Case Study 2: Bolivia - Wila/Yawa Kasta (Ancestral Blood-line)

Wila Kasta is a radio serial drama about reproductive health, aimed at the indigenous people of Bolivia. PSI (Population Services International) embarked on Wila Kasta in 1998, following the success of two other health soaps in Bolivia. Wila Kasta was first broadcast in Aymara in the Bolivian highlands in 1999. In the same year it won the Global Media Award. Another version of the same drama, called Yawa Kasta, was adapted for the Quechua language in 2000, for the ethnic groups in the lowlands. A Spanish version of the soap has also been produced and repeats of both Wila and Yawa Kasta are still on the air.

Wila Kasta is advertised as "the first Andean musical radionovela." It is highly musical and features well-known Bolivian musicians. Each episode is 25 minutes long and the story runs for 35 episodes in total. Set in the rural highlands, it narrates the adventures of a young girl (Wayra), her eccentric midwife grandmother (Awicha), the traditional healer (Tata Severo) and a modern doctor, (Dr. Gumucio). Dr. Gumucio was meant to be a central character, portrayed as a handsome, musically talented, popular figure who even achieves the status of 'Yatiri' (a special traditional healer) by virtue of surviving a lightening strike. However, he was found to be far less popular expected, recording low levels of recognition among listeners (only 13% in Aymara and 22% in the Quechua version). The storyline had to be adjusted accordingly, so that health messages would be conveyed by the more popular traditional midwife/grandmother character. The lesson learned was "the road to the health center cannot be a direct one [with such an audience]; an emissary (a midwife, football player or other local leader) should exist between the people and the [health] professional" (Duhaime, 2001).

The strengths of this radio drama are its strong emphasis on popular music, high professional standards of recording and production and high levels of radio access among target population. It also points out the importance of formative research and understanding the cultural acceptability of putting key messages into the mouth of a Western-trained doctor - a so-called 'trusted' character. In this case, it turned out, he was not.

Management and Staffing: No information available.

Writing and Production Process: Writing was sub-contracted to a locally based writer, Jacques Duhaime, originally from Canada. Recording was at the ProAudio studios in La Paz, the best recording and editing studios in the country, according to Duhaime. In Cochabamba, Yawa Kasta was subcontracted to the producer CEPRA.

Formative Research: Before the Quechua version of the drama went on air, an independent market research company asked Quechua radio listeners in 12 rural municipalities what they most liked in the last radio drama they had heard. Other formative research found a high degree of ignorance and incorrect popular beliefs about HIV/AIDS. For example, 71% of students surveyed in La Paz believe that "one can catch AIDS through kissing, holding hands or caressing" (Duhaime, 2001).

Monitoring and Audience Feedback: After the Yawa Kasta campaign, the market research company did another survey and found that listeners liked the story and humor best, second the messages, and third the characters. The lack of success in conveying messages through the western-trained doctor character points to some shortcomings in the formative research, which should, ideally, have picked up the strength of these anti-health-personnel attitudes and oriented the storyline accordingly. Furthermore, an enormous number of character developments happen to the Doctor in just seven episodes: 'No wonder the audience didn't see the character as credible...This would seem to highlight the need to show behavior change at a more realistic pace. There is a long way to go both in marketing health services to the rural population and in improving the attitudes and understanding of the health care workers towards the belief system and lifestyle of the population they serve.' (Anne Sebert, personal communication, 2002.)

Supporting Activities:Wila Kasta is part of PSI's wider health promotion strategy in Bolivia, which includes social marketing of its own brand condoms and other contraceptive products through its Bolivian partner agency, the Bolivia Social Marketing Project. Other entertainment-education activities include concerts and musical competitions aimed at youth, a TV soap called Historia del Vecino y Tatuajes. Mobile video units are used to tour various venues and put on a show that mixes entertainment, HIV/AIDS prevention communication and Pantera condom advertising.

Sustainability: No information available.