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VISITING A MEDIA PRODUCTION HOUSE This autonomous non-governmental organization started its operation in 1998 and is working on empowering communities through creative media. Specifically, CHEMS provides reproductive health information and advice for young people by means of radio, TV and print media.   Excerpt from a report by student Lim Khy:

CHEMS has produced a one-hour radio magazine titled "Especially for You, Young People", a prominent radio soap opera "Lotus on Muddy Lake" … which was aired on three different radio stations - FM 95 (Mon. and Tue), FM 103 (Wed, Thu, and Fri) in Phnom Penh and FM 93.25 at weekends (in Kampot province). CHEMS bought airtime for $45 per hour from FM 103, $13 for one hour from FM 93.25 (only once per week), but $80 for one hour from FM 95. The Operating Manager, Mr. Nou Sovann, mentioned that "there are three writers who full time work and only deal with writing but also do other related research", adding that monthly expense for two of the writers is more than $700, for actors is $800. CHEMS hires 26 employees. Staff are paid between $200 and $400 a month while two technical staff are paid between $300 and $500. In return, the production team can produce 10 episodes for two full days, each of which lasts 15 minutes. In order to run the organization, CHEMS entirely works in partnership with donors such as DFID, EU-UNFPA, Health Unlimited, and Healthlink Worldwide. CHEMS also works with its core NGO partners such as Cambodia Health Education for Development (CHED). CHEMS now has seven project sites in Phnom Penh, Kandal, Siem Riep, Kampong Speu, Kampot, and Prey Veng.

The visitors went on to CHEM’s radio studio where they met with Mr. Chamroeun, who started his work in the fields of radio and TV in 1981. He used to work for UN in Angola for about two and a half years, for UNTAC Radio as well as Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party (BLDP) and FUNCINPEC Radio at Khmer-Thai border. Daily, Chamroeun works for about seven hours, dealing with his donated radio equipment for both analog and digital editing … With these facilities and human ressources, CHEMS can provide 5-day training for analog and digital editing for $25 to any NGO.