In Peru, more than half of the population - and nearly 80% of Indigenous people and those of African descent - live in poverty. For the region around Ayacucho, a city in the South-Central Andes of Peru with a significant Indigenous population, poverty rates are almost double the national average.
Women and girls in Ayacucho face the additional challenge of gender discrimination. They are grossly underrepresented in local government, are victims of gender based violence, and lack access to basic health care. Like many underdeveloped regions in the world, maternal mortality remains high in Ayacucho, with 185 deaths per 100,000 live briths. Meanwhile, a major obstacle to women participating in local government, as well to receiving health care, is that many of these women speak only their native Indigenous languages, such as Quechua, Aymara, and Asháninka.
To provide these Indigenous men and women with an outlet through which to participate in their communities and exercise their rights, MADRE's sister organization in Peru, The Center for Indigenous Peoples' Cultures of Peru (CHIRAPAQ), has taken to the airways! The radio program, called Sapinchikmanta and based in Ayacucho, is broadcast in Spanish and Quechua (as well as other segments broadcast in Aymara and Asháninka). The program tackles a wide range of issues pertinent to women and Indigenous Peoples, such as malnutrition, climate change, development, domestic violence, government, education, and access to clean water. It currently reaches up to 60,000 people, who, thanks to the program, receive information on some of the most pressing issues confronting Peru's Indigenous population. With public leadership roles on the radio, Indigenous women have also begun to gain status within their homes and communities.
For you Spanish-speakers out there, here are a few clips from the radio program. The first discusses "comiendo sano" or "eating healthy", the second is about "cambio climatico" or "climate change", and the last concerns "violencia familiar" or "domestic violence".
For more information on MADRE's 'Voices for Justice' project, click here. And for more information and audio clips from CHIRAPAQ, click here.
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