Thursday, September 08, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Why a Radio Program?
Why a radio program anyways?
When we were called into the small emergency room I was shocked to see the young, pregnant, woman seizing on the stretcher. Her husband had carried her by bike five hours to the nearest health post, where she was then transported by ambulance to Puerto Cabezas, arriving 12 hours later. He thought that when she complained of her headache and when her body began to shake that she was in labor. After convulsing for two to three hours he realized that something was wrong. I was overwhelmed by the gravity of the situation. How was it that this woman didn’t know she was sick earlier? Why did her husband think that seizing was a normal process of labor? I wanted to reach out to this family and to all of the other women, bellies round with pregnancy in the rural communities of the Autonomous Region of the North Atlantic (RAAN) Nicaragua. I wanted to teach community members plagued by high rates of maternal mortality, what danger signs to watch out for during pregnancy.
As a Certified Nurse-Midwife I knew it was possible to work together with other nurses in the community to develop a unique method to provide prenatal education. This was when Mairin Karnakira-Mujer Poderosa, “Strong Woman” was born. This bold initiative is a radio-education soap opera developed to improve maternal health education in the RAAN, which suffers the country’s highest rates of maternal mortality. We hope that by improving women’s knowledge of pregnancy danger signs through radio-education that women will be able to recognize, refer, and treat complications without delay. This radio program gets the message out, in Spanish and Miskito, on how to have a healthy pregnancy to women living in rural communities who may not know how to read and have difficulty accessing health services.
Right now we are conducting an investigation to see if it is true, that listening to Mairin Karnakira-Mujer Poderosa does increase what pregnant women know about danger signs during pregnancy. We believe that Mairin Karnakira-Mujer Poderosa is a great way to provide health education to the most women living in the RAAN! Coming soon: the Ministry of Health in the RAAN will be transmitting Mairin Karnakira-Mujer Poderosa on at least three radio stations in the region! Thank you MINSA!
Please link to the recordings above if you would like to listen in Spanish or Miskito!
¿Por qué un programa de radio?
Cuando nos llamaron a la pequeña sala de emergencia me sorprendí al ver a la embarazada, convulsionando en la camilla. Su marido la había llevado en bicicleta cinco horas al puesto de salud más cercano, donde fue transportado en ambulancia a Puerto Cabezas. Llegaron 12 horas después. El marido pensó que cuando ella se quejaba de dolor de cabeza y cuando su cuerpo empezó a temblar que ella estaba en trabajo de parto. Después de que convulsionó durante dos o tres horas se dió cuenta de que algo andaba mal. Me sentí abrumada por la gravedad de la situación. ¿Cómo fue que esta mujer no sabía que estaba enferma antes? ¿Por qué piensa su marido que las convulsiones era un proceso normal del trabajo de parto? Yo quería contactar a esta familia y de todas las otras mujeres, vientres redondos con el embarazo en las comunidades rurales de la Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte (RAAN) de Nicaragua. Quería enseñar a los miembros de la comunidad afectado por altas tasas de mortalidad materna los signos de peligro del embarazo.
Como Enfermera-Obstetra, sabía que era posible trabajar en conjunto con otras enfermeras en la comunidad para desarrollar un método único para proporcionar la educación prenatal. Fue entonces cuando Mairin Karnakira-Mujer Poderosa nació. Esta ambiciosa iniciativa es una radio-novela educativa desarrollada para mejorar educación prenatal en la RAAN, el area del país que sufre las tasas más altas mortalidad materna. Esperamos que al mejorar el conocimiento de las mujeres de los signos de peligro del embarazo a través de la radio, que las mujeres sean capaces de reconocer, remitir y tratar complicaciones obstetras sin demora. Este programa de radio transmite el mensaje, en español y miskito, sobre cómo tener un embarazo saludable a las mujeres que viven en comunidades rurales que tal vez no saben leer y tienen dificultades para acceder a los servicios de salud.
En este momento estamos llevando a cabo una investigación para ver si es verdad, que escuchando el programa Mairin Karnakira-Mujer Poderosa se incrementa lo que las mujeres embarazadas conozcan acerca de los signos de peligro durante el embarazo. Creemos que Mairin Karnakira-Mujer Poderosa es una gran manera de proporcionar educación prenatal a las mujeres que viven en la RAAN!
Pronto: el Ministerio de Salud en la RAAN transmitira Mairin Karnakira-Mujer Poderosa en por lo menos tres emisoras en la region. Muchas Gracias MINSA!
Por favor haga clic en los links arriba para escuchar el programa de radio en Espanol o Miskito!
When we were called into the small emergency room I was shocked to see the young, pregnant, woman seizing on the stretcher. Her husband had carried her by bike five hours to the nearest health post, where she was then transported by ambulance to Puerto Cabezas, arriving 12 hours later. He thought that when she complained of her headache and when her body began to shake that she was in labor. After convulsing for two to three hours he realized that something was wrong. I was overwhelmed by the gravity of the situation. How was it that this woman didn’t know she was sick earlier? Why did her husband think that seizing was a normal process of labor? I wanted to reach out to this family and to all of the other women, bellies round with pregnancy in the rural communities of the Autonomous Region of the North Atlantic (RAAN) Nicaragua. I wanted to teach community members plagued by high rates of maternal mortality, what danger signs to watch out for during pregnancy.
As a Certified Nurse-Midwife I knew it was possible to work together with other nurses in the community to develop a unique method to provide prenatal education. This was when Mairin Karnakira-Mujer Poderosa, “Strong Woman” was born. This bold initiative is a radio-education soap opera developed to improve maternal health education in the RAAN, which suffers the country’s highest rates of maternal mortality. We hope that by improving women’s knowledge of pregnancy danger signs through radio-education that women will be able to recognize, refer, and treat complications without delay. This radio program gets the message out, in Spanish and Miskito, on how to have a healthy pregnancy to women living in rural communities who may not know how to read and have difficulty accessing health services.
Right now we are conducting an investigation to see if it is true, that listening to Mairin Karnakira-Mujer Poderosa does increase what pregnant women know about danger signs during pregnancy. We believe that Mairin Karnakira-Mujer Poderosa is a great way to provide health education to the most women living in the RAAN! Coming soon: the Ministry of Health in the RAAN will be transmitting Mairin Karnakira-Mujer Poderosa on at least three radio stations in the region! Thank you MINSA!
Please link to the recordings above if you would like to listen in Spanish or Miskito!
¿Por qué un programa de radio?
Cuando nos llamaron a la pequeña sala de emergencia me sorprendí al ver a la embarazada, convulsionando en la camilla. Su marido la había llevado en bicicleta cinco horas al puesto de salud más cercano, donde fue transportado en ambulancia a Puerto Cabezas. Llegaron 12 horas después. El marido pensó que cuando ella se quejaba de dolor de cabeza y cuando su cuerpo empezó a temblar que ella estaba en trabajo de parto. Después de que convulsionó durante dos o tres horas se dió cuenta de que algo andaba mal. Me sentí abrumada por la gravedad de la situación. ¿Cómo fue que esta mujer no sabía que estaba enferma antes? ¿Por qué piensa su marido que las convulsiones era un proceso normal del trabajo de parto? Yo quería contactar a esta familia y de todas las otras mujeres, vientres redondos con el embarazo en las comunidades rurales de la Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte (RAAN) de Nicaragua. Quería enseñar a los miembros de la comunidad afectado por altas tasas de mortalidad materna los signos de peligro del embarazo.
Como Enfermera-Obstetra, sabía que era posible trabajar en conjunto con otras enfermeras en la comunidad para desarrollar un método único para proporcionar la educación prenatal. Fue entonces cuando Mairin Karnakira-Mujer Poderosa nació. Esta ambiciosa iniciativa es una radio-novela educativa desarrollada para mejorar educación prenatal en la RAAN, el area del país que sufre las tasas más altas mortalidad materna. Esperamos que al mejorar el conocimiento de las mujeres de los signos de peligro del embarazo a través de la radio, que las mujeres sean capaces de reconocer, remitir y tratar complicaciones obstetras sin demora. Este programa de radio transmite el mensaje, en español y miskito, sobre cómo tener un embarazo saludable a las mujeres que viven en comunidades rurales que tal vez no saben leer y tienen dificultades para acceder a los servicios de salud.
En este momento estamos llevando a cabo una investigación para ver si es verdad, que escuchando el programa Mairin Karnakira-Mujer Poderosa se incrementa lo que las mujeres embarazadas conozcan acerca de los signos de peligro durante el embarazo. Creemos que Mairin Karnakira-Mujer Poderosa es una gran manera de proporcionar educación prenatal a las mujeres que viven en la RAAN!
Pronto: el Ministerio de Salud en la RAAN transmitira Mairin Karnakira-Mujer Poderosa en por lo menos tres emisoras en la region. Muchas Gracias MINSA!
Por favor haga clic en los links arriba para escuchar el programa de radio en Espanol o Miskito!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Take One!
Try Outs!
Recording Workshop
In the Recording Studio...
SO recording has begun! I have been working with a team of "actors" from the local university URACCAN's Centro de Liderazgo, or center for leadership. It is basically a live in high school made up of students from surrounding Miskito communities who show traits of leadership. We have been in the studio recording four times now and have completed 8 out of 9 chapters in Spanish. Tomorrow we will finish our Spanish chapters and move into Miskito. I had decided to work with this group of students because they all speak Spanish and Miskito, though Spanish is certainly there second language! I've found myself taking on the role of whip-cracking radio show producer. Its fun, stressful, and as always, requires much more work than I ever imagined...its starting to look really easy to have a baby!!! Sunday when we recorded all day long the woman who owns the recording studio told me that our editor had commented that he is learning so much about pregnancy...my n=1 says that the radio soap-opera Mairin Karnakira just might work!
Recording Workshop
In the Recording Studio...
SO recording has begun! I have been working with a team of "actors" from the local university URACCAN's Centro de Liderazgo, or center for leadership. It is basically a live in high school made up of students from surrounding Miskito communities who show traits of leadership. We have been in the studio recording four times now and have completed 8 out of 9 chapters in Spanish. Tomorrow we will finish our Spanish chapters and move into Miskito. I had decided to work with this group of students because they all speak Spanish and Miskito, though Spanish is certainly there second language! I've found myself taking on the role of whip-cracking radio show producer. Its fun, stressful, and as always, requires much more work than I ever imagined...its starting to look really easy to have a baby!!! Sunday when we recorded all day long the woman who owns the recording studio told me that our editor had commented that he is learning so much about pregnancy...my n=1 says that the radio soap-opera Mairin Karnakira just might work!
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