Nepal’s “Our” FM praised by government

Federal politicians and local officials have offered high praise for Afno (“Our”) FM at the station’s sixth anniversary celebration in Okhaldhunga, north east Nepal.

Project manager Vijay Manandhar said “We made history in Okhaldhunga when four members of parliament, the chief army officer, the chief of police officer and other political leaders visited the station. They all gave their heart touching speech about how our radio programs are transforming the community and wished us continued success.”

Member of parliament Rai sharing about Afno FM.

Activities conducted over the three-day anniversary celebrations included distributing fruit to hospital patients and prisoners in the district jail, a speech contest for listeners, new radio sets given to regular listeners, and an opportunity for journalists from district and national media to find out more about the unique role Afno FM has as a radio station that keeps the community at the centre of all that it does.

Vijay also announced that Afno staff have decided to make a personal off-air contribution by giving some of their salary to support needy students. The money, to be collected every month, will pay for the students’ school fees. 

  Afno FM Team Okhaldhunga.

HCR provided training and consultancy to the Nepali team of Afno FM, which is a partnership between a Nepali NGO and Feba UK.

First Radio Gig for Martu Kids in Newman

By Rachel Buch

Visiting the YMCA Early Learning Centre was definitely a highlight of our recent visit to Newman. As soon as we walked in the door an energetic group of Martu kids were absolutely bouncing off the walls to greet us.  

At our first mention of radio the kids quickly told us they did not listen to Newman’s community radio station because it was “boring”, but their interest peaked when we asked them if it would be more interesting if they were on the radio. They began telling us their ideas and, without us even asking, some of the problems they identified in their community. Kids as young as 8 years old told us they were worried about the older kids in their community, with many having problems with alcohol, drugs and smoking.

We placed a flipchart and some marker pens on a table. Within moments these future adults were working together, brainstorming ways to express their concerns to the rest of the community and writing down their thoughts. When we invited each person to read out their own idea, some didn’t want to be recorded. But with coaching from us and encouragement from their carer, Jackie, by the end of the session almost every child had contributed to the recordings.

We then went back to our accommodation and quickly edited the individual statements into several radio segments (community service announcements), then emailed them to our partners. The next day our local partner Angela Wilmot told us that some kids who had participated in the workshop visited her house the next day and she played them the finished recordings. “You should have seen their faces!” she said. “The kids absolutely lit up when they heard themselves speak.”

Listen  to the kids telling us what they think about smoking:

Be encouraged with us! Encouraged to know that Martu youth in Newman are engaging their peers to talk about issues they see around them everyday. Encouraged to be supporting the potential these young people have to make a difference in their own community. And encouraged to know that we are supporting groups like the YMCA and John and Angela Wilmot in their work among the Martu people.

If you would like to support our work in Newman please click here.

Light in the Darkness: Communities come together

In the shadow of the brutal massacre of 145 children and staff at a school in Peshawar last week by Taliban militants, Muslim and Christian communities in a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, have come together to light candles for the slain and to celebrate the birth of Isa or Jesus, revered by both communities.

In a project, spearheaded by HCR Pakistan, where the two communities are working together to use media to tackle health and social issues and build community cohesion, church and mosque leaders along with members from both communities remembered the families affected by the tragedy and spoke of the need for peace and harmony.  While the pastor announced that they would not celebrate Christmas this year in the light of the murders, an Imam said that his community had brought a cake to celebrate the birth of Isa and that they must celebrate.

A Muslim community radio station in the UK, Awaz FM, joined the event live to report on the interfaith gathering and to discuss the deep grief felt by all Pakistanis at this time.  They were joined by the mayors of High Wycombe and Slough, Cllrs Khalil Ahmed and Shafiq Chaudhry, who praised the organisers of the event, saying more events of this nature were needed to foster peace and understanding among Pakistani communities. 

First Response Radio needed in Pakistan

Thirty participants from Pakistan’s major FM radio channels and representatives from INGO and NGO agencies have welcomed plans to set up a First Response Radio (FRR) network in Pakistan.   Speaking at FRR’s inaugural meeting at a hotel in Islamabad, IOM (International Organisation for Migration) coordinator Naima Saeed told the audience that radio was a key medium for communicating with survivors after a disaster and that establishing First Response radio in Pakistan will be a great step forward in helping disaster affected communities. 

IOM's Naima Saeed speaking at the First Response Radio inaugural event in Islamabad

The event marks the start of a plan to equip and train local teams to set up a radio station within 72 hours of a disaster anywhere in Pakistan.   HCR’s Hazeen Latif who is the First Response Pakistan coordinator says, “In the last ten years, nine teams have been trained, 15 disasters responded to, and we’ve been getting closer to the 72 hour mark as witnessed in the First Response Radio deployment to Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan.”

The event in Islamabad was a collaborative venture between Pakistan-based NGO, Foundation for Better Tomorrow (FFBT), First Response and HCR. 

HCR's Jon Hargreaves, Ross James and Hazeen Latif with Shaikh Wasim Ahmed, CEO of FFTB

Innovative Advocacy in Kenya

While HCR's partner in  Kenya works hard to obtain a community radio licence for the conflict-torn Tana River,  the team on the ground have been continuing the work we began in June by meeting community groups, lobbying local government and vociferously advocating to bring pressure for the release of a licence.  In a touch of amazing ingenuity, the Tana FM team were invited to have a stand to celebrate World Food Day (WFD) in the Tana River capital, Hola, recently.  

Improvised broadcasting to prove the value of radio to promote peace, health and social development in Tana River

Using the content they made during the HCR workshop in June, they demonstrated how FM radio works through an improvised transmitter and antenna (above), going live on air.  People all around tuned their FM pocket radios and mobile phones to listen and contributed to the broadcasts.  The WFD organisers were so impressed that they said the Tana FM stand was the best in using technology to improve food security and invited them to participate in future county occasions with radio broadcasting.

We remain hopeful that the licence will soon be released so that work can begin on installing the equipment and HCR can continue training and building capacity on the ground.

A guest has his say at the Tana FM stand on World Food Day

Peace Building in Tana Delta, Kenya

The Tana Delta in Kenya has for decades been the scene of violent conflict between two ethnic groups, the dominant Ormo who are nomadic cattle-herders, and the Pokomo, who are farmers. This news article from last year, speaks of the violence which plagues this region.

This month Jon Hargreaves and Alex Stout (HCR UK) traveled to this violence-torn district, accompanied by a young journalist, Alex Williams, who reported on the HCR community workshops conducted. The video report provides a great insight into HCR’s involvement and the hope for a peace-building radio initiative which can help prevent violent attacks occurring in the future. View the video below:

A first consultation and workshop drew key stakeholders from local government and service providers, followed by a second which brought together members of the different tribal communities to work on plans for a community-centred radio station, which will tackle many of the region's problems.

Besides a peace agenda, the station will help promote better farming and irrigation practices, education and health as well as tackling difficult social issues such as witchcraft, female genital mutilation, early marriages, polygamy and segregation against women.

While the project will require foreign funding for the station set-up, it has a great chance of becoming completely locally sustainable within the first year. 

Stay tuned for further updates from Jon and Alex as they navigate their way through a very complex situation where tribe, religion, ethnicity, family and politics make a very potent and toxic brew that could flare up in violence at any time.  

Community members from Tana River County in Kenya are eager to be involved in a community-centred media strategy for peace-building and addressing social issues.

Alex (left)) and Jon (right) working with local community members on a "mapping" activity to identify community needs.

Jon, Alex and Alex with community members from Tana Delta, Kenya.