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Notes: The Lilac Tent was the first, most visible, and most important project undertaken by the Bolivia National Rural Reproductive Health IEC Strategy. The purpose of the Lilac Tent was to generate community mobilization efforts and strengthen local capacity for reproductive health IEC activities. In October 1998, three lilac-colored tents began to travel through rural Bolivia disseminating reproductive... more
Notes: The Lilac Tent was the first, most visible, and most important project undertaken by the Bolivia National Rural Reproductive Health IEC Strategy. The purpose of the Lilac Tent was to generate community mobilization efforts and strengthen local capacity for reproductive health IEC activities. In October 1998, three lilac-colored tents began to travel through rural Bolivia disseminating reproductive health information and serving as the locus for IEC skills training nationwide. Each tent was designed for a specific region of the country: highlands, valleys, and plains. The tents housed videos, live music, theater and folklore dance troupes, mimes, games, puppet shows, and print and interactive multimedia material. The distinctive color for the tents came from the lilac-colored Las Manitos logo developed in the mid-1990's.|
The tent was intended primarily for rural adolescents and young couples although market days and local holidays provided broader exposure of reproductive health messages to adult men and women. The messages disseminated during the Lilac Tent’s tour dealt specifically with reproductive health, including STD prevention, safe motherhood, informed decision-making, and abortion prevention. There were also messages on environmental conservation and children and women’s rights.|Before the arrival of the Lilac Tent in each town, NGOs in charge of each tent worked with local authorities over a period of two weeks to coordinate logistics for the arrival and set up of the tent and to advocate continued support for reproductive health IEC activities in their communities. Artistic resources from the community were invited to join the enter-educate activities during the tent’s three-day stop in each town. Concurrently, community radio operators were trained to disseminate reproductive health information. As part of the training, the radio operators received prototypes scripts and a reproductive health message toolkit for local production. The arrival of the tent in each town was marked by a carnival-style atmosphere. Balloons, posters, and flyers were distributed before and during the tent’s visit. Community radio operators advertised the tent on the air and vehicles with megaphones made their way through the town. Local schools participated in reproductive health mural painting contests sponsored by the Lilac Tent.|For additional information, see Communication Impact #5 (April 1999). less
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