U.S. Supports Creative Strategies to Promote Social Change

November 9, 2009

To contribute to the construction of a culture of lawfulness in Colombia and to support licit crops in the country, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) - through its Areas for Municipal Alternative Development (ADAM) program - launched on November 6 the radio series Cambalaches: This Happens Here. The event took place at the Cultural Center of the Gimnasio Moderno school and was led by USAID Acting Deputy Director Nadareh Lee and representatives from the Ministry of Culture and the Presidency’s Agency for Social Action and International Cooperation (Acción Social). This radio series will be broadcasted throughout the Colombian departments of Tolima, Huila, Nariño, Cauca and Putumayo and is expected to reach over a million listeners.

The series, costing US$61,000, consists of 12 stories of two chapters each with characters in both real and fictitious scenarios that tell the story of the country’s social problems in places historically affected by illicit crops and the culture of illegality. The radio documentaries represent a profound, sentimental and psychological undertaking that hopes to capture the interest of its listeners from the start and is based on the detailed and creative work of experienced Colombian radio producers.

The launch included the dramatization of various radio-story segments that sought to explain the building process and the development of the initiative.