In recent weeks in Europe, we’ve seen how natural resources, that should provide sustainable livelihoods for local people, are being repurposed to placate aggressors. In Morobo county, years after villagers lost swathes of their valuable teak and fruit trees to conflict, trees are now changing role again – from placating aggressors to building sustainable peace.

In the Southern border regions of South Sudan, armed groups, either from the South Sudanese armed forces or from opposition groups, were often posted from the North and left for months without any wages, or senior leadership. To provide for themselves, some of these groups would confiscate harvests from locals. In the process they also destroyed lots of the mango and jackfruit orchards. Some went beyond simply seeking sustenance and plundered the valuable teak plantations, leading to widespread deforestation.

Over the last year, the Hope Village community-centred media project produced several speakerbox and radio programmes on natural resource management, exploring the causes and the far-reaching effects of deforestation. Listeners groups contributed their own thoughts to programmes and got a wider conversation going. Listeners heard how deforestation is linked to changes to local climate, such as reduced rains, and increased dust and heat. They also acknowledged that the reduction in local resources had led to new conflicts between neighbours or neighbouring communities. Lack of food or income sources for families led to girls being married off early and increased the number of school dropouts.

The Konakimungu listening group took on the challenge. They agreed together to start up a campaign on the plantation of teak trees, mangoes and jackfruits to replace destroyed trees around their home stead.

With support from our partner Community Development Centre (South Sudan), the Hope Village radio programmes also provide advice and support for how communities can go about a campaign like this. This includes conversations about gender equality so that men and women, boys and girls, would work together to plant new trees and so that all would benefit from the tree planting activities. They want to improve the lives and rights of girls and prevent them being the first casualties should communities faced difficulties in future.

Listeners to Hope Village are following the Konakimungu group’s progress and we expect more communities will be planting trees soon that bear fruit now to feed their families, and sustain peace in the long-term.

Amplifying Voices has supported Hope Village with community-centred media training, and with equipment including speakerboxes and a mobile studio to help more community voices take part in making the Hope Village programmes.

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We were in Morobo in South Sudan, visiting the Hope Village project and providing a media training workshop for people in local villages, many of whom had recently returned from refugee camps in Uganda or Congo. Since arriving we had felt constantly confronted by the scale of challenge faced by the returnees, the oppressive background of political instability, and the smallness of the part we could play.

Yet, as we spent time with community members, we saw and heard stories in Morobo that shifted our perception from futility to sharing in the hope felt by these people, who are willing to risk so much to return and to see potential in such a fragile place.

We had arrived in Morobo following the same route as many returnees, by road via the Kaya border crossing point. The distance from Kaya to Morobo is relatively short, only 16 miles by road, but until very recently that short distance would have seemed very long to travellers because of the risk of violent robbery, or sexual assault.

Rows of buildings that were once shops are now shells. People find new places to trade from. Morobo County, South Sudan

As our vehicle made its way along the rutted and eroded road, our companions pointed out the burnt-out car of a bishop who was robbed last summer, and then to a place where they themselves had been robbed and narrowly escaped a worse fate. Many of the brick buildings lining the roads had been abandoned during South Sudan’s conflict in 2016. The valuable roofing sheets had long since been removed.

Returnees were building homes, but using traditional methods with grass roofs instead of steel sheeting. These newly built houses were harder to see, many of them further back from the roads, reflecting a preference for finding concealment in the bush.

Hope Village started about a year ago. Our partners, Community Development Centre in South Sudan (CDC), provided speakerboxes to listener groups in several villages between Morobo and the Ugandan border at Kaya. Each group consists of around 10 families. The CDC team in Yei, supported by volunteers in Morobo, have been creating and distributing monthly podcasts which the listener groups play on the speakerboxes. The podcasts include interviews, stories, and songs from community members. Our workshop was aimed at helping community members discover more ways they could use media to mobilise their communities and build for peace.

During and following the conflict, soldiers in this area have usually been posted from another part of South Sudan and belong to other tribes. This has often led to soldiers abusing or oppressing local villagers, especially on the roads, or by plundering crops at harvest time. Bravely, the Hope Village team had decided to give a speakerbox to the local army barracks and include them in the community conversations.

During our visit we attended a community meeting and heard that this has been a good decision. One person from Kimba community told us –

“The community is living together well. It [the podcast] has encouraged people to cultivate [because crops won’t be plundered]. Before the [podcasts], we couldn’t travel far. But now there is less fear of soldiers – more peace – we are even able to greet soldiers in passing on the road.”

A woman then stood up and gave her perspective –

“Before the [podcasts] there was no unity or love. Now when we meet someone on the road (even men) we greet in peace. Because men … have realised that GBV (gender-based-violence) is wrong.”

Not every story was so positive. One man told us about his village, close to a camp of opposition forces. It is currently too dangerous to give a speakerbox to soldiers in the opposition forces camp and this village continues to face robbery and plundering. But his story led to a conversation among the leaders. Something must be done. This story must be heard too.

Some young people were passing the meeting and stopped to listen. One of them, a youth leader, spoke up, saying that he likes the entertainment –

“The songs have good meaning. War has led to rape, turned people poor, but songs give hope.”

Losing the culture of greeting one another in the road may not seem like the worst effect of war, but the stories of people finding it safer to greet again symbolise the hope of people on the road to peace.

You can listen below to the Hope Village theme song (written and performed by Barnabas Samuel) …

The post Safer to greet appeared first on Amplifying Voices.

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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“After four years of devastating drought and food insecurity, no-one was ready for this,” says Fatma. “Even the authorities were poorly prepared and only days before the flooding started, the President said that he anticipated that the rainy season would be short and not have much impact on farmers,” she added. Thankfully before the rains arrived, Vox Radio had already begun preparing communities, advising them what to do in the event of flooding.

Partnering with the county government and service providers such as the Kenya Red Cross, Vox team members have been reaching out to flood-affected communities, giving them a voice. “As we meet community members, we listen to their concerns and needs and we also engage with specialists who can answer their questions,” says Fatma.  “For example we have discovered that a lot of people have been traumatised by the floods, and so we have been helping people understand how to identify trauma and giving them ways to cope.”

Fatma Mzee accompanies the District County Commissioner and other officials during a food distribution to displaced communities.

Vox Radio Chairman, John Otunga who has also been supporting the team in their emergency response described how the Vox team responded when the scale of the disaster became apparent: “We realised the importance of reliable information and immediately took action. We rallied community leaders from the government, religious groups, and the broader network of development workers to share messages of hope, give direction, and reassure the affected communities. We also restructured our programming to address community concerns and facilitated community discussions. We placed a lot of emphasis on engagement with community leaders and health experts in our radio programmes, which has fostered a sense of connection and support. These platforms of dialogue have contributed to the unity and kindness we are witnessing in Tana River, even as people grapple with the aftermath of the floods. Leaders are showing more accountability, and slowly, hope is finding its way back into the hearts of our people.”

The authorities have also acknowledged the valuable role Vox Radio is playing, even in supporting their rescue efforts.  One family whose home had been submerged under water called the radio station to tell them of their situation, which alerted the authorities who were able to rescue them.

According to Fatma, the floods came at a terrible time for both pastoralists and crop farmers. “Most farmers had already planted their seeds, but these have been washed away,” she said.  “The pastoralists likewise had brought their livestock from the hinterlands to graze by the river, so many animals were swept away, and those remaining are now suffering from diseases caused by the Tstese Fly.”

Going forward John believes that as the flood waters start to recede, the radio station will have a critical role to play as the communities will face many challenges.  On top of the existing challenge of food insecurity, which has been exacerbated by the floods, there is now a threat of a cholera outbreak and mosquito-born diseases like Malaria.  There is also a risk to communities from wild animals, whose habitats have been washed away, which often brings them into direct contact with people.

While thousands of people are now living in temporary camps, Fatma is thankful that many people are listening to Vox Radio.   “We have found that people in these IDP camps are very vulnerable, especially young people, and so we are running special mentorship programmes for boys and girls,” she said.  “Vox teams have been moving from camp-to-camp having conversations with young people about the risks that they face and about how they can keep safe.”

Meanwhile John says that Vox Radio’s commitment to serving the public during this crisis underscores the vital role that local media plays in times of disaster. “By leveraging its influence and reach, which is now almost county-wide, Vox Radio has not only disseminated critical information, but also fostered a sense of community resilience and unity, proving that even in the darkest times, the power of community-centred media can bring people together and help them rebuild.”

Photo credits: Kevin Odit (Nation Media Group) and Kulah Nzomo (Vox Radio)

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As I start to write this article, I can see a sign in our office window advertising a Recovery Café. The poster quotes Johann Hari: “The opposite of addiction is not sobriety; it’s connection”, and the strapline is “We Are With You”. The sign reminds me of what Soot Semee listeners had to say about the importance of connection. Listeners I met when I visited the Soot Semee project in Northern Uganda, told me that Soot Semee helped them with trauma recovery by encouraging listeners to build connections with others.

I have to admit, I sometimes struggle to imagine how community-led radio could be effective in such a complex topic as trauma healing. I’m probably not alone in that.

So when this listener told me her story, I was encouraged and also a bit curious …

“Before Soot Semee, I was one person who could just be sitting on my veranda and I could just be crying. But now, I started listening to Soot Semee, and I heard messages that were able to help my heart.”

You couldn’t help but feel moved by her story. I also wondered how the radio programmes had had such a deep effect.

You can certainly imagine a radio programme being effective in other areas of health. For example a presenter can provide parents with instructions on how to treat children’s diarrhoea using home-made oral rehydration salts. But a radio presenter cannot similarly say, “today we tell you how to make a medicine that heals trauma.”

Trauma is described as:

“events or circumstances experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening, which result in adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and well-being”.^[1]

It is deeply individual, and often sub-consciously experienced. One person may try to feel better through substance misuse, another may withdraw from social interaction. Still others may show no external effect until something or someone triggers the same feelings of fear or harm as in the original event. South Sudanese refugees have faced community violence and war which in itself leads to many different causes of trauma. Many South Sudanese women have been subjected to rape or other sexual violence by armed groups^[2]. Others may have witnessed the murder of friends. Forced separation from family and an unwanted move to a new country also causes trauma. The broad range of causes and effects can make trauma recovery very complex. Despite the complexity, the listeners shared some observations from their recovery journeys.

The woman above continued her story:

“And I could now be joined by other people. Initially I was that person who used to sit alone but now, with the coming together as a group I work together and this helps me so much. Initially I always prayed is there someone who will sometime listen to some of the issues that we go through.”

Another man spoke and said:

“All these years I have been staying here, just like a tree that is not having leaves. I am one person when I sit at my place, just alone, I feel there is nothing anymore, I am just alone. But when this radio* came, I felt like I saw Jesus with my eyes. I used to have a lot of thoughts and trauma, but now, all these thoughts have vanished.”

As I say, I was curious. What was it about the radio programmes that they had this effect? After the group finished sharing their stories I came back to this question. The first woman told me:

“Some of the programmes have advice about trauma, and others call the people to come together and share their issues as a group. When you are alone it is very hard, but when you hear from someone’s experience it helps a lot.”

I heard other stories from the listeners who tried to cope with trauma using alcohol, or violence. Each of them told a story of feeling like they were alone, but through the radio programmes, or being invited to join a listener group, they began to reconnect with people and feel valued.

People working in trauma-informed practice talk about the importance of safety, trust, collaboration and connection in supporting people suffering from trauma^[3]. Soot Semee’s Council of Reference, the listener groups, and our partners Community Development Centre, who helped Omugo community create the Soot Semee programmes, are working hard to create this safe environment for reconnecting.

I’m learning that trauma recovery is a journey, perhaps best travelled with others. It seems like the Soot Semee folks are also living out the strapline “We are with you”.

Getting to know a Soot Semee listener group, Omugo 4, Uganda. Feb 2023

* Soot Semee provides weekly programmes as MP3 files. Listener groups listen to the programmes on Speakerboxes, or digital audio players. The Omugo community members call Soot Semee a radio programme, and call the speakerboxes, radios.

The post Connecting people aids trauma recovery appeared first on Amplifying Voices.

I visited the Soot Semee community-centred media project in February. Our partner Community Development Centre (CDC) took me to meet with the Council of Reference – a group of people in the Omugo 4 village who oversee and advise on the Soot Semee content. Soot Semee programmes are MP3 podcasts on digital memory cards (SD Cards) played on speakerboxes (digital audio players). The people of Omugo 4 village just call it “radio”.

The Council of Reference shared stories about the impact of Soot Semee audio programmes. As these respected community leaders talked about transformational effects of the Soot Semee radio programmes it quickly moved from theoretical to personal.

One woman started to talk about the difficulties many women have faced on arriving in Uganda from South Sudan. They often have no relatives or spouse with them to help with the children. She said that Soot Semee programmes help women in this situation with advice. But more than advice, the programmes help people realise they are not alone. She said “also they feel that they have people when they listen to the radio”.

She continued her reflection, “For me this is something that is personal, when I came here, I was just as I am, I don’t have anyone, I didn’t know people, and I would have no opportunity for standing before people like this. But now [as part of] the council of reference I have people, I can meet, and I can stand before people and do a lot of things.”

Another woman on the Council of Reference said that she felt that Soot Semee was so valuable that it needed to be available for people in the other refugee settlements. But she also recognised that with this exposure came responsibility. “Soot Semee has made me a leader, I am a role model, so I take care of how I live my life as an example.”

I am no farming expert, but as we went about in the Omugo 4 settlement I could see very clearly that it sits on a very rocky and inhospitable ridge, it doesn’t look like good land for growing crops. I was told that attempts to grow fruit trees had failed due to the harsh landscape. Back in the Council of Reference meeting, one of the men told us that Soot Semee programmes had helped people to start farming vegetables such as okra despite the harshness of the land. Before people would have travel a long way to market town to buy such vegetables.

Despite rocky and arid landscape, Omugo 4 villagers are succeeding in growing vegetables like okra. Feb 2023

These harsh living conditions take their toll in other ways. The man continued,

“I want to speak about myself. Before Soot Semee [programmes were available], I would just be, my ears, monitoring where alcohol is. If I come for a meeting like this, something like [this] soda, I would just put the alcohol in there. Through Soot Semee, I had been listening, when the chairman and some of the others, they talked to me as part of their off-air activities and brought me some programmes about alcohol [abuse] and said if I continue like this, my life will not be OK. So, from a drunkard, I was brought by the Council of Reference to leadership. Now I stand before people and now I have been elected as a block leader.”

As I had prepared for this visit, I knew I wanted to better understand reports that Soot Semee programmes had led to reductions in gender-based violence (GBV). Its hard to get a comprehensive understanding from a small sample of stories, especially when the cultural context is so different to my own. However, I heard a few stories like Joseph’s story,

“I have two women. One of them is good, and the other one is not harsh. But sometimes it starts, there is some kind of problem at home. [gestures and local language reactions indicate he meant that tensions sometimes led to violence]. But when Soot Semee came, there were a lot of things [on the radio] about how people can control their emotions. And in our families, we tried and learned how we could change. Now for me, I would tell them, look I am a community reporter, I am also a community leader. I don’t want to do anything that is very bad. So now I controlled myself during the day or at night, so that I don’t do something bad. I will take it slowly, and now if there is some issue, we solve our issues. As a reporter and community leader, I want to be a role model, that is why I am doing that. I want to make sure that what I am teaching is the thing that I am doing.”

Just as the meeting was about to close, a man stood up and summarised for us the sense of purpose and hope that Soot Semee is instilling in people from all parts of the community.

“Soot Semee brought so many good things. What we wanted … trainings that come via this Soot Semee for us as leaders, so that when we go back to our country, we can help them as well there. … If you are a leader, if don’t have many skills, then as a leader you will not be able to govern people. I, who am speaking here, I am disabled. I am walking with these crutches. But Soot Semee has done very well, has brought in us people who have disabilities. Soot Semee did not say this person is disabled, they cannot be part of us. They included me.”

Barnabas from CDC closed the meeting, thanking the Council of Reference and honouring the huge impact they are having. As he speaks, it occurs to me, Soot Semee is not something coming to these people from outside. These people are Soot Semee.

Soot Semee Council of Reference group photo. Omugo 4. Feb 2023

The post Soot Semee raises up new leaders appeared first on Amplifying Voices.

Last week the Soot Semee coordinators organised two days of community-centred media workshops to train new volunteers and to refresh the existing team’s skills. As well as learning media skills such as how to record interviews and make effective community service announcements (CSAs), the training workshop includes time to reflect on community goals for development and exploring opportunities to work together in other “off-air” activities. To mark the end of the training the community organised a peace-friendly football match.

So what exactly does Soot Semee mean by “peacebuilding”?

Soot Semee volunteer team, Nov 2022

Peacebuilding is sometimes understood as aiming for a cessation of armed conflict. However, it is important to know what everyday peace looks like to the community members involved. You might pause for a moment and ask yourself:

“If I were to think about my own situation, rather than geo-political events, what does peace look like to me?”

This is the sort of exercise that the organisation Everyday Peace Indicators does regularly in their mission to build bridges between communities and the diverse organisations working to build peace.

Taking a cue from their work, we asked this question to several community members in Omugo 4. The responses are interestingly varied:

Susan – “Peace is like staying good calmly with love”.

Idoru – “Peace is like for example if you have a wife, and you understand each other very well, that’s how peace looks like”.

Maka – ‘Peace is when there is always enough food at home

Moses – “To me something called peace, is like when you stay well with other people, with good security and no fear, that’s peace”.

Isaac– “Peace is when you live in a place that has no war”

Alfred – “peace is when there is money at home”

Margret– “peace is when every family member embraces love for one another”.

Simon – “Peace is when you live without threatening words of ending someone’s life. You stay stress free”.

Florence – “Peace is when you have everything at home”

Mary – “What also looks like peace is when someone wrongs you, then you don’t need to keep it in your heart because you want to pay back, but instead show your goodness to him or her”.

Click play to hear community members voice their responses in Bari and Juba Arabic.

You may have noticed that only one response refers to war, and just one other refers to threat of violence. The rest of the responses refer to relationships, food security and wellbeing.

Our partners, Community Development Centre, who lead the Soot Semee project, also belong to the South Sudanese refugee community they serve. They understand that building a place where peace can thrive means addressing all these everyday aspects of peace. This is reflected in Soot Semee’s programme planning and the associated off-air activities outlined below.

This month, Soot Semee audio programmes will address environmental issues, while community volunteers have organised activities to clear up plastic bottles and bags from Omugo 4 village. They have also made plans to plant new trees.

Trees contribute to a more resilient natural environment. They can also help reduce violence. A lack of trees has led, in some cases, to conflict over places to collect firewood.

In December, Soot Semee volunteers will focus on wellness with programmes promoting hygiene and sanitation. The volunteers have also organised days to clean up the water collection points along with the locally organised water management committees. Clean water and good hygiene also contribute to everyday peace as it is defined by the Omugo 4 community members.

The post What does peace look like to you? appeared first on Amplifying Voices.

Peacebuilding near Lainya, South Sudan

Following the Amplifying Voices training workshops in Yei earlier this year, CDC South Sudan held community consultations with 5 communities or Payams in the Lainya area. This area is between the towns of Yei and Lainya in Central Equatoria State. During the consultation events, CDC supported the community members to make some audio content.  Participants were excited by the event and said,

“We didn’t know how radio was made. It was just there on radios. Now we are making it ourselves.”

As a result of the consultation, 170 listening groups will each be equipped with a speaker box. The project is called Studio Salaam (or Peace Studio).

People in Lainya area told CDC that there is a big gap between the local people and the army responsible for maintaining order in the area. To address this, around half of the listener groups will be in the communities, made up of community members. The other listener groups will be embedded in the local structures, for example, there will be police listener groups, army listener groups and local government listener groups.

Listener groups also make media content, creating recordings as part of their meetings. CDC envisages that the community groups can share their experiences of government agencies, for example how they see soldiers coming in and destroying crops or other local resources. Community members will share how they want to be treated. CDC expect army and police groups to explore how they should play their roles. For example, police will be able to talk about things in communities that lead them to behave as they do – the things that they see as not right.

The speakerboxes are seen as a safe place to have these difficult conversations. To ease concerns about safety, these South Sudan speakerbox podcasts will not broadcast the names of people speaking.

Peacebuilding in Rhino Camp, Uganda

Meanwhile in Uganda, in Omugo 4 village of Rhino Camp refugee settlement, the Soot Semee project continues and is maturing. Soot Semee volunteers are learning to optimise and adapt as the project progresses from a pilot phase to an established community-owned media platform. For example, at the start, the Soot Semee podcasts were played on a loop on large speakers in the marketplace. Some people found this annoying and so now the large speakers will play Soot Semee at set times, and people will gather to listen.

In 2016 when the most recent large scale migration started there was rapid growth of Rhino Camp and Omugo Zone. They were considered as humanitarian emergencies and large numbers of international organisations came to the displacement camps to support the refugees. Now many of these organisations have moved on. But there are still large numbers of people who have resettled in Omugo Zone and other parts of Rhino Camp, who are still facing similar challenges to those faced by people in 2016.  Groups like Soot Semee, which are set up by refugees themselves, are taking long term approaches to their work. The project does not end. New volunteers need to go through training. Items that break need repaired or replaced, rather than signalling an end to the project.

Hearing from community members at SD Card collection point, Omuga Zone, Aug 2022

The Soot Semee council of reference meets regularly to review Soot Semee content and provide feedback to help the project evolve in a way that best serves the need. Because of this, fresh new content is being produced weekly, and people continue to gather in listening groups to listen, discuss, and respond with recordings of their own. People use these opportunities to share stories of what works for them and could work for others. For example, listeners heard several people explain that they return to South Sudan to farm for a while, but it is not safe to stay there long term so they return to the camp. Stories like these help Omugo 4 residents to make their own decisions on how to earn their livelihoods, or how they can best support their families.

Livelihood stories on Soot Semee are also connected to a ‘microgrant’ programme that CDC Uganda is running. Some people talked about using microgrants to set up businesses making and selling soap. Buying in a piece of soap from outside the camp currently costs about one quarter of one refugee’s monthly income. With soap so vital in the fight against Covid and other transferable diseases, there is clearly a need for a more affordable supply.

Another regular role for podcasts is in providing feedback from meetings at “Base Camp”. Base camp is the part of Omugo Zone where the representative of the Office of Prime Minister works. UNHCR and other camp coordination bodies have their offices there. Base Camp is also a long way from Omugo 4 village. There are many different meetings at Base Camp. There are different people who attend and are responsible for reporting back to the Omugo 4 village. However, residents found that information was often lost in this relaying process. Some people would favour their own families over others when passing on information, creating potential for conflict. So one of the volunteers, Joseph Idoru Lo Baba, now records the information at camp meetings which is then given out through the Soot Semee podcasts.

Soot Semee also helped to prevent violence during a recent UNHCR verification process. Refugees need to verify their registration every few years to ensure they have the right documentation to be supported and protected as refugees. Soot Semee informed community members about the need to re-register and advised them how, when and where they could complete the process. In other locations in Rhino Camp, lack of reliable information sources caused a lot of confusion. People were gathering around the camp managers premises, and many didn’t have the correct documentation causing delays and anger. Local police got frustrated and there were reports of people being beaten. However, when the registration people came to Omugo 4, there was calm as people were aware of how and where to register, and what documentation was required.

Peacebuilding across borders

At the border between the South Sudan and Uganda, in places near the border town of Koboko, yet another community-centred media project is getting underway. It is a border project so the speakerbox podcasts are multilingual, discussing farming and sharing natural resources in Kakwa and Aringa languages. The podcast project is called Voices A 2 Z, meaning that it includes everyone’s voices. The name is in English because this is the language that is shared between both groups.  

Through CDC’s work, community-centred media is becoming recognised as an important tool for peacebuilding on both sides of the border and across the border itself.

Click below to listen to the theme tunes of the two new podcast projects.

Theme tune for Studio Salaam

Theme tune for Voices A 2 Z

A 2 Z and Studio Salaam are peacebuilding components of a wider project, the PAMANA cross-border initiative which seeks to respond to immediate Humanitarian needs, while firming up foundations for the the longer term through Development projects working on sustainable use of natural resources, and through Peacebuilding activities, such as community centred media. (In tech-jargon, this is called the HDP triple nexus!) PAMANA is a collaboration between several local and international NGOs, including Caritas Switzerland, Agency for Accelerated Regional Development (AFARD), Community Development Centre (CDC), and Organic Farming Advisory Organization (OFAO), with technical advice from Swisspeace and BOMA Project. The initiative is supported by the Austrian Development Agency (ADA). Amplifying Voices provides advisory and training support to CDC’s community-centred media work, along with some funding.

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If you’ve been following the Facebook page of Amplifying Voices Pakistan, you’ll have seen this story unfold over the last few weeks. But we feel it’s a story worth re-telling. It’s the story of a radio programme that dug a new borehole!

Since November last year a new partner organisation, Community Media Power, founded by Amplifying Voices Pakistan, has been making radio programmes based on conversations in two or three isolated communities outside Nowshera. In one of these programmes, community members talked about the efforts they have to go to to fetch water. A listener was moved by the story and decided to help the community do something about it.

The community lives in an informal settlement that was built about 40 years ago by people who had fled from their homes in Afghanistan. The current residents, numbering around 50-60 families, have still not been fully integrated into the wider community. However, at some point several years ago, someone did dig a couple of boreholes to provide clean water. The pipes lining the boreholes have since rusted and one of the pumps has lost its handle. With no fresh water available locally, community members had to cross a railway track and walk to another community to fetch water, where they were not always welcome and sometimes chased away.

Community Media Power created a radio programme with the community voices telling this story and a local FM station in Nowshera aired the programme. A woman, who was looking for a suitable way to give charitably in preparation for Ramadan, heard the story and decided to get in touch. She said that if the community could get the work started before Ramadan, she would pay for a new borehole and repairs to the other two.

The new borehole has been located near the mosque, with a solar powered pump, a 1000-gallon storage tank so that water is always available from the borehole via taps. This has an additional benefit of providing water for worshipers washing before prayers. The broken boreholes have had the metal lining removed and replaced with more durable plastic pipe lining, and the pump mechanism refurbished.

Community volunteers feed plastic lining into new borehole, Nowshera, March 2022

It only took a week to dig the new borehole, drilling down to 150ft to ensure a good supply of clean water. When the new borehole was ready, the community held a celebration event, to which the donor also came. She gave a radio interview via Community Media Power, encouraging others to do something similar, providing communities with means to develop themselves.

We know that a radio programme cannot actually dig a borehole, but we continue to be encouraged by the power of community-centred radio programmes to advocate for communities whilst also mobilising the community members to take action locally.

Installing borehole - Video courtesy of Community Media Power and Amplifying Voices

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I joined our partners, Community Development Centre (CDC Uganda) on a trip to the Omugu 4 village to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of Soot SemeeSoot Semee means “Voice of Compassion” in Juba Arabic podcast production. 111 episodes of the community-centred podcast have been produced and distributed since January 2020. We arrived a bit late but we were welcomed enthusiastically by Omugo 4 community members, and the event quickly got under way. A woman got everybody singing and then a local pastor said a prayer. A Soot Semee volunteer led proceedings and invited various project stakeholdersstakeholders are people who are affected by the project, or who have influence to affect the project to speak. The speeches were a fantastic opportunity to hear from a diversity of voices about the impact Soot Semee has been having. The Soot Semee team were on hand to record the speeches for the next podcast. And then there was dancing …

Some women from Omugo 4 welcome our vehicle, Omugo, 2022.

Some speakers were refugee settlers from Omugo 4 who listened to Soot Semee. Some were members of the Ugandan host community who also listen to Soot Semee.

Soot Semee volunteer comperes event, while another volunteer records for the next podcast. Omugo, 2022

I learned that there are 12 women and 6 men who are volunteers gathering content to produce Soot Semee programmes .We’ve always described the Soot Semee programmes as “podcasts” because they are digital files stored on memory cards and played on digital audio players or “speakerboxes”. I learned that, in Omugo 4, Soot Semee is described as a “community radio”, and that speakerboxes are just called “radios”.

We heard several people say Soot Semee has been successful in building peace among refugees in Omugo 4 village, and also between refugees and host community members.

“These programmes have really changed the people of Omugo 4. As you also talk of unity. As you come here you will see youth, women, elderly, they all come together. And there is also formation of [listener] groups as a result of this radio. If you come to Omugo 4 there are a lot of groups. Even in the host communities.”

(Ugandan community member)

“Since 2019, Soot Semee do wonderful things in this community of Omugo 4. Back then there were divisions, but since Soot Semee came, we are together now. Back then the refugee community and the host community have been in different positions, but right now because of Soot Semee they have become as one family.”

(South Sudanese community member, Soot Semee Council of Reference)

The representative of the Ugandan prime minister’s office (OPM), responsible for overseeing the settlements, said that he used to see a lot of bruised faces in Omugo because of fighting, but now “they are shiny”.

One area of conflict, gender-based violence (GBV), got special mention because of the huge reduction in cases. The Ugandan police official responsible for responding to cases of conflict and domestic violence in the Omugo villages said,

“All of you are talking about cases of GBV are being reduced. I’m very very happy that my workload has been reduced. … I am stood up to show appreciation that the workload has been reduced for me. Let the radio continue.”

(OC, Omugo Zone)

Maybe you want a more scientific measure for this outcome, but what I heard were huge cheers and claps, especially from women in the group, when reduction of GBV was mentioned, and a mood that indicated that GBV is considered unacceptable and should be eradicated. Through the mix of “on-air” Soot Semee content, and “off-air” activities of other service providers, GBV is being rejected as a social norm in and around Omugo 4.

The officials, listeners, and volunteers all took the opportunity to tell me they wanted Soot Semee to continue building peace and to grow in its influence, hopefully with more input from CDC and Amplifying Voices.

Another comment from the OPM:

“When Soot Semee came to our office there, we gave them a stone. They threw their stone and the stone landed in Omugo 4.  Who of you has ever thrown a stone in the water? How do the waves go? They go up the end of the river. So that means that Soot Semee should go to the end of the Omugo Zone. All villages in Omugo should receive Soot Semee.”

For young people, learning journalism skills has given them a real sense of purpose. They want to learn more. One of the volunteers said that he valued being trusted by the community. A community leader said he wanted to see the young people who currently report on local community issues to even go to Nairobi and report on issues there. But they are limited by resources, for example some volunteers don’t have mobile phones to be able to find out about local stories. Volunteers need to find ways to balance the time required for gathering community content and dealing with their own personal situations. This is a challenge for the project developing in a sustainable way.

I was asked to speak too. As I passed on greetings and congratulations from our team and supporters in the UK, I also picked up on the reports from community members that people are buying their own speakerboxes to be able to listen to Soot Semee, and others are downloading Soot Semee on to phones. Through local resolve and local initiative, the waves from the stone are already rippling out. We are honoured to walk alongside CDC and the Soot Semee team as they explore where this takes them.

As we mentioned last month, one potential new direction for Soot Semee is the route of return, back into South Sudan. As part of that exploration, I also visited Yei in South Sudan where CDC first got started. CDC South Sudan would like to introduce community-centred media in Yei and some outlying towns, building peace among settlers, returnees, and internally displaced people. We’ll pick up on that story in a couple of weeks time …

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