Making Waves: RADIO KWIZERA
Stories of Participatory Communication
for Social Change
TITLE: Radio Kwizera
COUNTRY: Tanzania
MAIN FOCUS: Refugees, peace and reconciliation
PLACE: Ngara, border town to Burundi and Rwanda
BENEFICIARIES: 250,000 refugees, local population of Ngara and Kibondo districts of Tanzania
PARTNERS: United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Red Cross, Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA), World Food Programme (WFP), Oxfam, Réseau pour le développement soutenible (REDESO), UNICEF and Atlas
FUNDING: Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS)
MEDIA: Radio
From the air the sight reveals a curious geometric pattern on top of the hills; numerous parallel lines extend their design from one hill to the next as if a gigantic net had fallen from the sky over this isolated place on earth: Ngara is only 25 kilometres from the border of Rwanda and 35 kilometres from Burundi. It is not easy to get here: only humanitarian flights in a five-seater Cessna from Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) or UNHCR planes land once a week on the dirt airstrip near Ngara.
One of the newest cities in the world is growing here: Greater Lukole, a giant slum with no other urban setting nearby. A city where all houses are similar, there is no electricity or piped in water. There was nothing in these hills in 1994, but the next year thousands of people arrived on foot, and it suddenly became one of the largest cities in Tanzania. Still today, West Tanzania is one of the biggest refugee areas in the world.
As we approach, people are carrying wood from the field. "Soon there will be no more wood for cooking", says Hilaire Bucumi, guiding me through the camp. A teacher by training and a reporter at Radio Kwizera he is also a refugee from Burundi. His house is one of the hundreds lining the top of the hills. He shares his fate with half a million people, mostly peasants, which were pushed across the border by ethnic violence. He has a special permit to leave the camp every day and work at Radio Kwizera
He was a teacher in Burundi, he worked in several secondary schools in Musenyi, Jenda, Musema and finally in Kayanza, his own province. Then, violence exploded in 1993; he left for Rwanda with his wife and a baby of five days. When he came back home in April 1994 he found his house had been attacked, they were after him, his life was in danger. Not knowing where else to go, he managed to cross the Malagarazi River towards Tanzania. Not everyone in the family was that lucky: his mother and mother-in-law died around 1996, a sister-in-law was beaten to death, neighbours were killed... He learned about it only years later. He tells me about it with a poker-faced expression. He has lived through it with resignation; tears won't help now.
In 1994 Radio Mille Collines the infamous"Hate radio" in Rwanda incited the genocide against the Tutsi. One million were killed, and over the thousand hills of Rwanda remain the tombs of those that didn't make it to survival. Three months later Tutsi troops came from Uganda and took power in Kigali, prompting 600,000 Hutu refugees to flee across the border to Tanzania.
Radio Kwizera (97.9 FM) was born in 1995 as a response to hate radio. The name says it all: kwizera means "hope" in Kinyarwanda language. It is the first JRS radio project and was designed by Fr. Thomas Fitzpatrick. Initial funding for the equipment came from JRS and UNHCR. The station reaches a radius of 300 kilometres, including the Kagera and Kigoma regions in Tanzania, and some parts of Rwanda and Burundi. The annual budget of Radio Kwizera is funded by JRS; in 1999 it was US$154,000. In 2000 the budget increased to US$214,000.
Initially, JRS proposed establishing a network of information; other than the radio station it included public address systems, roadside billboards, a library, newsletters and posters. Eventually only Radio Kwizera remained. The objectives included improving the physical and mental well-being of the refugees, helping with reconciliation, assisting with camp management, being a pastoral tool for JRS, and keeping refugees informed of developments in their own country. Camp information committees were set up to serve as focal points there.
Following the mass repatriation of Rwandan refugees in December 1996, JRS decided that the station should continue to serve the remaining Burundian population. Over the years it has also developed an audience among the Tanzanian population. Three types of listeners are now under the scope of Radio Kwizera the refugees, the rural villages in the western regions, and population in Burundi and Rwanda. The fact that these two small countries are also within the range of Radio Kwizera increases the station's commitment to contribute towards reconciliation and peace.
The station broadcasts from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., a total of 91 hours per week, 3 hours in Kirundi and 48 in Kiswahili. Information and programmes amount to 49 hours, and entertainment and music to 42 hours. Not one programme is aired twice. The schedule includes educational broadcasting for primary schools; programmeson gender issues, mother and child health, environment, sanitation, agriculture and livestock management; news, current affairs, youth and children's programmes, religious segments, development initiatives, greetings and music; as well as a refugee-tracing programme that has contributed towards reuniting families. NGOs collaborate on various topics: education, health, women's issues (NPA), water and sanitation (Oxfam), food distribution (WFP), immunisation campaigns (UNICEF), and environment (REDESO). Radio Kwizera also rebroadcasts in English, French and Swahili from Radio France International (RFI) and Deutsche Welle; and airs tapes from RFI, UN Radio, Panos Institute (Bamako) and Africa Radio Service (Nairobi).
The station lists among its policy issues the concerns for the poor and powerless, women and youth, cultural creativity, inter-religious dialogue, and staff development. It provides training to enhance broadcasting skills.
The languages of programming are Kirundi (for the refugees), and Kiswahili (for Tanzanians). The station also re-broadcasts programmes in English and French from Germany, France and United Nations Radio, but most of the programming is produced locally. Two production teams (Kiswahili and Kirundi) guarantee the production of news and programmes for the refugees and for the Tanzanian population.
In 1994, 23 fearing retaliation from Tutsi troops, 600,000 Hutu refugees fled across the border of Rwanda to Tanzania, creating one of the biggest humanitarian challenges of the last decade of the century. This happened about three months after "the genocide" in Rwanda. A very complex history of ethnic rivalry and struggles for power detonated a war that the international community was not prepared to prevent.
The first refugee camps were created near Ngara, a small town near Lake Victoria less than 35 kilometres from the border where Rwanda and Burundi meet. In December 1996, the Rwandan Hutu refugees were practically pushed back to their country by the Tanzanian army, and UNHCR was sadly instrumental in the forced repatriation encouraged by the Tanzanian government. The changes in power in Burundi resulted in subsequent smaller waves of refugees. By March 2000, a dozen refugee camps lined the border of Burundi: Greater Lukole (114,503 refugees), Lugufu (50,386), Mtabila (55,630), Muyovosi (35,869), Myarugusu (53 384), Karago (45,244), Nduta (51,432), Kanembwa (17,684), and Mtendeli (48,269) are the most important. Around 8 percent of the refugees are women and children; only 20 percent are men, most are from Burundi (347,536) and the Congo (103,781).
The need for wood in such large settlements is so great that trees have largely disappeared around the camps. Refugees are not allowed by Tanzanian authorities to travel more than 4 kilometres from the camps.
Is it possible to measure the impact of a station promoting peace and reconciliation? The ultimate objectives of Radio Kwizera may not be easy to evaluate in the short run, but certainly there are other aspects of the station that have already shown it's great potential to change the lives of thousands of people.
The refugee-tracing programme, aired in coordination with the Tanzanian Red Cross (TRC), has had a deep impact among refugees and their families that were either left behind in Rwanda or Burundi, or escaped to other refugee camps along the border. Even the "greetings" segment differs dramatically from a normal radio station. In Radio Kwizera a greeting message may read: "I'm alive, I survived". Other NGOs collaborate in producing programmes: NPA (Norwegian People's Aid), Oxfam, WFP (World Food Programme), UNICEF and REDESO. NGOs have benefited from their relationship with Radio Kwizera and have improved coordination within their own work.
A central aspect of Radio Kwizeras mandate as a community radio station involves providing the means by which the community may engage in dialogue with itself.
In 1998 an audience survey was carried out in Ngara and Lukole camps, to estimate listenership, develop new strategies, and ascertain the level of awareness about Radio Kwizera The survey showed that broadcasting 13 hours a day gives the station a strong identity. The station has made the right choice to balance information, education and entertainment. For example, it has used soap operas to deal with important issues such as AIDS. The station remains popular among both the refugees and the local population.
The 1999 Evaluation Report on Radio Kwizera strongly recommended the Jesuit Refugee Service support similar projects and develop a "blueprint for setting up small, portable stations in other refugee situations in the world".
The Radio Kwizera compound at Ngara is well equipped with a 2.5-kilowatt transmitter, a 36 metres high antenna, parabolic receivers, computers and rooms that house three studios, a meeting room and enough space for reporters to work. A 50-watt booster in Kibondo started operation in July 1999 to serve the new refugee camps south of Ngara. The transmitter as well as the antenna and receiver are powered by four solar panels.
Among the twenty staff of Radio Kwizera four are Burundian refugees who live in the camps and have special permits to join the station every morning. This is the only example of direct participation by the community. Everyone at the station is an announcer, a scriptwriter and a reporter. The station also has 6 people working as "stringers", providing news from the refugee camps.
In 1996 UNHCR contributed a bigger transmitter. This transmitter was at the centre of a dispute that was only settled recently. Basically, UNHCR only saw the station as a tool for repatriation, and by the end of 1996 the UN agency withdrew its support.
Because of poverty, very few radio sets are available in the refugee camps; only one in twelve families owns a transistor radio. "Free Play" wind-up radio sets were distributed in Karagwe but these haven't been very successful: plastic parts break easily, the charge lasts only 15 minutes and sets are too expensive. A WFP survey revealed that refugees prefer to save money to buy batteries, at 300 shillings (US$0.40) a pair. A small transistor radio will cost 14,000 shillings (US$18).
It has also been difficult to recruit experienced people to work in Ngara and a comprehensive training strategy needed to be implemented. Communication difficulties added to their problems. Standard telephone lines were only installed in Ngara in March of 2000, however, the ability to send and receive e-mail was made possible by using Radio Kwizeras radio wave frequencies.
Because of the very sensitive political issues, the chief editor of the Kirundi programmes and news is a Tanzanian. Participation of the refugee population is still narrow; it will be moved forward step-by-step, preventing the spread of ideas that may contribute to igniting the ethnic rivalry among Hutus and Tutsis. The evaluation report of1999 did not recommend handing over the station to the community. On one hand the refugees, though organised and motivated, may leave any time if political conditions improve. On the other hand, the local Tanzanian population have no resources to run the station.
This chapter was prepared with information retrieved during a field visit to Radio Kwizera in Ngara,and the Greater Lukole (gathering ) refugee camps A and B, in March 2000. Interviews were conducted with Fr. Hugues Deletraz, Radio Kwizera director, and of his staff, especially Hilaire Bucumi, Alex Modest, Januarius Rugaimukamu, Bonifas Mpagape, and Lioba Mbuva. Alice W. Munyua, the former project director, provided the initial information and motivation to visit Ngara.
A very important document, not available for distribution, is the July 1999 Evaluation Report by Barbara O 'Shea, Grace Githaiga and Wycliffe Musungu.
Radio Kwizera can be reached by e-mail - jrsng@hf.habari.co.tz
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