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Building Communities with Radio- Caitlin C.
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Aug 14, 2008 Posted by Caitlin CohenRadio Sigida Joli (Building communities, beautiful communities)
Imagine no newspapers. Imagine your daily TV broadcasts are all in German. You’ve never used the internet, have no email account, and cannot afford phone credit. One of the biggest challenges to grassroots action in Mali is simply communication! This summer MHOP has started research for a program to bring the voices of slum neighborhood residents into the public arena by radio! With funding from the Huntington Public Service Award this project will help people discuss the problems in their communities, innovative local solutions, and concrete steps for getting involved.
Adama Kouyate, a student at the University of Bamako, is the principle Malian intern on this project. He has started a series of 10 focus groups in slum neighborhoods of Bamako to figure out what stations people are listening to, what stories they want to tell, and the solutions they have to share with each other. So far the idea of radio has been incredibly well received by these focus groups, and we look forward to reaching as listening area of over 1 million people next March!
