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2006 Project News |
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We've
begun planning a new and exciting venture utilizing community radio. Obviously,
few people in rural Kenya have access to the kinds of media that we take
for granted, such as cable or broadcast television. However, transistor
radios are fairly common. This makes radio a much more powerful tool in
these remote areas, with a remarkably low cost of entry. For about 13,000
US dollars, solar-powered equipment can be purchased and installed, and
necessary training completed. The resulting system will be able to reach
an area of roughly 8,000 square miles (in many areas that means tens of
thousands of people).
This will open several exciting possibilities. First of
all, it brings the concept of barazas (community forums) to a new level,
enabling much more dynamic and far-reaching communication pertaining to
community issues. Additionally, simply adding a phone line at the station
will enable informative dialogues between listeners and the KWS or any
other group that might utilize the available airtime. For Amara, radio
will be an especially powerful two-fold tool. We typically have to make
several trips (often hundreds of miles) to set up showings and barazas.
The first trip to set up the screenings with local leaders, additional
visits later to actually do the work. Announcing the films in advance
by radio would help conserve considerable resources, both in travel time
and equipment expense. Additionally, Amara and the KWS will be able to
present information via radio that will expand on existing issues while
introducing new topics.
The radio idea had its genesis in an interesting coincidence. Lori first
discussed the station with RadioActive, a UK based charity that has built
community radio stations in disadvantaged areas around the world. Shortly
afterwards KWS warden Daniel Woodley mentioned (unprompted) the need for
exactly this type of radio station in an informal discussion. The time
was obviously right! The project will be implemented in a cooperative
effort between Amara, RadioActive, the Kenya Wildlife Service and a local
Maasai group. Installation and training will be done by Radioactive.
You can learn more about the new community radio station by visiting:
http://www.radioactive.org.uk/tsavo.htm