Giving a voice to women’s hopes and fears

Vitally important

For women in the Middle East and North Africa, who are often confined to their homes and close family relationships, television is vitally important. Not only does it provide a valuable form of companionship, but it is also often their only source of information about issues impacting their lives. SAT-7’s broadcasts seek to empower and equip women with vital knowledge and godly wisdom which is practically applicable to the situations they face as wives and mothers.

A new women’s show aims to tackle difficult subjects in an innovative and accessible way. I Want to Talk began airing this summer on SAT-7’s ARABIC channel, using drama to communicate a biblical perspective on challenging issues. With a special focus on underprivileged women, this programme presents their unique struggles and gives voice to their needs, fears, hopes, and dreams by weaving lively discussions with vivid testimonies and insightful instructions. I Want to Talk is produced by an Egyptian external production company, VCI, who have made a number of shows for SAT-7 in recent years and which was started by members of the Better Life Team choir.

The first episode of I Want to Talk featured a dramatised story of a woman struggling to deal with her husband’s adultery. An actress plays the role of a woman whose husband is cheating on her with another woman. She explains how her marriage is shaken because of her husband’s adultery and communicates her sense of complete vulnerability and devastation: “I feel like walking on moving water. I feel naked while others are watching me. I feel I’ve lost a huge thing. How did this happen to me?”

Presenter, Dr Nevine Hannah, and her three guests discuss the root of the problem and potential solutions. Although the story is fictitious, the issues it raises are very real to women from all walks of life who are watching the show. Mindful of culture and tradition, the guests offer a variety of responses which are then sifted by Dr Hannah as she guides the discussion towards a Christian viewpoint, reflecting biblical truth.

There is clear advice to couples on how to prevent adultery from happening in their own marriages. Rather than relying on emotions, desires and impulses, “couples need the word of God to be a guide for their feelings to detect where things are going wrong,” Dr Hannah explains. Rather than hiding problems and issues away, she encourages couples to talk. “Couples need to open channels of communication to express their opinions and expectations,” she says.