News

By Hazeen Latif Sitting in a “hujra” (a room in the house for meetings and discussions) my host’s uncle asked me, “What is your interest in coming to our village (Swabi, KPK)?”  This question is rarely asked of anyone when it comes to hospitality in KPK region, a province to north of Pakistan. Before any…

By Jon Hargreaves With just over four months until Kenya goes to the polls amidst concerns that there will be election-related violence, HCR (now known as Amplifying Voices) is exploring the feasibility of a new radio station in eastern Kenya’s Tana Delta. Last year we partnered with the Sentinel Project to set up a peace…

On 26th February, Hazeen Latif, Director of HCR in Pakistan visited Charsadda to present a refresher course for a previous radio group who were trained in 2014. The meeting was held at the residence of Asad Ullah, an active community member and a certificate holder of the HCR Radio Skills Training Workshop. The content of…

Following the Asia Tsunami and numerous earthquakes in Pakistan, radio broadcasters have come to see the need for a fast, disaster-response radio plan to assist in recovery from a disaster.  Based on these experiences, HCR worked with broadcasters to develop the programme now used by the First Response Radio Network (FRR) which includes training in…

By Annie Sarfraz Over 40 people participated at a community meeting in the village of Swabi, KPK, Pakistan, organised by HCR in January 2017. The purpose was to help community understand they have the capacity to bring about positive change in their community. Most of the members said they had never attended a meeting where…

By Annie Sarfraz Community leader: “Sir, you could have cancelled the meeting and stayed home. It’s been raining for the last three days”. Hazeen: “Rain can’t stop us”! HCR has been working in Charsadda village in Pakistan since 2013, using the communication for development approach to help people identify, understand and resolve their health and…

By Hazeen Latif Sahib Gul may be disabled, but his talent for art and music speaks for itself and he is a person who never gives up.  “My name is Sahib Gul, which means king of the roses,” he told a meeting of the newly established ‘New Dawn Community Services’, a community-based organization (CBO) in…

By Jon Hargreaves “You have lost me my business,” health clinic owner,  Zahid jokingly tells HCR Pakistan director Hazeen Latif.   He was speaking at the opening of the new drinking well in his village, provided by HCR, funded by an Australian church.  “Since this well opened three weeks ago,” Zahid says, “I am selling less…

By Celeste Larkins We have just arrived back from attending our second Yalgoo Emu Cup. Last year the sun was shining, so much so that one of the Radio MAMA staff members got heatstroke. There was definitely no heat stroke this year! We arrived to rains and a freezing cold wind, but that didn’t stop…

This year Mental Health Week was from 8th-15th of October. During the week communities hold programs and events to raise awareness of mental health, with a focus on suicide prevention. Suicide is a leading cause of death for males and females aged between 15 to 44 in Australia (ABS, 2008). Almost eight Australians take their…