Healthy soaps.

• Author: Hardman, Chris
• Position: Americas Ojo! - Soap operas - Brief Article

ACCORDING TO A Saint Lucian proverb, "Apwe Plezi," after the pleasure comes the pain. It was this message that the producers of a St. Lucian soap opera wanted to convey when they created an innovative radio program addressing health and family issues while providing high-quality popular entertainment.

Guided by the belief that population pressures affect the environment, two U.S.-based conservation organizations, the RARE Center for Tropical Conservation and Population Communications International (PCI), joined together in 1996 to develop a locally produced St. Lucian radio soap opera. The program, aptly titled "Apwe Plezi," used the popular soap opera format to discuss issues such as AIDS, family planning, and drug abuse. With a St. Lucian cast and production staff, "Apwe Plezi" featured realistic characters in a local setting speaking a combination of patois and English.

"The key to what makes a successful program is the scriptwriter and the reality of the story," says PCI vice president of international programs Kate Randolph. "It is a reflection of their life and of what people are experiencing every day."

To fully understand the standards and beliefs held by St. Lucians today, RARE analyzed literature and legislation about human values, male-female relationships, and family planning. This research was supplemented by focus group interviews and a detailed twenty-two-page questionnaire that was given to 1 percent of the population.

On the air from 1996 to 1998 and again in 2000, "Apwe Plezi" is St. Lucia's longest running serial. According to PCI surveys, the show affected its audience long after the radio was turned off. Their research showed that although there was an 11 percent decline in the numbers of the general public who approve of the use of family planning, "Apwe Plezi" listeners showed a 9 percent increase in the number of people who approve of family planning. After the program introduced the name "Catapult" for condoms, almost 30 percent of listeners and 13 percent of non-listeners used the term...