Simooya Community Radio, Pemba District

Amplifying Voices partnered with the Chibozu Community Trust, an NGO registered in Zambia and the UK, to set up Simooya Community Radio station which went into its testing phase in April 2024.  The station provides education for children and adults, culturally relevant entertainment and dialogue, covering the Pemba district of Southern Zambia and serves a rural population of 81,000 people.

Chibozu Community Trust has employed a station manager and recruited a team of enthusiastic volunteers from Simooya village.  The radio team is responsible for engaging community members and local service providers to create content and develop the station as a locally sustainable non-profit community resource.

Context

Simooya Village is rurally located in the Southern Province of Zambia, where high levels of poverty create significant health risks. The nearest town to Simooya is Choma, on the main road from the capital Lusaka. Choma is quite accessible. Simooya and its 12 surrounding villages are not. The majority of people in these villages are subsistence farmers. Due to drought, and increased food prices, families spend around 65% of income on basic food needs.

However, Simooya community members want to change the outsiders' perception that they are too poor to help themselves. Their new radio station aims to equip villagers' own development initiatives, working towards “fullness of life” instead of poverty.

Our Role

Amplifying Voices

• provided studio equipment and support to repurpose unused premises into studios
• facilitated a community consultation and media training workshop
• and is providing ongoing project accompaniment

... to build the station’s long term sustainability by working with staff, board and volunteers to develop their skills in local media production, ongoing community engagement, station management (building partnerships), and volunteer training.

Due to ongoing electricity shortages we are also seeking funding so Simooya Community Radio can install solar equipment to keep the station running during powercuts. The solar will also power the village borehole and the school classrooms.

Station Goals:

• Voices of Simooya (and surrounds) will be amplified.
• People will develop through ...
  • Learning new skills
  • Learning about agriculture
  • Improved productivity and livelihoods

• More specifically ...
  • Easy access to news and information (eg announcements, local news)
  • School can reach parents more easily - announcements.
  • Business will be boosted (advertisements)
  • Education for young people
  • Opportunities for young people (eg volunteering)
  • Inform authorities about disasters.
  • Support the work of local churches.
  • Entertainment
  • Improve people’s health by sharing health advice and announcements.

Key Radio Station Policies

• Information/ News values -
  • Be objective – consider all sides
  • Be neutral/ impartial – no bias to one side
  • Be accurate – verify sources
  • Promote peace – don’t stir up hate/ or violent conflict
• Politics     - Equal representation to different parties – no favouritism
• Music         – 60% local, 40% non-local, including international music
• Culture     – Promote progressive local culture -Challenge harmful cultural practice
• Language     – mainly in Tonga and some English (other Zambian languages to be included if requested by speaker or audience)
• Religion     – All local churches will be included, and will be given slots throughout the week
• Inclusion    – actively seek out and partner with minority service providers, e.g. organisations working with blind or deaf people

Recent updates from Zambia

Going on air in a drought

We are pleased to announce that Simooya Community Radio is now on air on 94.3 FM. The new ...

Transforming life in the village

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A new community radio station for Southern Zambia

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The post Simooya Community Radio appeared first on Amplifying Voices.

At Amplifying Voices, we use the term "speakerbox" to talk about a digital audio player with a built in speaker, suitable for group listening for around 10 people. Speakerboxes come in various shapes and sizes and most have a variety of options for playing stored digital audio content.

Amplifying Voices partners use speakerboxes with a microSD card slot (also called TF card, flash card, or μSD), and distribute new programmes on microSD cards to listener groups. We provide two microSD cards for each speakerbox so that one card stays with the group while the other goes to the partner to get the next programme downloaded.

Several hours of digital audio content can be stored on the tiny microSD cards. Digital audio can also be stored on USB sticks, on a phone or laptop.

Most speakerboxes also have USB ports to play audio files from a USB stick and can connect to a phone, laptop or MP3 player through an "Aux" input. An Aux cable has two 3.5mm jacks, which you connect between the Aux input and the headphone socket of your other device. Some speakers have Bluetooth for playing music or content from a phone.

We now encourage partners to source speakerboxes that have an FM radio receiver built in, especially where projects have developed agreements to play programmes on local FM stations.

Why do we use Speakerboxes?

We started using speakerboxes in communities where it was not possible to set up a community radio station. However, we have since found that speakerbox projects can also offer some advantages over a radio station project.

Speakerboxes provide a very flexible way for groups of people to listen together to focussed programmes at a time of their own convenience. Groups can discuss content together, explore ideas for responding to advice or stories they've heard, and in many cases the groups also make content for future programmes.

 

Listener group gathers for a speakerbox session in Northern Uganda

Speakerbox content can be tailored to very specific audiences, and listener groups can work with producers to develop topics that are most important to the group.  It can also cover topics a radio station might not see as profitable or even too risky or taboo to handle. As the speakerbox audience is usually smaller, and often know the production team personally, there is more scope for newly trained production workers to build their skills by making speakerbox programmes until their content is good enough for broadcasting on a partner FM station.

In Pakistan and South Sudan, content which is used on speakerboxes is also broadcast on local FM stations. This allows partners to increase reach and impact without having to set up their own radio station, while still benefiting from the flexibility and focus of speakerbox listening groups.

New Dawn health worker with speakerbox for women’s listener groups.

What is Digital Audio?

For the purposes of this post, digital audio means audio content including music, and talk show recordings, that can be stored as files on a computer, phone, or memory device.  Digital audio can also be "streamed" over the internet. You might be familiar with MP3 files. MP3 is a form of digital audio.

So is a speakerbox programme rather like a podcast?

We have used the term "podcast" when talking about speakerbox programmes, because podcasts are a very close equivalent for most of our readers. However, podcasts are delivered over the internet, and speakerboxes do not have access to the internet. In the communities where we work, the term podcast is less well known, and listeners prefer to just call the programmes "radio programmes". In fact, in Northern Uganda and South Sudan, community members call speakerboxes "radios".

Is a Speakerbox basically an MP3 player?

So you remember MP3 players! They've more or less been replaced by phones now. In a sense, yes a speakerbox is a kind of MP3 player, but the term "MP3 player" usually means a small device designed for listening to with headphones. Some had small speakers on them, but they would not be suitable for group listening. MP3 players also have a lot internal storage where people could keep their music collections, and a user interface for navigating the different files. Most of the speakerboxes we use have no internal memory, no internet access, and very limited buttons for moving from file to file. This keeps the cost per speakerbox down, so more listener groups can get one. With bluetooth enabled speakerboxes, and distribution of programmes via WhatsApp (or in India, via the Adivasi Voices App), listener groups can use phones to control the speakerbox, getting the flexibility of an MP3 player and the volume and simplicity of a speakerbox.

What about power?

Solar powered radio speaker, Zambia

The early batches of speakerboxes we supplied to projects had built-in rechargeable batteries, and charged with a USB cable. However, in remote locations or refugee camps, access to power for recharging was problematic. We now work with partners to buy speakerboxes with solar panels. One partner told us they found it advisable to buy models with a removable solar panel, so that the speakerbox can be kept safely indoors while it is charging.

Read More

Find out which Amplifying Voices projects use speakerboxes

Read news updates from communities using speakerboxes

The post What is a speakerbox? appeared first on Amplifying Voices.

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Hope Village, Morobo

Communities in South Sudan-Uganda border regions (Yei, Morobo, Lainya) are affected by refugees returning to South Sudan, and through internal migration of cattle herders after several years of flooding making traditional grazing grounds in other states unusable. The internal
migration has led to inter-communal violence and loss of crops.

Amplifying Voices has been invited by South Sudanese partner Community Development Centre (CDC) to support this project with training and equipment.

Objectives:

Support community efforts to improve long-term community stability through peacebuilding and natural resource management.

Our Role

Amplifying Voices

• provided basic studio equipment
• facilitated a community consultation and media training workshop
• and is providing ongoing project accompaniment

So that the Hope Village team can increase impact and engagement through

• MP3 "Speakerboxes" and weekly SD card distribution equip additional listener groups in remote locations most at risk from lack of information, misinformation, or social exclusion.
• partnership with Iyete FM, a community radio station.
• Regular audio programmes designed and produced in Morobo
• Informal content distribution via bluetooth and mobile to mobile transfer.
• Promotes and enables dialogue between settled community groups, returnees and locally-stationed armed forces.
• Also provides possibilities for accessing radio content produced for refugees by other local partners.

Expected Outcomes:

• Prevention of conflict flare-ups due to open and informed discussion of rumours, and due to greater trust and understanding between communities, returnees and armed actors.
• Newly returned refugees are able to access services faster and to feel more at peace in their new surroundings.
• Vulnerable groups within communities build confidence through accessing relevant information in response to voicing concerns
• Health workers and other development experts are more effective because they are welcomed as guests of community rather than seen as imposed opinions.

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Our partner, Amplifying Voices Pakistan, helped a youth group in Juharabad, in Punjab province of Pakistan, to run a pilot community-centred media project.

The young people from a local church formed the New Hope project hoping to improve living conditions and address social issues in their community. Amplifying Voices Pakistan provided community-centred media training and mentoring support to the youth group and their pastor who operated the pilot for approximately one year.

Pilot activities:

• The New Hope team began making short audio programmes for distribution on WhatsApp and later for FM broadcast.
• Media topics included family life, Eid, local success stories, alcohol abuse and more.
• New Hope collaborated with Rescue Service 1122 to provide first aid training to the team and to community members.
• A small number of more vulnerable families, who have no access to WhatsApp, were given Speakerboxes to listen to the programmes.

 

 

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Jon Hargreaves

As a lapsed pilot, Jon says that when he grows up he wants to fly aeroplanes. In the meantime he says he still has some important things he wants to do. Having worked in media in many different countries, Jon began collaborating with Dr. Ross James, founder of Health Communication Resources, to help disadvantaged communities and those facing crisis, find their voice through community-centred media. In 2013, along with his colleague Alex, Jon felt that so much more needed to be done to support these communities, that they set up Amplifying Voices as a charity in the UK. He says: In the last nine years we’ve worked alongside communities in Africa, Asia and the Middle East and the thing I’ve loved most is to hear stories of how individuals’ lives have improved as a direct result of our work. When Jon isn’t travelling or working at the organisation’s Sussex-based office, you’ll often find him paddling along the South coast in his kayak.

Alex Stout

From working as an engineer on aeronautical communications systems in Scotland to heading up a media network in the Middle East, Alex has spent most of his life troubleshooting technical issues and finding innovative ways to improve systems. Following this practical philosophy through to holistic mission, Alex and Jon partnered together and co-founded Amplifying Voices in 2013. Though he finds it challenging to select a highlight of the last nine years, It was particularly satisfying to get Umoja FM on air. For a hurting, neglected community, taking a local vision to a practical reality of setting up and training volunteers to run a local station, broadcasting in the local language, speaking about local issues was incredibly exciting. When Alex isn’t busy sourcing media equipment or project managing, he’s usually tinkering or driving his 1985 Opel Manta. As a modern classic car enthusiast, he frequents car shows all across England.

Stephanie Mooney

A busy mum of two young girls, Steph has always been involved in working with different community groups whether that is locally or internationally. She loves to be in conversation and relationship with people, hearing their stories, what they care about and working alongside them to deliver their community projects. Stephanie joined Amplifying Voices because: They engage with projects where the vision has been grown locally and they care about the voices that we don’t typically hear or value. Amplifying Voices approach recognises that these voices matter and when heard do bring positive change. When Steph is not working she is normally out and about with her family. In her limited spare time, she loves to read and is learning French. She was originally born in Montreal in Quebec, the French speaking part of Canada, and she wants to speak French fluently.

Iain Taylor

As a retired accountant, Iain continues to bring his wisdom and experience to the Amplifying Voices team through his role as administration manager. I joined the team because I sat in front of Alex at Maybridge Community Church and he asked me if I would be interested in helping out. Nine years later I am still interested. I love to see unexpected gifts arriving into our bank account- it’s always a highlight for me to get these monies into projects that will make a difference. Iain says he unashamedly collects map postcards and is passionate about football. Not many folks can say they watched England win the World Cup in 1966 in black and white from outside a TV showroom in Ross on Wye…. I can! Another little-known fact about Iain is that he once played in goal for Arsenal, which is a frightening admission for a Chelsea supporter.

Johnny Fisher

With an odd combination of career backgrounds – electronics, theology, and social action – Johnny likes making things better. But he finds that, unlike most electronic gadgets, people want much more involvement in decisions around improving their situations. He joined Amplifying Voices because I love the approach which really lives out a belief in our partners and their communities. The fix-it guy is still there – a highlight of the work is when partners ask us to get involved with things like setting up new equipment or doing a training workshop. Outside of work, Johnny enjoys walking his dogs on the moors or down by the river. During lockdown he moved to a very rural community in the Scottish Borders, which brought a number of new experiences and opportunities… like last winter when he joined a beating team at a local pheasant drive.

Alice Stout

Alice likes to describe herself as a storyteller – not in the sense of someone who concocts a fictional tale but one who can help tell other people’s stories that need to be heard. She loves to travel and explore different cultures, then write as well as share photos and videos that capture the essence of these people and stories. That’s how she ended up joining Amplifying Voices: Jon invited me to help document the progress of one project in India. Though I hadn’t visited the communities on the research trip, I could see the incredible impact of community centred media after seven short months. People were keen to see more change, and champion that change for themselves. That incredible story needed to be told, as do the other untold stories of transformation. Alice does enjoy writing in her spare time too, but when away from keyboards and screens she loves to take her little dog Riley on new adventures.

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