Artists Combatting COVID-19 in Farmworker Communities—Part 2, Scott Braman and Paul Castro
This post is the second in a series highlighting artists and communications experts who are working with Farmworker Justice to create COVID-19 informational materials. Click here to read the first post in the series.
As explained in our previous post, many COVID-19 educational resources are inaccessible to farmworkers. Under the PODER en SALUD project, funded by PROCEED, Inc. – NCTSTA, FJ is helping create materials to bridge that information gap.
Two key collaborators in this initiative are video and radio producers Scott Braman and Paul Castro, both affiliated with World Voices Media (formerly Pinyon Foundation). World Voices Media works with non-profits to create health and human rights resources for Hispanic populations.
Scott and Paul will produce a five-minute video public service announcement (PSA) in which farmworker characters discuss COVID-19 prevention. Specific topics will include the COVID-19 vaccine, social distancing at home and in the workplace, and precautions to take when visiting family. The video will contain five short vignettes, which can be excerpted for use as 30-second spots. In the full-length video, these vignettes will be tied together with footage of farmworkers discussing their experiences with COVID-19. The team will also produce a one-minute radionovela on similar themes.
Scott and Paul designed the video and radio announcements with the farmworker population in mind. The audio and visual formats ensure that everyone can understand the information regardless of literacy level. Both the radio and the video PSAs will be produced in Mixteco, as well as Spanish, to better reach indigenous farmworkers. The flexible design of the video—which can be placed on social media, local television, or organizations’ websites, depending on the length of segment chosen—means that farmworkers are likely to encounter the information, no matter their preferred media. And the characters and storylines will keep workers engaged, despite the stressful nature of the content.
Farmworker Justice is grateful to Scott and Paul for their work. With their support, we hope to empower farmworker communities to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The “Poder en Salud” project is 100% supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under CDC/HHS Funding Opportunity OT18-1802, entitled “Strengthening Public Health Systems and Services through National Partnerships to Improve and Protect the Nation’s Health” via a Cooperative Agreement with PROCEED, Inc. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government