Ira Glass Watch Out: An Expert* Radio Interview with the Coordinator of a Nicaraguan LGBTQ Center

Lucy (Health 61) lives in a medium-sized and highly conservative city in the valley of Matagalpa. Lucy participates in a weekly radio program that addresses sexual and reproductive health topics. She and the staff at the station wanted to cover the topic of sexual diversity, or LGBTQ issues, but people who identify as part of the LGBTQ community in their town do not feel comfortable speaking about the topic on the radio. Isabel (Health 61) works with an LGBTQ center in León, a slightly more liberal city, and knows a few outspoken LGBTQ activists who jumped at the chance to bring their cause to a larger audience. Isabel asked Helen Alfaro, the coordinator of a local LGBTQ center, La Casa de Colores, to be interviewed, then sent the recording to Lucy, who broadcasted it on the radio with commentary from Milo, the host of the program, and with commentary from Lucy herself.

Global Gender Gap--where does Nica stand?

Since 2006 the World Economic Forum has produced an annual Global Gender Gap Report. When Hannah, a health volunteer in rural Matagalpa, heard that in 2012 Nicaragua ranked inside the top ten while the US held a spot at #22, she felt there was some investigating and reflecting to do.

The following post was originally published on Hannah’s personal blog on March 29^th, 2013 and is re-posted here with her permission.