The Media and Training Centre for Health (MTC) is a Section 21 company which specialises in the design and development of community learning models that promote health and empowerment in marginalised communities.
Working closely with government departments, academic institutions, corporate organisations and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), MTC designs and implements community learning projects that use community media as the vehicle through which to provide accurate and relevant educational programmes that are based on needs that have been identified by the intended beneficiaries.
MTC was established in January 1994 as a partner of the National Progressive Primary Health Care Network (NPPHCN). The aim of this partnership was to improve primary health care by developing, through participatory methods, media that addressed the needs of the communities and health workers. The NPPHCN dissolved during 2001. MTC however, continued to contribute to the development of vulnerable communities and registered as a Section 21 nonprofit organisation in 2001.
MTC works in collaboration with a wide range of disciplines and through these networks we keep abreast of community needs and develop new partnerships that allow us to use the most appropriate methodologies and strategies to achieve the desired outcomes to the advantage of the respective community.
MTC also enjoys a close working relationship with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and its international partners. Through this partnership, we have the support to up-scale and replicate a distance learning model that uses community radio as the primary medium for engaging vulnerable individuals and groups. We have also developed a partnership with Kubatana Trust in Zimbabwe and Gram Vaani Community Media in India, to assist community radio station partners to integrate mobile telephony into the their radio productions. This innovative tool allows for greater participation from listeners and assists in developing content that is needs driven.
MTC is affiliated to the National Community Radio Forum in South Africa (NCRF) and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC). MTC works directly with and provides a mentoring structure for community radio stations in rural and marginalised areas in Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Lesotho, Mozambique and South Africa to build capacity that will empower radio stations to educate and engage community members in a dialogue about issues that impact on their daily lives.
MTC’s vision is to promote equality of opportunity for disadvantaged communities through the power of media and subscribe to a development philosophy that focuses on community involvement.
Its mission is to inform and empower people with knowledge and skills, using community media to achieve better health and educational standards and to elevate communities from vulnerable positions in order to improve quality of life. It aims to create a two-way dialogue, so that voices of the marginalised are heard and are part of the media production. A reciprocal relationship is important so that the needs of each community are met and projects are implemented and successfully sustained. Critical to this methodology, is the understanding that various development sectors need to forge strong partnerships that will stimulate the process of community involvement, a prerequisite for effecting behavioural change.
MTC objectives are to create:
- Media that directly addresses the needs of each target group;
- Media that is likely to impact positively on health behaviour;
- Media that is culturally sensitive;
- Media that is high quality and will not date easily;
- Media that links up with a broader health intervention; and
- Media that contributes to sustainable health solutions.
Main activities and services – projects / programmes / events, etc.
Qualitative Research and Impact Assessments
MTC uses qualitative research methodologies to inform and guide its training programmes as well as to measure the impact of its work.
The organisation has also been contracted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to design and implement a research study of 10 community radio stations in South Africa, Lesotho and Namibia, as part of a larger project supported by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA).
Training and Support
MTC was funded by the Media Development Diversity Agency (MDDA) to train and support community radio stations to produce quality programmes that reflect the needs of their listeners and to facilitate partnerships with local stakeholders in order to effect behavioural impact. MTC has trained in excess of 50 community radio stations in South Africa and continues to provide online training, mentorship and support to many of these radio stations.
Community Learning Programmes
A community learning programme (CLP) is funded by the Commonwealth of Learning in Canada. This project focuses on health education programmes that uses a participatory distance-learning model which combines community media (primarily community radio), with mobile telephony and face-to-face engagement of learners. This project has been implemented at ten sites in South Africa, one in Lesotho and four sites in Namibia – currently there are over 4 000 active learners.
Impact / contribution to society
Development of sustainable projects that directly address needs that have been identified through community radio programmes:
In 2012, MTC and Tiger Brands partnered on a campaign that sought to promote health awareness about gastro- related diseases. Between November and March each year, unacceptably high numbers of children are admitted to hospital due to severe dehydration resulting from diarrhoea. Many of these children do not survive. Gastro-related illnesses are one the major causes of death in children under the age of five who live in the Western Cape.
Understanding the nature and causes of mortality (the burden of disease) underpins MTC’s strategy to increase the wellness of children in marginalised communities of South Africa. MTC considers children to be the most vulnerable members of society and acknowledge that improving the lives of children must be addressed as part of a comprehensive approach which includes the education of women who are traditionally seen as the primary care- givers.
MTC contracted and trained a team of local community members as health educators and cleaners to provide face-to-face education through home visits and public events that aim to educate mothers and care-givers of the dangers of gastro-related illnesses. This is supported by clean-up campaigns which encourage communities to keep toilets clean. All staff are residents of the communities and therefore also promote community ownership and long-term sustainability of the project.
YouTube link to the MTC / Jeyes Campaign short-film: www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6levFKSvzk.
With funding from the Health Department, the Foschini Group, the National Lottery Board and Juta & Company, MTC implemented a programme that is centred on building capacity of women living with HIV in the Cape Winelands region. Together with a partner NGO, Grassroots Educare Trust, MTC trained women living in the informal settlements of two small farming communities of De Doorns and Paarl in skills that allow them to provide early childhood development (ECD) services in their own communities. This project is centred on building the capacity of women living with HIV in marginalised communities. The Early Childhood Development Training Programme is combined with an HIV and AIDS module that focuses on women’s rights and encourages peer support. With the knowledge and skills acquired, the care-givers are able to provide a service in their own communities to assist in the areas of care and safety of pre-school children living on farms and informal settlements. A permanent ECD structure has since been erected at the Sibabalwe Primary School in De Doorns with funding received from the Big Tree Foundation. This project is now sustained with financial support from the Western Cape Department of Social Development and capacity building and mentorship through the Department of Education.
Challenges / opportunities
As is the case with most NGOs operating in South Africa, MTC faces ongoing challenges relating to sustainable funding. Despite reducing our overhead costs substantially, it has become increasingly difficult to cover all of operational requirements with funding received from donor partners. Funders only cover a small percentage of operational costs and there are limited funding opportunities that address organisational development and overhead costs. MTC is viewed as a ‘niche’ organisation and therefore the work that it does is not seen as a priority service. Currently, the organisation receives no funding from government and this is exacerbated by the decreased funding available from international partners. As a result of the global recession and the view that South Africa is a middle-income country, funding to local NGOs is being diverted to other countries that are seen to be more deserving. This has however presented new opportunities to work outside of South Africa. MTC will have to learn to manage the work-load so that we continue to remain relevant and fulfil our responsibilities to its South African beneficiaries. It will also explore innovative and cost-effective strategies such as integrating social media, mobile telephony and online training programmes to reach wider audiences and to support communities in need.
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