The Council offers discussion seminars fornewcomers, covering computer terminologyand concepts, microcomputer informationapplications for organizations, as well asguidelines for evaluating microcomputer sys-tems. Most data to be processed is eitherbrought personally to the Council's office orsent through the mail, though eventual datatransmission via telephone is contemplatedonce' a number of agencies have acquired re-mote terminals. In fact, the Council is sup-portive of the concept of microcomputersnetworking together instead of time-sharingtheir established system because of the addedflexibility and independence provided to eachmember agency. Revenues probably wouldnot be greatly affected since the number oforganizations still requiring informationservices is likely be much greater.

A VITA W Wa ha oetheeter *whimCosowitoot to Om Wohitatee Cowl alMoods& Poe moo hitrieliko so how *Carta *diet the mkrecommtor 10011100Om spew fionctienh eemeett Ay mike, eclitheesee M Thclotket Asoloome, N,4toti SANK lb* .714 Ariketoo, MO*MOP, USA,.

That modestly endowed groups are in-creasingly supporting these information serv-ices is an indication that the package offeredsaves them both time and money while simul-taneously turning a "profit" for the consor-tium. Throughout the United States, half adozen other consortia or agencies interestedin supplying similar services are establishingtheir systems on the Washington Council ofAgencies model. There is also a potentiallygreater indirect payoff in that nonprof-itsnotorious in both the US and abroad fortheir isolation from each otherlearn thatthey can work together in certain activitiesfor greater overall efficiency without com-promising programmatic goals.

While a direct transfer of this concept tononprofits working in developing countriesshould be possible, other variations wouldappear quite feasible as well. For example,enterprising individuals or small businessescould market themselves as "data manage-ment service bureaus" to the private sector aswell as to government or parastatal groups.Database searching is an additional cap-ability valuable for research and develop-mental units and the private sector.

The Washington Council of Agencies ex-perience illustrates that the delivery of usefulmicrocomputer-based information services isnot the purview only of large database man-agement firms, but that it lies also withinreach of less sophisticated °agencies andgroups.

Gary Garrlott Is a Senior Technical Advisor alVolunteers in Technical Auhtance and is currentlycoordinating microcomputer initiatives for thatorganization.

Reviews (continued from page 13)

The Intergovernmental Bureau of Infor-matics'(IBI) is concerned with professionalapplications of electronic information, andkeeps careful track of trends through-twopublications, 1B1 Newsletter, and Agora, ajournal for "Inforniatics in a ChangingWorld." Agora devotes an issue to anarea, such -as informatics and briculture,features articles on country activities, onthe setting up of iegional informaticscenters, training programs, meetings and acalendar of events, legal issues, and educa-tional applications. Much of the journal'sfocus is on the developing world, and it isavailable in English, French, and Spanish-.

For information regarding subscriptionsto either the newsletter or the journal, con-tact 1BI, Viale Civilta del Lavoro 23, 00144Rome, Italy.Prospects, Unesco's quarterly review ofeducation, has devoted much of its recentissue (Vol. XII, No. 3, 1982) to "Educa-tional technology: myth and reality."Eight articles by well-known names in thefield examine the current status of educa-tional technology. A ca.se study reports onthe Cuban Radio Victoria de Giron's -edu-cational outreach to young people.Unesco's address is 7 place de Fontenoy,75700 Paris, France.ideas and Action (a joint publication ofthe Freedom from Hunger Campaign andAction for Development of the Food andAgricultural Organization of the UN) hasissued a special double issue, #I45English, French, and Spanish) on "RuralHealth." It has the particular purpose ofcalling attention to the failure, to date, toinvolve rural people in their own primaryhealth care as part of the rural develop-ment process. Reports on community-based efforts in Peru, Guinea Bissau, andYugoslavia appear; issues such as planningand management, pesticides, and financ-ing schemes are featured. There is a helpfulannex which includes resources and pub-lications, information on common dis-eases, a list of basic drugs for rural healthcenters, basic sanitation principles, andguidelines for pesticide use. Issue #I45 onRural Health is available from Action forDevelopment, FAO, 00100 Rome, Italy.

Reviewed by Judy Brace.

Printed Cloth Posters:Practical Communications Todl for African Countriesby Beverly Emerson Donoghue

"While others try to reach the moon, we must aim to reach the village."Julius K. Nyerere.

Visual materials provide impor-tant support for communica-tion, education, and trainingprograms in Africa. Conven-

tional media and print materials, however,are often scarce because of the reliance onimported supplies, technologies, and person-nel from the developed countries. This paperexamines an innovative educational medi-um screenprinted visual aids on clot ht hatwas developed in Ghana. The rationale forprinted cloth, the production process, and re-search and development efforts in Ghana andthe Sudan are described.

Why Cloth?Unlike paper and electric/electronic visual

media, cloth is a familiar sight in both urbanand rural area.s of Africa. Everyday scenes offisherfol)( bringing in their catch, marketwomen selling their wares, children cahng foryoung oneseach is accented by colorfulcotton prints that arc manufactured by localtextile factories, both large and small.Throughout the continent, there is a strongtradition of textile artisans, who often createstriking fabric designs from the simplesttools.

(loth is also a very durable material, and,unlike paper, will last a long time--despitethe temperature and humidity extremes ofAfrica's wet and dry seasons. Whereas paperis "imported" both from other countries andfrom the city, cloth is a familiar commodity,and as such is much more "touchable" or"approachable" than paper. Cloth can easilybe washed when soiled, and readily folded upand carried from village to village. Peoplewear fabric, wrap their babies in it, and use itto carry all kinds of things. So why not letcloth carry educational message% as well!

In fact, several African countries have hadfabric printed to illustrate and promoteslogans for national campaignssuch as"Operation Feed Yourself!" in Ghana and"Healthful Foods" in Tanzania. Whenworn, these brightly colored. designs becomewalking posters for everyone to see. The useof printed cloth designs a.s visual communica=non, tools simply carries the textile mediumone step further.

The PrOduction ProcessThe simplest method for printing large de-

signs on cloth is silkscreen printing. The actu-al stencil is a very fine mesh screen fabricstretched tightly across a rectangular woodenframe. Open spaces in the screen are the de-sign areas to be printed, with the rest.of thescreen sealed with lacquer, gelatin, or film toprevent ink from passing through.

The basic equipmentscreen frame, print-

ing blade, and long printing tableare con-structed mainly from wood. Local materialscan satisfy ,most, if not all, printing supplyneeds. Most of the labor can be performed byunskilled workers, who can be given on-the-job training in manual screenprinting meth-ods. The lator-intensive printing process isFiarticularly appropriate for developingsountries, whose greatest potential resource is thelarge pool of untrained and under- orunemployed workers.

The production sequence is as follows:1. After the design I.S pretested and re-

vised, each color is transferred onto aseparate screen. This can be done sev-eral wayswith papal- for large areas ofcolor; with lacquer or a knife-cut film;or with a light-sensitive gelatin or emul-sion for highly detailed designs. Themethod used will depend upon theavailable supplies, the complexity of thedesign, and the number of prints orcopies needed.

2. The design is then screenprinted oncloth: when dyepaste or ink is spreadacross the screen with a rubber blade,thc paste goes through only the openparts of the screen stencil onto the clothbelow. Each color is printed down thelength of the clot h.

3. After the printing of all the colors, theprinted cloth is removed and dried inthe sun, then usually ironed to helpbind thc dye or pigment to the cloth.

Research and Development Efforts

Because the printed cloth medium seemedto be such a natural One for the African set-ting, a prototype development project wasorganized in Ghana in 1974 to test the tech-nical feasibility of printing large educationaldesigns on cloth, to find out how acceptablethe cloth medium would be to educators andextension personnel, and to determine theproduction costs involved. With the assis-tance of private educational organizations,private industry, and government agencies,Ghanaian art students designed and printedon cloth four-color illustrations of the eye,the digestive system, and a physical map ofAfrica. The periodic chart of the elementsand the life cycle of schistosomia.sis were alsoprinted. The response from teachers andeducators both in Ghana and in other Afri-can countries was a unanimous preferencefor the cloth-based visual aid over conven-tional paper ones. Printed cloth designs wereseen as one of the few communications mediathat could in fact "reach the village."

Silkscreen printing was- found to be eco-

nomically feasible if done on a mass-produc-tion scale. Based on a minimum order of2,400 copies of a design approximately I

meter by 1.7 meters, preliminary cost

estimates made in Ghana indicated that thesecould be printed for less than US$3.00 each.Because cloth was readily available locallyand because the cost of imported inks andstencil materials was only a tiny fraction ofthe overall cost of materials, the productionfigure was considered quite reasonable.

Since 1974, with frequent shortages of allkinds of goods, there has been an even moreurgent need in Ghana to develop productsfrom local materials. Accordingly, an in-depth feasibility study and workshop on tex-tile visual aids was jointly sponsored by theGhana government and the U.S. Agency forInternational Development in 1980. The pur-pose of the study was to assess the demandfor visual materials on cloth; to determine theavailability of necessary supplies; to updateproduction costs; and, if found to be fea-sible, to recommend organizational optionsfor the development and production ofprinted cloth materials.

A 10-week workshu on Textile VisualAids was provided for representatives fromthe Ministries of Education, Agriculture,Health, Information, and organizationsassociated with nonformal education andfamily planning. Participants designed, pre-tested, revised, and printed illustrations onseveral topics: raising rabbits for fOod, eatinga balanced diet, making oral rehydrationfluid, preventing diarrhea, family planningfor women, family planning for men, andvillage scenes for language learning inprimary schools. The ministries were not onlypleased by the cloth posters designed for theiruse, but also wanted to have several of the il-lustrations designed for other ministries.

The visual aid needs of various sectorswere found to be quite large. There were over7,000 primary schools and over 4,000 middleschools in Ghana. The Ministry of Healthwanted to have at least 5,000 copies of de-signs on several topics. The Home ExtensionUnit of the Ministry of Agriculture, theGhgrna National Family Planning Program,and the Mass Literacy Campaign by the De-

partment of Social Welfare and CommunityDevelopment were other nation-wide exten-sion programs which needed durable visualmaterials. Because of the durability of cloth,agency officials gave US$3.66 to US$5.50 as

a reasonable price for each textile print.Production costs were determined for a

private textile printing factory and for a pro-duction unit at a training college with print-ing facilities. With a minimum order of 1,000prints, the cost per print from a private firmwas US$2.28. If done by the production unit,the cost would vary from US$1.86 to $2.74,depending upon the quality of cloth used forprinting.

(continued on page 12)

8

1

/

A Communicator's ChecklistTradition for Development: Indige-nous Structures and Folk Media inNon-Formal Education, edited byRoss Kidd and Nat Colletta (Gerriian

Foundation for International Developmentand International Council for Adult Educa-tion, 1981), 639 pp.

Developmentalists often perceive localculture as an obstacle to be overcome. Tradi-non fiir Development, a collection of 18papers from an international seminar on"The Use of Indigenous Social Structuresand Folk Media in Non-Formal Educationand Development," challenges this presump-tion. Thc book makes the case that there is apositive role for indigenous structures 'andcultures in the development process.

By dividing the book into three sections,the editors provide some focus for an unevenvariety of papers. The first section examinesthe authority of folk institutions and proc-esses. It reveals, for example, how indigenousOrganizations for water distribution, school-ing, village-level politics, or such deeplyrooted values and customs as the GOTONGROYONG, an Indonesian self-help system,can support development. The second sectiontreats the use of traditional performingmedia, like folk theater, to extend develop-ment to social gronps normally outside themodern communication network. The finalsection presents several brief reports from adebate over how best to exploit the influenceof indigenous culture.

Because of the way in which it documentsthe insights gained from working with-localculture, this book should be a welcome addi-tion to the developmentalists' library. Manyspecialized bibliographies enrich the book.The sections on traditional structures andfolk media have helpful introductions. Qtherpapers identify intriguing features of folksociety. Yet, each of the 18 papers tends toexplore only those ideas that arise from itsparticular experiences.

Although the indigenous group is a specialform of social organization with certainkinds of structures and processes, these

papers lack a broad framework for theirideas, a clarification which would have been

'useful to the general reader. Here modernfolklorists might have been used to clarifysome key ideas on thc nature of folk culture,its structures, its functions, its limitations,and its relationship with other social groups.However, the failure to- discuss such crucialconcepts may be a product of the immaturityof the issue rather than a particular short-

coming of the book.In the final section, two contrasting devel-

opment strategies found in the earlier papersare summarized. The first approach, that ofthe instrumentalists, utilizes folk media asanother technique for presenting the usualdevelopment messageshealth, sanitation,literacy, or farming. The devefpnct proc-ess is under the agents' cont ol but in-digenous structures are drawn into its service.The alternative approach, that of the struc-turalists, entrusts control over developmentto the local group. This creates an opportu-nity to avoid the inhumanities that struc-turalists see in existing social structures.Their goal is to transform this power into abase camp in the struggle for class freedom.While no synthesis of ideas is attempted,these arguments are valuable as an introduc-tion to the major ideological preferencqfound in this area.

Even though some of the papers in thisbook may fail to use reliable notions of folkculture in generating their development stra-tegies, studies in this area are hard to findand worth reading. Furthermore, thc widerange of ideas found in these essays shouldserve as an important starting point foranalyzing the full potential local cultureshold for the development process.

Reviewed by Terry O'Connor, a dodorai studentin comparative education al the University ofVirginia.

Available from the German Fund for Inter-national Development, Simrock Strase NI,5300 Bonn, GDR.

About UnderstandingIdeas and'Qbservations on Cross-CulturalCommunication, by Andreas Fugle-sang (Sweden, Dag Hammarskjöld

Foundation, 1982), 231 pp.

About Understanding could be syb-titled:"What every good development communi-cator ought to know." The title suggests thetheme of the book is understanding; actually,it is about "making meaning," or the processof arriving at a cognitive state of understand-ing. Every human being is a meaning maker,actively sccking to comprehend thc situationor context hc or she is in, using as tools what-ever knowledge and experience his or hcrown culture has offered.

To understand communication initiated byanother requires that a common context be-tween sender and receiver be first establishedso that thc meaning intended is thc meaningmade. In some cases this common context is

v

established only by great effort of the sender.This is especially true for a development com-municator. The culture of the audience hasalready supplied a meaningful world and theaudience's preconceivedjdeas of reality havelong since fostered a tradition of appropriatebehaviors% The new information put forwardby the development communicator may seemto the listener gratuitous, if not meaningless.

Fuglesang admonishes, "People in cul-tures may have useful ways of communicat-ing, of which we are unaware." Anecdotalevidence, sensitively portrayed, supports thisadmonition. Fuglesang examines the culturesof African tribal people through their socialstructures, the nuances of their languages,and their verbal traditions. He writes withbenign humor, and he clearly respects theAfrican villagers he writes about.

Fuglesang traces the development of formsof representationsystems of accounting forcrops and livestockwhich evolved into thewritten word. Later, he avers that representa-tion is the root of "digital communication"which is a Western literate invention. As athunterpoint, he asserts that "analogicalcommunication" is prevalent in the examplesgiven about the African vtflagers. His pur-pose in intrrducing these concepts is to ques-tion a Western notion that literacy and hencedigital information processing is the prereq-uisite` for desirable social transformation.The book does not need the digression,intodigital information processing, a fuzzy con-Struct of cognitive psychology, to reinforcethe contcntion so poignantly made by de-scribing the perceptions and the experiencesof thc villagers themselves.

The chapter on village education is a supe-rior reminder of what a development com-municator's task really is: to begin at thelearner's understandings and to use method-ologies consonant with how other culturallyrelated knowledge is learned. The two chap-ters following highlight relevant research invisual perception and summarize Fuglcsang'sresearch in understanding visual communica-tion. Fuglesang's insights are valuable toanyone working in the field of visual com-munication, from development to advertis-ing. The penultimate chapter on the uses ofvisual mcdia to change,pealth`practices is astudy in practical applications of thc fore-going theoretical foundations.

Throughout the book, Fuglesang jars theWestern reader by suggesting that the"sacrcd" traditions of scientific method and

' Aristotelian logic are no more valid a way ofprocessing information than the "magic be-

..

1.4*

havior" of some Afhcan villagers. However,in his enthusiasm for making a case for thecognitive Integrity of the villager, Fuglesangmay have been judgmentally harsh On mem-bers of Western societies who equate civiliza-tion with Done monuments or who are en-.trapped by logical, analytic thinking. If theundercurrent of the book is that we all makemeaning with whatever the building blocks ofour culture are, then the Westerner should beas entitled to cathedrals or calculus equationsa.s the African villager is to witchcraft orlegends.

Finally, the book is an eclectic and not ascholarly work . to make certain pointsFuglesang draws upon the Whorfian hypot h-ems, the information processing paradigm, orGestalt psychology. Academically, these

theoretical constructs make strange bed-

fellows. It is easy to forgive ruglesang, how-ever He is tackling a conceptual probljmthat is larger than traditional Westernpsycholinguistics or cognitive psyaology; heis attempting to make-meaning of how indi-viduals of disparate cultures make meaning.With that as its purpose, About 1 'mlerstand-ing is a book well worth reading.

-Ivadable (or l'S$I2 (prepayment hvbanker's checA re(/uestvl) Iron; tlu' DagIlammurajold I oundation, Os-re Slott%Ratan 2, S 752 20 ('ppsala, Sweden

Reviewed by Julianne (Atmore of the Office of Ed-ucation. Bureau for Science and Technology,MI). Vashington.

The Popular Performing -Iris, \On-formal hducation and .Social ( hangein the Third J3 orld: a Bibliographyand Review Frsay, by Ross Kidd ( 1 he

Hague, Centre for the Study of Education inDeveloping ountries), 127 pp

Almost single-handedly Ross Kidd haspushed The reluctant and ignored folk mediaonto the stage of development communicalion, and insisted that attention be paid totheir performances there. What we have seenshould riot surprise us. The popular arts arcintrinsically endowed with the appropriatevoices to reach their grass-roots audiences,and can absorb an infinite variety of mes-sages for "communication, learning, popularexpression, organization, and popular mobil-ization in Third World social transformationprograms." More and more we hear of song,dance, drama, and puppets being adopted asmessage carriers in every corner of the globe.Trying to keep tabs on all this activity hasbeen difficult. By their very nature, these areelusive performances...

As well as writing extensively on the pop-ular arts himself, Kidd has assiduously col-lected references, documentation, and expe-riChces which he has assembled into an al-most 2000-item bibliography that the Centre

for the Stusly of Education in DevelopingCountries in the Neffierlands has pubbehed.

Kidd's information seareh broadened froman initial development/adult education baseto include any conscious application of theperforming arts to social change, and thesevarious uies are outlined in a well-ordered,prefatory essay. Such activities as Mexico's'socio-dramas presented by tt NationalBoard of Family Welfare, In a's moMepuppet troupes in support oL. life insuranceand savings campaigns, Mali's conianunitysolidarity theater, and Barbados' black con-,sciousness theater of identity, arc sketched,and a reference to Aheir bibliogryhic listinggiven.

'The kinds of programs, their purpose, ani-mating 'spirit, etnnent, audienc', and othercharacteristics, arc chartectvo as to illustratethe analytic framework that Kidd developed.rhere is a particularly usefulkdex, brokendown'into countries and regions, kinds of

.0

programs (i.e. Literacy, Women's Groups),research and evaluation, kinds of peotr-formance, and a seemingly skimpy sub*..0matter category.

The "bibliographic references themselvesare comprehensive, clear, and concise. Aswith all such references, there is inherentfrustration: "How do I get a copy of . . ?"We must not, however. burden Kidd 'withthese frustrations. tie has done a superb job,and we are all in his debt.

for mlormation on this Biblmgraphv No. 7,and other publication.% 11 the ( 'entre tor theStudv of Lducation in Developing l'ovntrie.s,write to CESO, Badjutsweg 251,- P.O. BOks90734, 2509 1 !he IlagueVetherlands.

Reviewed by Judy Brace, Acting Director and Re-source Center Manage!, Clearinghouse on Devel-.opmenl ommunication.

Manual del rquitepo Descalzo(Handbook for the Irarefoot Archi-(ect), by Johan van I.engen (privatelyprinted; to be published by Editorial

('oncepto S.A.), 287 pp., in Spanish.

Handbook Jor the Barefoot Architect Is aprofusely illustrated (with attractive linedrawings), comprehensi e guide to construe-oon of low cost shelter id community build-ings in areas beyond the reach of the sea-soned professional architect. the introduc-tion defines the "barefoot architect" as theperson who designs and builds structures in acommunity or directs a group which has de-cided to build a larger structure for the publicbenefit. As the barefoot doctor needs to un-derstand simple medical procedures, theindigenous builder should know the basictechniques of modern construction, Armedwith this information and with knowledge oflocal customs and preferences, he or she is

/ "1

ttien able to assiso:,clients in obtaining asuperior product01

The Handbmik includes chapters on de7.materials, constructión, water,

wacte disposal, anif energy A aPProrgiatetechnology (wind and solar): There dre also

sectiA describing variations indesign and constructioain wet tropical*tretpical, and temperate climates. The &Nknualis not a coabookeith "recipes" forPartic-ular struttures. Rather, itititplains.,principlestappli*ble to the.building process'andlikinst he individual to think creatively in a mime ofsitAiations.

This ed'U'cative approach is one of .thestiong_Nints of the Handbook. The authorit alsoio he commended for Miitimizing theuse olcikferly technical language and 'for pce-,..sentleig the material in a logical seyeiice.The level of detail of each chapter is neitherso general as io be valueless, nor so specificas to'overwhelm. At times however, there arelong sections, such. as the'discussion of urbanplanning,, which may not be pertinent to thcintended audience . . . And herein lies theproblem.

9

4;;0 . It explala principlesapplicable to fh buildingprocess find' tfains the Indi-vidual to think creatively . .."

The Handbook, whieh was developed inMexico, is not so much a fiela manual as atraining aid for young professionals (mostlyiq government), who would, in turn, instructlocal artisans. While architects and engineerswho attended a first seminar in Baja (alifor-nia in Mexico were enthusiastic about im-proving the skills of indigenous builders, inthe main they Were unable to complete thecourse because of other demands on theirtime. The Handbook, then, was designed toaccelerate future training.

While it is a valiant effort, the Handbookis aimed at a formally educated audience andwould be incomprehensible to the typicalindigenous builder. Even the so-called "bare-foot" paraprofessional Would require exten-sive training in architetture and in teaching

-techniques before using the manual. Theyoung professional group might benefit mostfrom the Handbook and, thereafter, train theothers. However, a subsequent evaluation ofthe first group attending the course showedthat despite iheir participation, they wereunable to spend time in the fiek) since theirscarce skill% were required in the central of-fices of their agencies. One is left with thefeeling that the Handbook IS a good work insearch of an audience.Available (write for price inforrnatutm) fromJohan Van I.engen, Av. Eugenio Sue 45,Mexico 5 OF, Mexico.Reviewed by Dave Olinger, Assistnt Director forUrban Development In AID's Office of Housing

,nd Urban Development,

fr

10

Tirpe for a New Approach Toby John L. Woods

CtDunng the pa 12 yeats largeamounts of money and efforthave been Invested in PopulationCommunication or IEC (Infor--

mation. Educatio4,4 Communication) pro-grams. What have been thc results? Arc theyitforth the money being invested? This arycle

N. suggest* that it is time to reorient many Al theexisting Population Cdtlimunication pro-

/ galls tards helping strengthen servicedelivery capabilities in national family plan-ning prbgrams.

Recently, the Rangkok-hased United Na-tmns Development Program (1.1NDP) Asiaand Pacific Programme for DevelopmentTraining and Communication Planning(commonly called M(P), with the help ofthe Fait-West Center in Honolulu, cqm-pleted a comprehensive reviet- its wink inhe/ping rural development projects be moreeffectrve. This review covered 41 governmentrural development projects in 12 Asian coun-tries which had received assistang; fromMCI' These projects were in family planning, health, agriculture, and similar fields.1-ven though DT CP had aTso assisted theseprojects with their training methods, evalua-tion, and planning management comp0-nents, this article focuses only on the conclusions that relate to Population or Develop-ment Communication programs.'

The DT CP review resealed ,a number ofquestions related to the role of PopulationCommunication within national family plan-ning programs in the Asia and Pacific regiona primal s emphasis of Population Commumcation programs is on delivering messages tofamils planning target audiences. I he majorassumption behind this approach is that"communication" is the kev element to getting people to adopt family planning practices

In the tails days of family planning pro-grams, this focus on direct communicationwas useful tor creating an awareness amongthe targrt population. In many countries,these educational campaigns have been

highly successful, with levels of contraceptiveawareness now approaching 1(X) percent.Therefore, a continued major emphasis oncreating awareness among these target au,diences is often no longer needed. What,

th%s needed?

MVP experience has shown that amajor constraint in many family planningprograms, particularly in the rural areas, ispoor , service delivery. Thc availability ofbasic health services, contraceptive supplies,and other aspects of service delivery arc oftendreadfully wcak. This has been recognized byMany family planning administrators andhighlighted in many evaluation studies. Dr.Nafis Sadik, Assistant Executive Director ofUNITA, has often written about thc need to

Population Cortrunication

strengthen sepice delivery capabilities.Communicahon campaigns without ade-

quate service delivery capability cannotcreate successful family planning programs.In fact, this approach can cause frustrationand even resentment towards governmentprograms. Therefore, thc DTCP review con-cluded that there needs to be a new looktaken at the role of Population Communica-tion. *pecifically, more emphasis is needed,on using Population ('ommunication to helpstrengthen the capability of family planningorganizations to deltor better services.

A key element in service deliverytrained and motivated held-workers. A De-,velopment Support Communication ap-

proach (comnintly referred to as DSC) isneeded to achieve this. The key to the DSCapproach, as it has evolved duntig the pastfew years of MCP work, is the utilization ofcommunications resources to first helpstrengthen the service delivery infrastry,ctureand then, second, to encourage the largetgroups to use these services. In practicalterms, this means using Population Comm(l-mcation resources (or units) to help do thefollowing:1) improve the quality of stall training with

relevant ref erence manuals, teaching aids(printed and audiovisual), and continuingeducation materials such as technical reports and self -study materials;

2) increase the effectiveness of...the field,workers' education, motivation) effortsthrotigh the production of appropriatelecture aids and handout materials;

1) implement more ef fective "managementinformation programs" including newsletters, meetings, and other activities sothat administrators can more easily com-municate t(1 their staff (this includes pro-viding elf ective mechanisms for the stintto "feedback" vital information to theadministrators);

4) continue direct communication et forts tothe target audiences, but in a way that iscoordinated with, and is an integral partof , the basic family _planning program (asshould be the above elements).Reorienting Population Communication

programs will require some effort by bothfamily planning administrators and com-munication specialists. family planning ad-ministrators must recognize that PopulationCommunications is an essential tool withintheir overall planning and management activ-ities. Initially, administrators themselves mayneed some assistance or training in how to doeffective DSC planning and implementation.The crucial decisions of when and how Popu-lation Communication will bc used must bethe responsibility of the family planning pro-gtam administrators.

Communication specialists must bc willing

to work as a team in thc planning and im-plementation of family planning -programs.Many of thc communications specialistsworking in family planning have academicbackgrounds in mass communications whichpartly explains why many IEC (information,education, communication) programs focuson mass media awareness/motivation cam-paigns. Therefore, these communication spe-cialists may need additional training in devel-

remment progfam planning, education/train-ing methodology, management communica-tions, and other related fields in order to in-troduce thc DSC approach.

It is significant to notc that in the termDSC the4zzord "Development" comes first.All elements of the basic development pro-gramtechnology, supply ftitts, field staff,training pni.grams, etc. rtiVI he present be-fore there can be any meaningful communi-cation activity, The word "Support" is thckey to the DSC concept; Communicattonaresource which development planners, andadministrators 'can draw upon to supporttheir central program, particularly the servicedelivery.

'The DTCP experience has shown thatmany countries in thc Asia and Pacific regionneed to begin reorienting their approach toPopulation ( 'ommunicalion. It is tirue tobroaden the focus of these communicationprograms. Rather than concentrating on di-rect education/motivation communicationefforts to target audiences, it is time to beginusing more of these communication re-

sources to strengthen the service delivery in.frastructure. By following the DS(' approaeh, Population Communication can bean effective tool to help national family plan-ning programs to he more successful.

-I Nil report of (he revieby dour by 1)1( itavailably IhrouRli ('N1.1',I or ('N:1)1' Represenlahyri, it, &wily Iwo; Pl(P, But 2 147,nangkok. Thailand Ihe ul rrporl"Mukuut Rural Development Projevit Mute 11let ii ve Manuiletneni Sysirmi Aprmin hJohn I.. Wooth k Director of the United NationsDevelopment Program for Development Traininglend communkation Plonning in Bongkok.

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A wen * oteheren ang lelsomilzatimitWessere ot COMMIAMIOn

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newt* omen swingenthe gale" * Starnes ilul ilegatigalOwns for etionail*Netteeligggle. as WI OMpompom It altioagetni Weft* leg Orel*met commuelosesn.

ISis ANNII INIIMISOM DOMINOMPIN 04111110MIN Rawl' oft NM 10 Me an** MI Nit0100011140Pf Mao et es epelisin WOO angellein the Mew may etneeelon terretel =II 11:41==11men of Me relltel Mon MP

elesdere ere s15 sinnelleigragellignalet he nen lem 1000 tagen. OW le MINIM1010101entea

Community Radio Thriving in Ecuador:Otavalo Indians Running Their.Own Stowby Kurt Hein

Major UN-sponsored mediaconference% in Nairobi in 1976,Belgrade in 1977, and ,Quito in1978, focused on the desirable

goal of eitablishing more "participatory"media in the Third World. White a numberof studies have examined individual pro-grams and short-term, experimental projects,there is little evidence that much progresstoward this goal has been made in, the pastfive years,

A notable exception can be found, how-ever, in Otavalo, Ecuador. Initiated in 1977,Radio Baha'i has come perhaps the farthestof any rural radio station in realizing the con-ferences' objectives of providing "access,participation, and self-management."

Radio Bahal, owned by the Bahei com-Munity of Ecuador, ik a community station,established to serve the interests, needs, andtastes of the) community in which it is located(selected for its high number of Baha'is). TheBaha'i faith, based on the teachings of the'ninteenth century prophet, Baha'u'llah, pro-motes the oneness of mankind, the elimina-tion of prejudice, and the common foundaJtion of all religions. There are Bajai's in morethan 160,000 places around the world. Rut:alIndians comprise the, majority of the Bahaicommunities of Eruadot' and the neighboringAndean countries. Situated in Otavalo,Ecuador, a picturesque Andean town of ap-proximately 10,000 known for its'cblorful In-dian tourist market, the station's primary au-dience are rural-Indians in the two major val-leys surrounding OtaValo.-typical of rural traditional societies, the

Otavalo Indians are a people whose way oflife is increasingly being eroded by the incur-sion of twentieth-century technology and val-,.ties. Villages are experiencing a seriousdecline in population as young men andwomen leave for jobs in the urban centers;cultural values are being displaced by theheavy saturation of mediated messages andproducts from the urban centers; and eventhe traditional artisan craft, weaving, is un-dergoing a radical' transformation due to theintroduction of mechanized looms, syntheticfibers, and mass marketing. In the middle ofthis pressure for modernization are nearly.100,000 campesinos, indigenous peasantswhose prinCipal activity is subsistance farm-ing. Obviously, owing to their limited eco-nomic resources, the Otavalefios are not avoup to whom commercial stations direct

their broadcasts.Recognizing these factors, the Baha'is

built the station for several reasons; first, topromote and maintain the value, dignity, andsignificance of the peciple and their tradi-tional indigenOus" culture; second, to pro-

mote education, the delivery of social serv-ices, and the dissemination of basic develop-ment information; third, to serve as a voicefor the community, enabling villagers withina 50-mile radius to exchange information,make announcements, and share news aboutimportant activities and events in the region.

To accomplish these objectives, several sig-nificant decisions were made: First, it was de-cided that Radio Baha'i would broadcast-inboth Spanish and Quichua, becoming thefirst Ecuadorian radio station to broadcast amajor portion of its programming in the In-dian's native language. (Indigenous peoplecomprise more than 50 percent of Ecuador'stotal population.) At first, the station broad-cast approximately 35 percent of its program-ming in Quichua. That has now increased to50percent, with a goal of 80 percent by 1985.Second, staff members were recruited fromthe local population. The majority of thestaff are local residents, iniluding thestation's 23-year-old General Manager, a na-tive of Otavalo. Approximately half of thestaff are indigenous, coming from nearby vil4-lages to work regularly at the siation. Onlytwo of the indigenous staff are literate, andonly one of them received any schooling be-yond the first grade. Nonetheless, all stkfmembers have-been trained to create, pro:duce, and edit their own programs. Eachstaff member, male or female, literate or not,knows how to operate all the studio equip-ment, including tape recorders, cart ma-chines, turntables, microphones, and mixingconsoles.

Programming decisions are made by thestation staff. Each staff member makesregular visits to the campo (countryside) toconduct formative evaluation on the pro-gramming, often spending several days in acOmmunity to establish a good relationship

_

1114,4Aft

11

with the audience, and to receive informationabout listeners' needs and preferences. Finalprogramming authority rests with a three-member "Radio Commission," one ofwhom 14 an illiterate wojnan from a distantfarming community. She has become some-what of a local celebrity and has represented -the radi6 station as the Mistress Of Cere-monies for Otavalo's two largest annual festi-vals, one in celebration of the corn harvest,'the other an indigenous music festival spon-pored by the station. She also-produces andmoderates the station's most popular culturalprogram, a four-hour, weekly show devotedto traditional music, legends, and informa-tion of interest to tpe rural audience.

Broadcasting in Quichua, playing tradi-tional kusic exclusively, and airing programsaimed at maintaining traditional values hasmade Radio Baha'i the most popular stationin the region. A recenrsurVey conducted bythe author indicated that a remarkable 94percent of the potential audience listensregularly or oecasionally to Radio Baha'i.This is especially impressive in light of thefact that more than 30 stations can be heardin Otavalo.

Suprisingly, the station is able to achievethis popularity, broadcasting 19 hours a day,seven days a week, on a budget of approx-imately US$50,000 a year. Composed prima-rily of rural villagers, the Baha'i communityof Ecuador does not liave an abundance offunds on which to draw. Instead, they rely onthe dedicated, even self-sacrificing service ofthe staff, all of whom, essentiallyrare volun-teers, receiving only a nominal subsistenceallowance. Members of the staff usually citethe "intangible" reward of serving their peo-ple as the primary motivation for working atthe station.

The equipment at the studios is quitemodest; most of it is used, outmoded equip-ment acquired from the United States. In'fact, the transmission facilities attracted theattention of the National Frequency Board,

(Continual on page 13)

Members of the st0 of Radio Baha'i Ilincenta Anrango (1) and Juanita Perugachl (r) visit listenersIn a rural community. Woman In center has offered her house as a listening center for theatatIon's programs for children.

12

*On File at FRICReports from the ERIC (Educational Re-

sources Information Center) files reviewed inthis column discuss the planning and man-agement of communication media and de-scribe two information centers, one-of whichisZbnsiderinicomputerizing its services, andone which already has compute?: resources.All are available on microfiche from theERTC Document Rep-roduction Service(EDRS)," P.O. Box 190, Arlington, Virginia22210, USA. The first three are available inpaper copy from IIEP Publications, Interna-tional Institute for Educational Planning, 7-9rue Eugeni' Delacroix, 75016 Paris, France.The first two are also available in French.

McAnany, Emile G. and Mayo, John K.Communication Media in Education for

Low-Income Countries: Implications forPlanning. Fundamentals of EducatibnalPlanning-29. 1980; 80 pp. (ED 213 108)

This discussion of planning issues bridging' education and communication in low-income

countries addresses the democratization ofeducational opportunity, the quality of in-struction and learning, the impact of educa-tion through technology on rural areas, andthe participation of people in their own edu-cation. Evidence from four case studies ofrelatively successful applications of com-munication media for education and devel4opinent is cited in the discussion of each ofthese issues. Three of the studies involved theuse of radio: extended learning in theDominican Republic, qualitative improve-ment of 'mathematics teaching in Nicaragua,and community action in Tanzania. Thefourth study looked at the experimental use,...of satellite television broadcasting in India.The effect of the level of technology adoptedand the context of its use on cost estimates isshown, and conclusions and recommenda-tions for planners are given. Available fromEDRS in microfiche only for 97e pluspostage, or from IIEP Publications in papercopy.

Gutelman, M. The Use of ModernMedia for Rural Education in Develop-

ing ,CountriesThe Organisational Prob-lems: 1979, 51pp. (ED 213 114)

The first part of this report deals with in-herent technical constraints on the variousmedia, and the way those constraints affectproviding school-age children with basic edu-cation. It also discusses methods of organiza-tion and problems of extending secondaryand technical education in developing zOun-tries in light of the constraints on the media.Each of the major media is examined in termsof its potential range of use. The second partdeals with questions relating to the overallorganization and utilization of modern com-Munication media in rural education. Unescomaterials, discussions with special lists, andthe author's own experiences provided the

blckground for the report. Available fromEDRS in microfiche only for 97e plus post-age, or from IIEP Publkations in papercopy.

Chateh, Peter. Documentation Centreof the Association of African Universi-

ties. 1980, 23pp. (ED 214 545)This report presents the results of a study

of the Documentation Centre of the Associa-tion of African Universities (AAU) whichwas undertaken ,to work out proposals forthe rational organization of the Centre, andto exPlore the possibility of computerizingthe Centre and linking it with other centerswhich provide automated documentation serv-ices. The background of the AAU and its ob-jectives are suinmarized, and its functions,staffing, holdings, physical facilities, andbudget are discussed. Also described are ab-stracting, bibliographic search, and transla-tion services available through the Centre.Major problems in the areas of personnel,holdings, equipment, and facilities at theCentre are reviewed, and the computing re-sources, personnel requirements, and costsinvolved in computerizing the Centre are de-scribed. A detailed list' of recommendationsfor the more effective organization and oper-ation of the Centre closes the reporL Specificreconimendations are concerned with print-ing services, the binding and publicationsservice, the technical services department, theinformation and research service, inter-in-stitutional cooperation, and the computeriza-tion of the Centre. Two charts are appended.Available feom EDRS in microfiche only for97e plus postage.

Supporting Innovations in Education:Preparing Administrators, Supervisors,

and Other Key Personnel. Report of a Tech-nical Working Group Meeting (Seoul, SouthKo;eaSeptember 29-October II, 1980).1981, 94pp. (ED 214 229)

This meeting on methods of traininiedu-cational administrators and supervisors to besupportive of educational innovation was at-tended by participants from 1 k countries:Bangladesh, India, Ihdonesia, Japan, Malay-sia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, SouthKorea, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. This reportsummarizes the proceedings of that_meetingand the redommendations made for bettertraining of key personnel involved in educa-tional change. Presentations, by the partici-pants describe innovations Implemented orsuggested for bringing about changes inteaching and learning in their countries,especially in science and technology eduaa-tion; the current preparation of key educa-tional personnel in each country is summa-rized, with special reference to new planningprocedures; problems and, issues related tothe preparation of key administrative andsupervisory personnel to support innovationsin teaching and learning are presented; and

recommendations are made for better pre-service and inservice training of administra-tors, in,cluding national administrative in-stitutes of education and advanced-levelworkshops. Available Don.' EDRS in micro-fiche only for 97e plus postage.

(continued on page 14)

Cloth (continued from page 7)Because of the overlapping visu4 needs, a

textile visual materialsproduction unit wasproposed as a collaborative eft:ort of inter-ested institutions. This would prevent dupliacation of visual messages, and, thus, unnec-essary expense, and promote production anduse of cloth-based visual materials in a widerange of programs. The production unit sys-tem would offer valuable training o textilestudents, while producing attractive and use-ful educational designs. In- additi n, chan-neling resources out of the capit city andinto a rural institution not only m de use ofexisting facilities, but supported e statedgovernment policy of encouraging rural de-velopment.

In the Sudan, the development Of textilevisual aids has been even more en+ uraging.A feasibility study sponsored by e WorldHealth Organization in 1979 found hat all ofthe materials needed were locally vailable.Cotton cloth was abundant and ver inexpen-sive, making it a very appropriate V. ual com-munications tool. Gelatin glue prep ed fromanimal bOnes was used to make th stencils.Women's veil materials were subst tuted forthe imported stencil fabric. A p te madefrom sorghum starch ,and direct yes tuffswas used to make the printing bins r.

WHO and the Sudan's Ministry + f Healthare following up on a proposal to e tablish arural production center for printi g textilevisual messages for health educat on pro-grams. It is possible that, once est blished,the production center may eyolve in o an in-come-generating operation for he vil:lageprinting cloth designs for man exten- ,sion programs in the country.

Printed cloth materials are not off ed as apanacea for the urgent communicat on andeducational needs in Africa. Visual *ds areclearly very helpful, particularly wh n com-bined with radio discussion groups otherparticipatory media. What is significa t is theapproach: rather than trying to tran lant acommunications medium from the W st, thestrategy has been to take advantage of thematerials and 'resources that are a ailahlelocallY so that communication tools ill berelevant for the learning needs,1 localresources, and cultural setting in Africancountries.

For more information on printed clothposters, contact Beverly Emerson Don ghue,Center for the Development of Non-FormalEducation, 2109 East 2nd Street,. ustin,Tows 78702, USA.

Briefly Noted: Publications ofMore than Passing Interest

TwO small booklets, the results of gather-ings of communication practitioners, are nowavailable:

Community Communication is the reportof a workshop held in 1980 by the IndianCentre for Developrnent of InstructionalTechnology. The workshop featured waysin which communication could be a cata-lyst in the community development pro-cess. Workshop participants studied thefollowing examples: the Peruvian videb-tape project in support of rural develop-ment, broadcast TV for children and useof videotape in rural areas in India (DCR#35), and drama as a tool for communityinvolvement and two-way communication.Films, video, and theater presentationswere shown to demonstrate program re-sources. A point stressed throughout wasthat information becomes communicationonly when the mechanism for feedback ex-ists. The Workshop devoted considerableattention to training in productionmethods. Choice of a medium, selection ofan objective, identification pf the au-dience, built-in eValuationall the com-munication planning elements that cannever be repeated too oftenare restatedhere for the reader's benefit. The work-shop's agenda and list of participants areincluded. The Report on a CommunityCommunication Workshop may be re-quested from the Centre for Developmentof Instructional Technology, C11 Com-munity Centre, Safdarjung DevelopmentArea, New Delhi 110 016, India. .

Sri Lanka was the site of a Symposium onAlternative Media in early 1982, hosted bythe Worldview International Foundation.The proceedings-15 short papershavebeen collected and make interesting read-ing by their diversity, although the themeof "alternative media" is not readily ap-parent. The speakers addressed such issuesas film beyond entertainment, relevancy ofthe newspapers, educational TV, OPEC's,information program, distance education,and India's satellite efforts. Arthur Clarkecontributed a brisk review of the benefit ofsatelliteos opposed to costly new ground-communication for developing countries.The Worldview International Foundation,in sponsoring this symposium, appears tobe building toward a media effort in sup-port of proper nutrition to prevent xerop-thalmia (nutrition-related blindness). TheSymposium proceedings are available fromWorldview International Foundation, 10Kinross Avenue, Colombo 4, Sri Lanka.

A new and valuable resource is now avail-able to readers of DCR: a bibliography en-titled "Using Pictures in Literacy Work,"compiled by Bruce L. Cook. Cook has

cited over 100 publications in English,Spanish, and French, that deal with lit-eracy training and materials, visual percep-tion, and field experiences. Some of his ci-tations date back to the 1930s, testimOnyto the thoroughness of his research, butsuggestive of the difficulties others may en-counter trying to locate these references.As more and more educators recognizethat visual perception reflects the culturalbase of a society, they appreciate the needfor careful evaluation of materials in eacheducational setting. The fine studies madein Nepal should .inform the materials de-signer in Africa, but not replace local per-ceptual testing. The cartoon-liken figuresdear to Central American campesinos-would probably have little influence inPapua New Guinea. The more specialistshave access to the literature, the better thematerials they develop will be. A bibliog-raphy such as this will assist the processsubstantially.

Copies of the bibliography are availablefor US$2.00 prepaid, from the David C.Cook Foundation, 850 N. Crove Ave.,Elgin, Illinois 60120, USA.

Microcomputers are an important elementof the contemporary communication scene,and many of those who work in or with de-veloping countries are concerned that mi-cros not be pushed into inappropriate set-tings with irrelevant software and inade-quate training and maintenance. Any num-ber of meetings have been held or are beingontemplated to discuss applications and

implications of microcomputers in devel-oping countries. Developing country plan.-ners, researchers, program designers, proj-ect monitors, among others, will need togive thoughtful, informed consideration totheir own actual and potential micro-computer applications. Some of the nec-essary information tO make, these judge-ments can be gotten from internationalpublications that cover the field. The Tech-nology Programme of UNIDO (UnitedNations Industrial Development Organiza-tion) is actively involved worldwide inmicroelectronic technical assistance, hasput out a number of interesting workingpapers (some of .which are available .inSpanish), and publishes a very informativenewsletter (in English), MicroelectronicsMonitor. The newsletter features news ofUNIDO's own microelectronic assistance,country activities, industry developments,excerpts from other publications, markettrends, and recent publications. News ofmicroelectronic activity is solicited, par-ticularly from developing countries.

For subscription information, contactUNIDO, Technology Programme, Divi-sion for Industrial Studies, P.O. Box 300,A-1400 Vienna, Austria.

(continued on page 6)

15

Advanced Training In RuralReconstruction

The International Institute of Rural Re-construction is currently receiving applica-tions for its 18th and 19th InternationalTraining' Sessions to be held from February16 to April 8, 1983, and from September 5 to30, 1983, respectively.

The 18th Session, "Advanced Training inRural Reconstruction," is for men andwomen responsible for implementing ruraldevelopment projects of government andnon-government agencies in the ThirdWorld. Condueted semi-annually, these ses-sions provide a forum for participants fromAsia, Africa, and Latin America to study thehistory and philosophy of rural reconstruc-tion, rural develoriment strategies and issues,and to share experiences and methods forpromoting participatory change and inte-grated development at the village level.

Candidates should be actively engaged inrural development, must be nominated bytheir organization, and have a minimum ofthree years' experience in managing rtiraldevelopment projects.

The course, will be conducted in Englishand the cost (excluding international travel) isUS$2,150. A limited number of full and par-tial fellowships are available to most descry-.ing candidates.

Further information and application formsmay be obtained from: J. R. Batten, Train-ing Director, IIRR, Silang, Cavite, Philip-pines.

Radio (continued from page 11)responsible for licensing the station, becauseof the unconventional equipment. The anten-na is an original design that uses inexpensivealuminum irrigatron pipe used in local agri-culture. Despite initial scepticism, the broad-cast license was awarded when governmentengineers found it to be the most efficient.1000-watt transmitter in the country.

Broadcasting in the local language, choos-ing local villagers as staff members, and plac-ing a priority on content over technologyhave helped to make Radio Baha'i popular.In a future article, we will look at other rea-sons for the station's success, including acloser examination of its programmingphilosophy and production methods, its in-novative local news program, audience par-ticipation in the programming, and specialnonbroadcast cultural activities sponsored bythe station.

For Yurther information contact MarceloQuinteros, Executhv Director, Radio Bahal,Apartado 14, Otavalo, Ecuador.

Kurt Hein served as the Assistant Director ofCanadian International Development Agency's(CIDA's) Rural Radio Development Project ftOtsvalo. He is currently the Executive Producer ofthe Academy for Educational Development'sRadio Language Arts Project in Nairobi, Kenyli.

14

Nepal (continued from page 2)

falling under the authority of the Ministry ofForests are covered during this radio pro-grain, much emphasis is given to communityforestry. Basic objectives of the communityforestry co?hponent are as follows:

to create awareness of the CommunityForestry Development Programme (CFDP)and its benefits to the hill-villagers;to create understanding of how the Oro-gram works and the people's role in it;to remove any doubts about the programthat hill people may have; andto create a 'bandwagon effect' for par-ticipation in the CFDP, i.e., to show thatcommunity forestry activities are takingplace all over the hill areas.

The radio program is oriented towardsfield activities; that is, much of the contentcomes from or deals with people and eventsin the hill project areas. Voices and views ofhill villagers are heard in the program asmuch as possible.

Other Media

In addition, other designs have beencreated to keep the program in the public'sawareness. A logo, or symbol comparable toa trademark, was developed and is aed on allprinted materials to link them to the pro-

_ grarn. For further reinforcement, all staffworking directly with the program on a con-tinuing basis are issued T-shirts showing theproject's. logo.

A metal button showing the logo is issuedto all senior and intermediate staff and willbe given to junior staff and village leaders asan acknowledgement or reward for goodwork.

Towards a Coherent ForestryExtension Serviee

The Ministry of Forest and Soil Conserva-tion is fully aware of the urgent need to buildup a forestry extension capability. Efforts arealready underway to establish a Developmentand Communication Support Section in theMinistry, which will help and serve the exten-sion needs of all the agencies within theforestry sector.,

A Training Wing in the Ministry hasrecently been treated with the support ofUSA1D. With a limited number of staff, thisWing is not designed to undertake a largeamount of direct training. Rather, it assumestraining management, coordinating, andclearinghouse roles. It will largely use trainersand other resources from within and outsidethe Ministry and works closely with the fourtechnical departments in determining andmeeting their staff training needs.

Outside the Ministry, meanwhile, Trib-huvan University's Forestry Institute is start-ing a diploma course in forestry and water-shed management. Both the diploma courseand the existing certificate course will include

extension and relevant social science sub-jects.

As part of the ongoing monitoring andevaluation program of the whole project, anassessment of knowledge and attitude to-wards community forestry was made approx-imately two years after the program began. Asurvey of 900 households and 180 villageleaders has sliown a substantial, statisticallysignificant, increase in knowledge regardingcommunity forestry activities in panchayatswhere the program has been in operation. Ingeneral, knowledge scores of the 200 partici-pating panchayats are twice those of the not-yet participating ones. However, the surveyresults also pointed out some areas in whichextension needs to be more effective. Theseareas will receive particular attention.

For more information, contact E. Pelinck,Community Forestry Development Program,P.O. Box 107, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Training Foi DistanceEducation .

The Intemational Extendost Coihige'sanccesaBil come on dlintiee lath* istamm age& in the Moms if IOW butfor four Months instead of atm An evil,nation bilinlybos courses,"whiclitlse CoJlegs Millen witk the thivarsity or Loa,don Institute' of Educatiot ic 1517,sboned tha : partpants *Mitied .thecourse but thou& k vovered Soo michground in too short s time. So the coursehas been extended, mainly to iet *Wattsspend more time on. vidual projectwork while in London.

Thecouree is designed for people work-ing bt an binds of distance-taachingstitudons. They have come front's/Acta,turel extension seryleess 006.1.tiisniticoand government correipondince depart,menu in Africa, Latin America; mid Asia.-Since *comet begin, peak:fps:alba:ye,come from 28 caintritn: *190 they iverefrom Botswana, Ohonit, India, ;onion,Kari* Writ Pakistan, Thailand, andZambia.

WM* is irption, 'coarse memberswork as Saw Moks. Al emend work-**, on warm rid*, on adminktra,dolt, mid en-shimase mob, in the Umcome mom Sim *di bait if Tobin oradimes ask gankrisimaiii mei

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World Conference ofCommunity Radio Broadcasters

The Quebec (Canada) Association ofCommunity Radio Broadcasters has an-nounced a major world conference on com-munity radio to be held in Montreal,Canada, in August 1983. Community radio'broadcastersannouncers, producnrs, and,organizerswill meet to exchange informa-tion and discuss ways of cooperation A com-munity radio festival will be held at the same,time; producers and broadcasters will ex-change broadcast techniques and try out anddiscuss technologies.

Organizers of the conference are preparinga complete list of all community radio sta-tions around the world. They know a gooddeal about community radio in Belgium,France, and North America, but would ap-preciate information about community radiobroadcasters and organizations in othercountries.

Write to Michel Delorme,.Association desradiodiffuseurs communautaires du Quebec,938 est, rue Rachel, Montreal (Quebec),Canada H2J 2J1.

ERIC (con tin ued, from page 12)- Schwarz, Stephan. A National Docu-

mentation and Information Centre ofthe Kenya National Council for Science andTechnology, 1980, 55pp. (ED 214 546)

This report presents the results and recom-mendations of a study conducted to aid theRepublic of Kenya's National Council, forScience and Technology (NCST) in the devel-opment of a National Documentation andInformation Centre to coordinate existing re-search and development (-R&D) services. Thebackground of the NCST and its relationship

'to the R&D community in Kenya is reviewed,the NCST's views of the objectives and roleof an R&D information center are presented,

' two earlier Unesco reports on the estab-lishment of information centers in Kenya aresummarized, the functions of the RegionalCommittee for the Development of Informa-tion Services in Eastern Africa are outlined,and existing documentation ,services andlibraries in Kenya are described. Computerfacilities available in Kenya for informationand documentation service ..puriSoses are

listed, and some of the general questions sur-rounding the development of national infor-mation services are addressed. The 25 recom-mendations presented are Igrouped in threebroad categories: organizational objectivesand structure, the center as a force in the de-velopment of other information services, andstaff, consultants, and funding. A 57-itemreference list and three appendices accom-pany the text. Available from EDRS inmicrofiche only for 97¢ plus postage.Barbara B. Minor, Publications Coordinator,ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources,School of Education, Syracuse University,.Syracuse, New York 13210, USA.

Communication(continued from page15)

have asked the help of village leaders to per-suade villagers to attend. During the meeting,it might have been possible to use some visualaids such as flipcharts, slides, or color photo-graphs of HYV747, or actual specimens offertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. Hecould hav, invited a farmer from another vil-lage who fiad successfully tried the new va-riety. And even better, the field-worker couldhave earlier carried out an actual demonstra-tion by planting the variety in a portion of afarmer's field visible to all in the village.

The important thing to remember is thatpeople can receive communication onlythrough the five senses; sight, hearing, touch,smell, and taste. The more senses we use tocommunicate our' message, the greater thechances that it will be understood.

FeedbackFeedback is vital to effective communica-

tion. Sending messages is only oneKthird ofthe job. The other two thirds are finding outwhat effect our communication has had onthe receiver, and then correcting sabsequentmessages until the communication objectiveis achieved. It has been said that astronautsfrom the United States of America reachedthe moon through a series oferrors, becauseeach time they made an error, they found outwhat it was, how much of an error it was, andhow it could be corrected.

Unfortunately, the agricultural field-workerbin our example took the easy way out. In-stead of taking steps to find out why farmersdicr not adopt HYV747, he simply concludedthat t were "lazy, resistant to change, andtruly st id."

SenderThe sender is the initiator of communica-

tion and it is his responsibility to see to it thatthe communication objective is achieved.Unforiunately, most of those engaged inrural Jxtension or communication often donot get enough training in communication.They may possess a technical background inagriculture, which is good for obtaining in-formation on crops and livestock, but not fordealing with people. Many rural extensionworkers or communicators come from citiesor big towns and therefore hold urban valuesand attitude's, thus compounding the com-munication problem.

All these factors point to the need for ade-quate training- in communication and exten-sion. Here, we should remember that themanner in which communicators and exten-sion workers receive training is as importantas the content of their training. For example,if lectures are the chief method used, commu-nicators and extension workers are likely touse this method when teaching farmers.

The attitude of rural communicatorstowards their work and towards farmers fre-quently needs to be changed. We sometimesfeel that we hold the key,to the farmers' sal-

vation and that we are doing them a favor.We think we have the ans*wers to their prob-lems. Thus, it is not surprising that we adopta doctor-patient or teacher-pupil attitudewhen dealing with rural families.

Truly effective communication, however,cannot proceed from this premise. If com-munication is the sharing of ideas, the sendershould learn to receive messages as much ashe sends them.

Dr. Gecolea is a. Planner/Programmer for theUNDP Asia and Pacific Programme for Develop-Ment Training and Communication Planning(DTCP).Reprinted by permission from Agricultural Infor-mation Development Bulletin, Vol, 4, No. 2, pub-lished by the United Nations Economic and SocialCommission for Asia and the Pacific, United Na-tions Building, Rajdamnern Nok Ave., Bangkok2, Thliland.

NeW Brochure of NoteThe Informatioi Diiision of the 'PAO.

(Fond and Agriculture oftheUthtedNgtlons)haspuit.. a newbdoklet entitled "Comm forRural Developtnent."

Illustrated with-striking photographi offield-level -communication which showrural 'people using cassettes, slideapes,face-to-face communication, and ntaos,the booklet explains why coMmun1citio4shotdd be an essential Part of doveloP-mem projects. Author Patd Harrison citamany examples from around the develop-ing work' to iihatrate the value of a well- .planned, rdeivint *developmert supportcornthunicition component to rural de-.velopment erojects.

. .The booklet is.avallable in Preach andSpanish's*. Voell u English, sasd beordered froth the .Pavodopmect SupportCommardation Branch, InformationDivision, FAO, *is Vella mast diCarol:W*00100, Rome, ttaiy.

Villages (continued from page 15)worm, measles, etc. You need to know thecommunications available now. What radiosare there? Batteries, is there a supply? If theradio programs are for women, find out sim-ple things such as whether women are al-lowed to switch on radios when husbands arenot home. At what times do women listen?One has to go through all this. Then amongthe objectivds of the major program youshould find your communication objectivestoo. So resources are divided according toobjectives and the question of $5,000 sttickon the end does not arise. At the implementa-tion stage the communications go alongs,withthe rest of the objectives and ,are alsomonitored.DF: Do you feel that it goes for technology ingeneral that faith is not enough? The avail-ability of technology is not sufficient toguarantee its use?

Tuluhungwa: Existing communications tech-nology is sufficient for development needs.Where we have not succeeded is on the con-ceptual side. How can the technology beused? Secondly, we have not got the designof the messages sorted out. For example, so-phisticated urban folk in rich countries maylearn from videocassettes but, for poor ruralfolk, maybe it has to be drama. Where wehave gone wrong is in the prior analysis thatshould have determined the choice of tech-nology.

DF: Does this lesson apply to technology ingeneral, for agriculture for example?Tuluhungwa: Yes. Technologies at the villagelevel exist already but perhaps they have beenovertaken. The princhiles for introducingnew technologies are similar. So that with in-dustry, too, you must apply the same criteriabefore you decide on what technology tobring in.DF: 'On a final note, can you say if the expe-rience acquired has demonstrated wheiherdeveloping countries are going to follow adifferent path from the industrialized coun-tries. Can they avoid recapitulation of mas-sive urbanization, environmental devasta-tion, and all the other disasters which havebefallen the richer countries?Tuluhungwa: Development models in theThird World are undergoing a serious Meta-morphosis triggered by global financial prob-lems. Peonle feel they should have used hu-man resourcts more, reforming the educa-tional system, looking into local technolo-gythe ox plough before the tractor, etc.Tractors were not used efficiently beCause theinfrastructure was not thereno meChanics,poor maintenance. In some countries youfind tractors running well in villages becausethe technology is there. In India, say. But inAfrica the same tractor does not run! Now,by the year 2000 it is estimated that on aver-age 60 percent of the population of devel-oping countries will be urban. And 61 per-cent of growth in urban population will befrom within the towns and cities themselves.So you are getting increasing numbers ofpeople with no skills, who can find no jobs.Governments are concerned with supportingthe 40 percent leit in the rural areas, helpingthem to make a living and also dealing withthe urban problems. So,they are thinking ofsmall industries, not the giant companies.That is where communications will play a bigpart, especially with training. The peoplehave no skills and may have to be trainedeven to use a hammer or a small electricaltool. So communication again reappears asvital to skills training and on how to marketproduce without being exploited by mid-dlemen. So.ybu see, I think we can say that

^ we have learned something over the last 25years.Reprinted from Development Forum, DESI/DP1,Palils des Nations, CH1211 Geneva 10,

Switzerland.

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Villages: The Forgotten ResourceAn interview with Revelians Tuluhungwa

This article,is reprinted from De-velopment Forum, Volume X,No. 6, published by the UnitedNations University and the Divi-

sion of Economic and Social Informa-tion/DPI. Development Forum interviewedRevelians Tuluhungwa, Chief of UNICEF'sProject . Support Communications Service,on the subject of village developrhent andcommunications. DCR is pleased to reprintselections from that interview.

DF: Could you outline the importance ofcommunicittion in the approach to villages indeveloping countries?

Tuluhungwa: Communication is both a proc-ess of social interaction, of learning, and alsoa matter of techniques. The problem is thatmany development agencies and many gov-ernments have looked at communication asinformation "per se," alSo as techniques. Soa Ministry of Health official will 'definehealth education as the production of severalradio programs based on a textbook devel-oped by a doctor, or a series of posters to behung on trees in the villages. Now both ofthose fail to help a farmer understand why heneeds a latrine arid how to build a latrine. Itdoes not help him to understahcl why his chil-dren should be immunized or why a poliovaccine has to be three doses. It does notteach farmers fertilizer-use or Post-harveststorage. So communications is a process in aprogram whereby if there is'a food or educa-tion program one should look at what kindof orientation the technicians who are goingto work on the program needi.e., in termsof their capacity to explain the program tothe villagers and generate motivation and

IMO

DevelopmentCommunication Report

participation-. One must also look at whatkind of corrimunity education is needed toenable the villagers to participate, benefit,and then care for the project when the exter-nal funding is over. So we ale talking more ofdevelopment as an education of the mind, associal change, as haying more access to in-formation and to learning skills. It goes be-yond merely divulging or propagating in for-mation.

DF: You obviously have a great affection forvillages. Do you feel it is important, for thefuture, that, the rural sector should behealthy? Why do villages hav; to be treatedwith such attention?

Tuluhungwa: In most countries, most, of thepopulations live outside the cities. The citiesexpect rural people to produce food to sup-port them and other less fortunate parts ofthe countryside. If, the rural areas cannotfeed themselves, the people who eventuallysuffer most are the people in the cities. Gov-ernments understand this. My respect for thevillage is based on the fact that I was born inone, I. have worked in a village and I haveIseen the wealth of h man resources that ex-ists there. Their dem ds are not great if theycan'be assured that their crops will.be good,that they can sell their surplus at a goodprice, that they can buy a new dress, copewith the diseases that afflict their children,buy a radio, or that sort of thing.

DF: The potential of technology as the key todevelopment is a very popular cause. This isvery evident in the area of communicationswhere therehave been remarkable changes incommunications technology. Has this poten-tial been realized?

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Tuluhungwa: Not as much as it should havebeen by 1,982. Let me illustrate: for tioliticalreasons governments have invested in TV sta-tions which run five to eight hours a dav inmost countries. When you examine the pro-grams you will find it rare to have even fivepercent of the time allocated to educationalprograms. One reason is that those involvedhave nothing to do with the sectors of gov-ernment responsible for development. It is

the Ministry of Information, not Planning,Health, or Agriculture who controls pro-gramming. The development sectors them-selves look at communications as a kind oeappenclitge to a project or program. Any typ-ical project descriptibn has a last paragraphwhich says "community education is going toplay a big part in this programthereforeUSS5,000 are reserved for itl" The $5,000will go on a public relations brochure for theproject or maybe after two years someonewill say, "Hey, the program's not going well,'can we get a communicator to come in anddo something about it?" So by the tifne theyget someOne, there will only be $2,000 re-maining, enough to produce one radio pro-gram. Now what SHOULD be done? Our ex-perience shows that an experienced commu-nicator should be called in right at the begin-ning. He should plan the communicationcomponent by gathering data and help theagenoy to design ways tlirough which thevillagers can participate in the infortnationside. Otherwise they are passive. Gatheringdata is essential so you know what educa-tional objectives there should be. You shouldaim at community education, behaViorchange, and last, skills acquisition. What sortof data?. You need to establish the knowledgegaps, find out what they do now, for exampleon the nutrition side; what do they do now.when a child gets kwashOor, signs of hook-

(confirmed o?li page 15)

,

Forestry Communicationi.Indian Puppets;Community Radio; Microcomputer8;Population Communication.

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