La Placita Bilingüe
Salinas, CA, 1998
KHDC is a Latino-owned and managed community radio station with a largely poor, predominantly Spanish-speaking audience. This grant project allowed us to promote the health of young children living in Spanish-speaking farm workers' families in rural areas of California including the Salinas and Pajaro valleys, the San Joaquin valley, and the Imperial valley. Head Start and other local agencies partnered with KHDC on a weekly radio program, La Placita Bilingüe, providing general information on parenting, child development, and services available for young children.
The format is a live talk show in Spanish, re-creating an imaginary town plaza in Latin America through informal chats and festive folk band music. Parents have been the experts along with professional child service providers in roundtable discussions on children's health and well-being. On the air, parents have shared their traditional values and experiences and the problems they encounter as they adapt to life in the United States. In the show's second year, parents have begun hosting, in keeping with the overall mission of station KHDC and Radio Bilingüe to use the medium of radio to work for the empowerment of individuals within the Spanish-speaking community.
Program titles include "Helping Your Child Become a Great Writer;" "Depressed Children-Raising Their Self-esteem;" "Drugs in the Family;" "Mayor Anna Caballero Dialogs with Parents;" "Racism: Impact on the Children; Mourning the Loss of a Child;" "Avoiding Pregnancy;" "Preparing Your Child for School;" "Learning-Disabled Children;" "AIDS;" "Why It Is Difficult to Talk to Your Children about Sex;" "Attention Deficit Disorder in Children;" "Foster Care/Head Start Programs;" "Bilingual Education;" "Teen Pregnancy;" "Mothers'/Fathers' Day Specials;" "Gangproofing Your Child;" "Life-Threatening Emergencies;" "Getting Migrant Children into School;" "Child Abuse: Physical, Sexual, and Emotional;" "Teen Discipline;" "How to Keep Your Children Safe After School;" "Mexican Teachers Working with Migrant Students;" "Christmas in Latin America and the United States;" "Families Can Overcome Holiday Depression;" "Family Reunions;" "Organ Donors-One Family's Experience;" "Why Reading to Your Children Is Important;" and "A Visit to Natividad Medical Center." A complete listing of programs can be found at the web site listed above.
Contact Information
La Placita Bilingüe
Delia Saldivar, General Manager
Tel: 408-757-8039
Head Start
Sally Torres, Parent Services Coordinator
Tel:831-755-0358