“Please come soon!” A community faces crisis
As news filtered through of yet another so-called ‘rebel attack’ against a village in the DR Congo’s North Kivu province, the prospects of extending our Umoja FM project began to dwindle. “And yet the need is greater than ever for Amplifying Voices’ help,” says project leader Albert Baliesima, as he urged us not to alter our plans to establish an FM relay station to reach remote villages in the Virunga National Park, next year.
The area around Virunga, located amid a string of volcanoes that straddle Congo’s borders with Rwanda and Uganda has been a hotbed of violence for decades. Armed groups from all three countries compete over the region’s mineral riches and other resources while terrorising defenceless civilian communities, resulting in an intractable humanitarian crisis. That is why, in 2016 Amplifying Voices worked with Albert, who is also the local MP, to set up a community radio station called Umoja FM. It’s purpose was to promote peace and development in the troubled Eastern DRC province. “The station has supported our communities through some terrible times,” says station manager Baraka.” It has also been a voice of hope and promise and helped sensitize the communities about peaceful cohabitation.”
Albert has asked the Amplifying Voices team to help Umoja FM reach remote villages as they are cut off from the outside world with little access to reliable information. They are also under constant threat of attacks from bandits operating under the banner of the Islamic State-linked group, the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces), which according to the BBC has deliberately been targeting Christians in the country over the last two years.
“These villages needs to be able to hear the broadcasts from Umoja FM as it will help them to access information, health education, community development as well as vital information about security,” says Albert. “I feel bad when I think about this part of the population being left behind.”
Despite the deterioration of the security situation in North Kivu, Albert is hopeful that 2022 will be better with the deployment of more Congolese soldiers to the area along with the determination of President Felix Tshisekedi to restore stability to the region.
Without doubt, planning a relay station for this area is a logistical challenge. Quite apart from the security situation, there is no main road to this heavily forested area, so we’ll need to get there and carry the equipment on motorbikes. Then there is the issue of electricity – there isn’t any! So we will need to plan a system that can stand alone, that requires little maintenance, and is solar-powered. And then there is the challenge of ensuring that the system is high enough to receive the broadcast signal from Umoja FM in the town of Nobili, and is able to relay it far enough for widespread coverage. Alex from the Amplifying Voices team says: “This will without doubt be the most complex technical project that we’ve ever attempted but we will work with our partners to build a local team who can help ensure that the equipment is installed and maintained well.”