Folk Media

Folk performances are a popular form of entertainment in rural areas. Five popular folk styles were selected and folk troupes with experience in these styles were chosen to be trained on the campaign objectives, message content and delivery. They are :

In order to bring uniformity in message content and effective message delivery, all the selected troupes undergo rigorous training which includes development of scripts.

SIFPSA has conducted six training workshops since 1999. These workshops have developed the capacity of performing troupes in several spheres. The last one was held from 21-31 January 2007 in which 76 professional folk troupes of these five forms have been trained.

The training workshop involves a complete orientation of the troupes based on the objectives of the SIFPSA project, sensitizing them to the nature of the messages required and interactive sessions on finalized scripts.

More than 11,350 performances have been organized in 1999-2007, over nine phases, in SIFPSA funded NGO projects areas and Non NGO areas of 38 districts. A detailed route plan for performances prepared at SIFPSA was provided to the trained troupes. NGOs and Milk Cooperatives and Pradhans were involved in the implementation and monitoring of the performances.

The performances have been a rewarding experience for NGOs and cooperatives involved, as they have served as a platform to disseminate their project objectives. Enquiries from the intended audience poured in after the performances, which helped them achieve their objectives of taking family planning services to the doorsteps. This activity has been the major success with demands for more performances. Folk performances have also proved very useful in promoting the local community health worker and the services being offered by her and have effectively carried family planning messages to the rural population.