“Saathi Sanga Manka Kura” Radio Program

(Chatting with My Best Friend Radio Program)
BY KTM Metro Reporter in Kathmandu

Various NGOs and INGOs have been engaged in HIV prevention work but all the efforts have been patchy in Nepal. So, UNICEF-Nepal held an in-depth study of drug users and commercial sex workers of 15-26 age groups intimately interacting with them to ascertain why they have been doing so. They found out that most of the young people had the problem of coping with the situation they had fallen in. They could not find a friend or a partner to share their grievances such as broken relationship, breakup of love, unwanted pregnancy and so on. The study revealed that they needed someone to talk about their problems. UNICEF – Nepal developed a radio program called Saathi Sanga Manka Kura (Chatting with My Best Friend) – a radio program for the young people by the young people to the young people.

The radio program comprises (1) chatting (2) drama (3) songs and music (4) expert advice on communication (5) letter. The radio hosts hold a chat with the listeners talking about their problems and possible solutions to the problems. They play dramas about the social problems and how to cope with such problems. The songs and music are made up of the social problems but entertaining to the listeners. Then the hosts attempt to provide the listeners with advice on how to communicate with the friends and relatives. Listeners could send letters to the radio hosts seeking advice and solutions to their problems.

UNICEF-Nepal ran a half-hour-per-week radio program in 2000 for a year, thereafter an hour-long program. Currently, the state-run Radio Nepal and 32 private FM radios run this program once a week at the time convenient to them. It has 6.5 million listeners.

The radio hosts have received more than 50, 000 letters and replied each letter individually with the standard answer during the last 6/7 years. Each listener could ask any question and advice on any problem confidentially. So, listeners could open up their mind and freely talk about their problems. They received practical answers as far as possible.

According to the letters received from the listeners, they have set up more than one thousand listeners’ clubs in Nepal. The radio host ship life-skill booklets to the listeners’ clubs so that the listeners could read and share the benefits of such booklets.

This radio program has been the fifth most popular program among the young people in Nepal. It has been the most reliable source of information on the reproductive health and family planning. It has contributed to the responsible and safe sexual behavior.

Laos and Cambodia are soon going to replicate this radio program. The Nepalese radio hosts went these countries and held training to the concerned radio staffs. Maldives also has shown interest in launching such a radio program. The Nepalese experts went to Maldives to share their expertise with the Maldivian.

This radio program is the creation of the Nepalese experts.