Egal Shidad: Stories of Somali Health for Radio, TV and Classroom Use

Project Summary

The Egal Shidad project uses folk tales and other cultural approaches to create a series of stories on Somali health for radio, television and classroom use. Its partners has produced groundbreaking programs in the Somali language about mental illnesses, sexually transmitted diseases, and teen-parent communication.

Project Snapshot: Zuhur Ahmed
Zuhur Ahmed is a Somali-American woman, a radio host on KFAI, and a regular host for Somali programming at ECHO. Ms. Ahmed participated in Egal Shidad by helping to frame content and helping ensure different perspectives were considered and that messages were clear. She was interviewed in the STD program and had this to say about the basics of addressing STDs in the Somali community: “The community needs to accept these risks as real and fatal, especially with [regard to] people who are engaging in extramarital sex or adultery. Also, it’s incumbent upon every person to be informed about the health implications that result from extramarital sex.”

Ms. Ahmed facilitated publicity for the program about parent-youth communication. She played a leading role in getting women to attend the live broadcast at KFAI in November, and succeeded in getting several to comment about the program on-air. She also appeared with Saeed Fahia on Mike Wassenaar’s St. Paul Forum in 2009  to talk about the role of community media among Somalis.

Zuhur Ahmed is applying to medical school, and we know she will make an excellent physician. She is a natural leader in her own right. Through her work with KFAI, ECHO, and Egal Shidad, she has gained valuable experience in health communication that she is not likely to find in her medical school text books.

The partner organizations provided a variety of expertise to plan, manage, and produce the media. Emergency, Community and Health Outreach of Minnesota (ECHO) provided leadership in forming key health messages, managed many of the every-day details of the project and also handled the media distribution. KFAI – Radio Without Boundaries and Saint Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN) provided technical skills to produce the media. They also supplied radio and TV airtime and for the programs. The Confederation of Somali Community contributed direct connections to the Somali community whose members determined content, participated in on-screen discussions, and  whose leaders supported the project and the messages it conveyed.

The project began on 2008 when participants at a lively community meeting identified more than ten health topics of concern to them. Concerns about mental health, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and relations between teens and their parents topped the list. So the Egal Shidad team has produced a one-hour show about mental health, a 30-minute show about STDs, and a 30-minute show on communications between Somali youth and their parents. For guidance on cultural relevance and clarity, a nine-member advisory committee gave comments throughout the media-making process.  Each show gave basic health information on important topics, modeled family involvement, and inspired open conversations in the community about sensitive health concerns.

Egal Shidad originally had sought to reach Somalis in Minnesota, but its audience has been much wider. Through Web streaming on the New Routes site, Blip.tv, and YouTube — and — because of ads placed on popular Somali sites, the programs have been seen more than 6,000 viewers around the world. 2,000 DVDs have been distributed in 22 states and 11 countries.

Insights

The overarching goal for Egal Shidad’s community engagement plan was to recognize and incorporate Somali attitudes about health care and health messaging, and to build on strengths within the Somali community. Like any group of people, the Somali community is one of great variety, and no single member could define and articulate health messages in a manner that would be meaningful to many. Below are related insights.

Having key community leaders, Somali social organizations, health care providers, parents, and youth participate in planning and content selection throughout the 3-year project was crucial to its success.  Somali culture and values were respected so participants felt valued and welcomed.

The Egal Shidad advisory group suggested interview subjects and outreach possibilities, provided feedback on drafts of each show. It provided counsel to media-makers to help make shows that would incorporate Islam in a manner that would feel relevant to a broad spectrum of Somalis.

Recruiting, hiring, and training Somali producers and health educators made the project a Somali-American collaborative work. Mukhtar Gaaddasaar, a KFAI radio host, was the Somali producer for all three programs. He worked closely with videographer Steve Brunsberg of SPNN, who taught him video planning, producing, and editing skills. Zuhur Ahmed another tv-radio host played a large on-screen part in the STD video, making it appealing to Somali women.

The three shows were used as English Language Learning tools which served to extend the reach of the messages in the shows.

Dissemination of materials via the internet turned out be a crucial approach for reaching Somalis in the Twin Cities and around the world. Many Somalis use the internet to maintain contact with family members settled in other parts of the world and to keep up with events in their homeland. Placing information on the internet and not only puts the shows in places where many Somalis may find them, but also makes them easy to share with friends and family who are far away. Not all Somalis are linked to the internet so television and radio broadcasts have also been important methods for dissemination.

Placing ads on popular Somali websites brought many viewers to the online video.