Experiences of some Young Women in Community Radio Broadcasting for the Promotion of Democratic Values and Practices

It has been noticed that, young women in some rural communities are now getting more and more interested and mature in community radio broadcasting. This development was noticed during a field visit to partner radio stations in the UNDEF – Change Comms project. In Ndu, Mburli Yvonne, 22 years old, trained by the project in 2013, proudly confirms that, “many of my friends are asking to know how I got into broadcasting. I tell them that, before now, there was no girl doing broadcasting here in our native language. But when the people of Change Communications came here, they said they were going to train journalists. They insisted that, the station manager must bring along a girl, otherwise, they would not accept him in the training. So he took me along. I was trained, and after the training he could not allow me to stay idle. So, I started work. Since August 2013, I have been working. I am really happy. People in the village appreciate what I’m doing even though they sometimes criticize me for mixing our mother tongue, our language of broadcast with English. But, I’m working hard to improve. There is this book, (Hand Book) they gave us during the training; I consult it regularly when I’m producing my programs. It is very useful. I’m improving every day”.

(Photo: CC Sept. 2014)
Mburli Yvonne: Change Comms insistence on gender balance during trainings incidentally made her get a job. “I’m improving every day”, she says.

In another case, a young women broadcaster indicates that, she has grown mature in handling interactive programs on the local radio. It was not easy when she just started. “I think two or three months after our training, I started anchoring an interactive program. It was hot. In fact, some listeners were violent on air. Some asked a small girl like me should be discussing some topics that ought to be handled by men, and not “baby girls” like me. That was annoying you know. One man out of the studio asked me whether; “talking like a man” is what they taught us during the training. In all of that, I kept calm. Now, nothing really bothers me. I do enjoy the programs. You see, many different people are saying so many different things, curiously about the same topic. Some people even continue with arguments and arguments in their homes and drinking spots, (beer parlors). Quite interesting you see”.

Tata Relindis, 20 years old, now quite mature in managing the cross fire of interactive programs as a young woman in a man-dominated socio-cultural setting.