Nyambura and others think harmful stereotypes have been around so long that many people in Tana River now believe them. She traces this back to the early days of Kenya’s independence, when President Jomo Kenyatta prioritised developing regions with rich agriculture, leaving drier areas like Tana River neglected. “This neglect,” Nyambura explains, “allowed damaging labels to stick—terms even used by aid groups and the media.” Over time, phrases like “unproductive and unskilled,” “conflict-prone,” “backward and isolated,” and “dependent on aid” have unfairly defined the region. Nyambura warns, “These narratives create a victim mentality, making people feel powerless to change their circumstances or challenge those in power.” 

Even journalists at Vox Radio sometimes reinforce these ideas. “It’s too easy to see Tanarians as victims instead of resilient people overcoming challenges,” says Nyambura. That’s why Vox Radio focuses on “solutions journalism,” which highlights how communities are solving their problems instead of only reporting the issues. “We need to listen to people, let them tell their stories, and showcase their strengths.”

Nyambura shared a story about Yoash, a Vox journalist whose farming show is helping change perceptions. One destructive narrative he challenges is the idea that pastoralists (from the Orma community) and farmers (from the Pokomo community) are enemies competing for resources. Yoash’s programs bring members of both groups together to discuss shared challenges and find solutions. He also highlights success stories, like a pastoralist couple (pictured above) who had set up a business of turning the parts of the animals that are usually discarded, like horns, bones and hoofs, into stunning ornaments and jewellery. After appearing on his show, they received many calls from listeners eager to learn more or buy their creations.

When Amplifying Voices initially set up Vox Radio in 2017 (formerly Amani FM), in partnership with the Amani Centre, its purpose was to build peace and disrupt the narrative of conflict that had plagued the region for many decades. With peace now taking root in Tana River County, the airwaves of Vox Radio are alive with a renewed sense of purpose and a new mission: to inspire Tana River’s communities to thrive – with a new narrative. One where farmers share sustainable practices, young entrepreneurs showcase their ideas, and elders envision a brighter future. Vox Radio has become more than a platform—it’s a symbol of hope, encouraging people to dream beyond peace and work toward lasting prosperity.

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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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“Love your enemies! Do good to them.” ~ Jesus

“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.” ~Nelson Mandela

I have been deeply troubled to see the terrible loss of life that has happened in Israel and Gaza in recent days, as violence provokes more violence, with no peaceful end in sight to what seems the world’s most intractable conflict.

All too often these days it seems our media are awash with news of an assault by this or that group against another, often driven by some flawed ideology, misguided zealotry, or ultranationalism.

Fatma Mzee is the Operations Director of the Amani Centre in Tana River

Media, especially social media, often pour fuel on the raging fire and before too long you have a conflagration. It concerns me greatly!

However I am also greatly heartened when so often, acts of savagery and brutality result in a surge of love and kindness, as people rise to help the victims of violence or vendettas and people open their homes to refugees and outcasts. As usual when systems and processes fail us, we tap into our own resources, and friendships. It’s what strong communities do. Growing up in eastern Kenya, I have seen this happen, in fact it is one of the reasons I became a journalist. I believed media and communication could help communities, especially divided ones, connect better. And it can!  I have experienced it first hand in Tana River, in the eastern part of Kenya, where I live.

I was working for Nation Media group after the 2012 massacres in Tana River  and it was really bad, there was such hatred especially between the Orma, pastoralist community and Pokomo, land farming community.  The place was rife with rumours and misinformation and the situation was tense, as one act of violence provoked reprisals which left many dead and thousands displaced. But rather than dwelling on the past, let me fast forward to today because Tana River is a very different place.  Sure there are still many problems, but the divisions that were common then, are hard to find now. Former enemies have now become friends, there is greater understanding and dialogue and people even intermarry across ethnic groups. How did it happen?  It would be naive to say there was one reason, but I have no doubt that one of the main influences has been Vox Radio, formerly Amani (which means peace) FM.   Set up as a collaborative venture between the Amani Centre, Sentinel Project and Amplifying Voices (formerly HCR) to promote peace, Vox serves as a beacon of hope and a platform for dialogue, amplifying the voices of local communities, allowing them to express themselves and engage in constructive conversations.

Orma pastoralists, Tana River County (Photo credit: Cafod)

Take the case of Yusuf for example. He was a pastoralist and hated the tribe that farmed the land. But through our farming programme ‘Sauti ya Mkulima’ (the Voice of the Farmer), which brought pastoralists and land farmers together to discuss their shared challenges, they discovered they actually had a lot of common ground, not least of all that they were all in fact farmers. Over time, Yusuf, encouraged by his new crop-growing friends, decided that he would try his hand at growing watermelons along the banks of the Tana River.  He was so successful that he is now investing in an agri business, while still rearing cattle. Together pastoralists and land-farmers are gradually realising that to overcome the enormous challenges Tana River faces, such as the effects of the climate emergency, they need to find solutions together. It will take time, and patience!

A key to Vox Radio’s success is that we have built a lot of trust.  Trust takes a long time to build but just one second to destroy, so we cannot be complacent. But I do believe we are seen as an impartial champion of well-being for all the communities of Tana River. We have done this in several ways:

• By listening – to understand the hopes, aspirations and concerns that people have and providing a space for them to be heard
• By involving all communities – literally moving from one village to another and inviting villages to meet with each other.  We have even taken politicians with us, so they see first hand what people are facing and listen to their concerns
• By fact checking and challenging rumours and misinformation head on
• Through excellent radio programmes that engage the communities – talk shows, ‘phone-ins, dramas and programmes that hold the political classes to account
• By helping the communities to find common ground, rather than focus on their differences.
• Through sport and other community events – people who have fun together, can reason together.
• By using all media-platforms that support the radio, including social media, posters, banners and campaigns.

I believe that if we want to see sustainable development come to Tana River, it must go hand-in-hand with peace-building. We therefore need development solutions that prevent conflict and extremism and promote peace and security.  For that we need to keep the communities at the centre of all that we do and involve them at every stage. We need to promote peaceful narratives and behaviour that strengthens health and mental well-being. And we need to strengthen gender equality so girls have the same opportunities as boys.

I’m convinced that in today’s interconnected world, even in more marginalised regions like Tana River, radio and the internet are emerging as powerful tools for building peace, fostering understanding and promoting unity among diverse communities. I believe that peace is possible! I pray the Israelis and Palestinians will discover this too.

****

Fatma Mzee is Director of the Amani Centre in Tana River and is a guest speaker at this year’s Build Peace Conference in Nairobi

Picture credit: Re-imagining New Communities 

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Meanwhile the Minjilla station, which is solar-powered has given the team a new lease of life and has helped them become more environmentally and financially sustainable. As Fatma says: “In the old station we were on and off air, depending on if we had sufficient funds to pay the electricity bill, but now thanks to the solar power we never have to worry.”

An engineer installs the Solar Panels to provide power to Vox Radio

Alongside the radio station, plans are also progressing with the development of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) hub which will be co-located at the Vox Radio site.  The Vox team has just launched an exciting new programme in partnership with the Paradigm Initiative, known as L.I.F.E, an acronym that stands for Life Skills, ICTs, Financial Readiness, and Entrepreneurship. This programme offers free ICT skills to young people and women in Tana River County to give them digital literacy skills. Twenty excited students took their place yesterday for the first 10-week course, which was such an event that it even made the evening national news bulletin. John believes this and other ICT initiatives will be crucial to reducing poverty in Tana River, while improving community access to health and education services as well as creating new sources of income and employment.  “It will bridge the digital divide that has for years left the marginalised communities in Tana River and especially women and girls excluded from present-day opportunities,” he says.

Participants and Vox Radio team members at the inaugural ‘LIFE’, digital literacy skills workshop (photo: courtesy Vox Radio)

The post Vox Radio Goes Regional appeared first on Amplifying Voices.

“If the radio station was not there, we would feel insecure again!”

These words from a listener to Umoja FM were one of the many powerful testimonies we heard, as Johnny and I visited different communities in the chiefdom of Watalinga in the DRC’s conflict-affected region of North Kivu.  Story after story confirmed how this humble radio station has been a life-line to local communities, seeing them through war, a refugee crisis, an Ebola outbreak and the pandemic.  One listener told us: “Before Covid arrived in the DRC, Umoja had prepared us, so we knew how to protect ourselves.”

It’s been nearly 5 years since anyone from our team has been able to visit the radio station that Amplifying Voices helped set up in 2016, as part of an initiative to promote peace and development in this region. During that time all of our contact with the team has been through WhatsApp calls and text messages.  And despite many setbacks, including equipment failure, the team managed to stay on the air, continuing the community conversations.  Even the war couldn’t stop them.  As station manager Baraka told us, “When thousands were fleeing to Uganda because the rebels attacked the town, our team decided it was important to stay.  The army felt we were providing such an important service to the community that they even sent soldiers to defend our station.”

Accompaniment

An important part of Amplifying Voices’ work is to ‘walk alongside’ our partners as they support their communities, which are often facing challenging circumstances.  We call this “accompaniment” and while a lot of it takes place on-line, nothing beats face-to-face visits. Our recent visit to the DRC was a wonderful opportunity to build on our relationships with the local team as well as support them with training, technical advice and equipment.  As the Democratic Republic of Congo gears up for elections in December, an important part of our training workshop this visit was devoted to the role of Umoja FM in the run up to, during and after the election and especially how the station can contribute to a peaceful, democratic process. While training on conventional subjects like reporting, we placed an emphasis on ‘solutions journalism‘, which takes a different approach to conventional news reporting by focusing on how communities respond to and resolve social issues and problems themselves.

After completing a community-centred media workshop, the Umoja FM team proudly display their certificates of participation

Extending the Reach

During our visit we upgraded the radio transmitter. To confirm this was having an effect, we took the opportunity to visit some remote communities who feel disconnected from the wider community as they have little access to reliable information and no mobile phone connectivity.  When we arrived in one village, Kichanga, we were ushered in to join a community meeting led by the local chief, discussing their need for a school and a medical clinic. They were delighted that they can now hear Umoja FM in the village instead of taking their radios out to the high ground. Umoja presenter Sammy interviewed the chief, telling him that his voice would be on the radio that evening to amplify the voice of his village. We are still working with Umoja team to extend the radio signal to other villages who can’t yet receive it.

Umoja FM presenter, Sammy interviews local chief for the evening programme

New Studio Building

Besides the importance of extending the reach of the station to communities that are underserved by radio, the Umoja FM studio is itself facing major challenges. This old wattle and daub building, has been in existence for more than a decade, but it has finally succumbed to damage from termites, weather and war. To that end, Amplifying Voices in partnership with FEBC Australia, has committed to helping our local partner ESADER to build a new building. Albert, the President of ESADER says: “The construction of a new studio building to replace the existing one, will enable Umoja FM to operate sustainably into the future and is part of an ongoing process to help the radio station to increase its reach to communities that have little or no access to radio or other media.”

Construction of the new building is planned to begin in October.

The current Umoja FM studio affected by years of termite, weather and war damage

The post “The Radio gives us security” appeared first on Amplifying Voices.

It’s not every day you get to hang out with local heroes, but that was the joy my colleague Kevin from FEBC Australia and I had recently when we visited the Vox Radio team in eastern Kenya’s Tana Delta. After the end of one of the most peaceful elections ever in Kenya, Vox Radio was awarded a certificate of recognition as “heroes” for the amazing role they played in spreading peace in Tana River County. And their recognition is well-deserved, as since 2017, this young team has been working tirelessly to engage with every community in the region, promoting dialogue, listening to fears, challenging hate speech and misinformation. Everywhere we went, from government offices to small villages, we were told that Vox Radio had played a significant role, not just in bringing harmony between rival groups, but in promoting health and development and championing those whose voices were rarely heard.

“Vox Radio has been instrumental in bringing peace to Tana Delta.”

Hon Ali Wario, MP tells Jon about the value of Vox Radio

Even the local MP for the region is impressed.  In a meeting at his parliamentary office in Nairobi, Honourable Ali Wario, told me that Vox Radio had been instrumental in bringing peace to the region.  Recalling the massacre in Tana River ten years ago, Hon Wario said the county was in such a different place now, and that Vox Radio had played a big part in changing the atmosphere by promoting understanding between the different communities.  He added that the station had also been a big help during the pandemic with its educational and health programmes.

During our visit we met different communities who told us how Vox Radio spoke with their voice.  We also heard however, how difficult life had become. Drought has ravaged livestock, crops and livelihoods. With dramatic increases in costs due to the war in Ukraine, many said they didn’t know how they would manage going forward. In one village a school had sent all their children home saying they could not attend as they weren’t able to pay school fees, which was devastating news to the families, adding to Tana River’s education crisis.  The county already lags far behind the rest of Kenya, having among the lowest transition rates between primary and secondary schools and the lowest literacy level nationally.

This was brought home to us during our visit to a school in Tana Delta, where 13 teachers are responsible for the education of 900 students. The head teacher Mole Hashako Yako, listed a range of challenges from providing enough food and water each day for children, to education resources and classroom furniture.  And yet she believes that access to quality education is one of the most effective ways to enable communities to break the cycle of under-development and dependency.

To that end, it was a delight for us to finalise an agreement with the Amani Centre (community-based organisation) to establish a new information communication technology (ICT) hub in the rapidly expanding town of Minjilla on the LAPSSET corridor.  At the centre of this community-led initiative will be Vox Radio, which will move to Minjilla in January 2023.  Mrs Hashako Yako believes this ICT hub, integrated with the work of Vox Radio could revolutionise the learning for resource-deprived schools like hers.  During the Covid-19 pandemic, Vox Radio proved the value of radio in education through their ‘school of the air‘. With partners such as Elimu and their innovative digital learning resources, we believe this centre will revolutionise education, health and development in Tana River County for years to come.

John Green (Amani Centre Chair) with Jon and Kevin Keegan (CEO of FEBC Australia) and the signed agreement to establish the new ICT Hub

Featured photo: Fatma Mzee receives the “Heroes Award” on behalf of Vox Radio
(Picture courtesy of Vox Radio)

The post Local Peace Heroes 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.

In partnership with the Amani Centre and FEBC Australia, a major opportunity has arisen to establish an “ICT” hub that we believe will bring dramatic changes for the region’s population, which has often felt disadvantaged and neglected. ICT stands for information communication technology, and initiatives like the one we are planning, have been widely documented as being crucial to reducing poverty, improving access to health and education services and creating new sources of income and employment.

Chairman of the Amani Centre, John Otunga, believes this community-led initiative will be a game changer for Tana River’s communities: “The ICT hub is so significant at this time as it will bridge the digital divide that has for years left the marginalised communities in Tana River and especially women and girls excluded from present-day opportunities.”

Central to the ICT hub will be Vox Radio (formerly Amani FM) which Amplifying Voices helped set up in 2017 and which has become a trusted friend to the communities that it it serves*.  It will continue to reach these communities and many more, however it will relocate 6km away to the town of Minjilla, a town that is fast becoming a nerve centre in East Africa’s largest infrastructure project, the LAPSSET trade corridor between Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

John says that most young people in Tana River are either unemployed or underemployed despite the government’s best efforts to create online jobs, but he believes this ICT hub, the first and only centre in Tana River,  will empower young people with employable skills in the digital space.  “It will build the capacity of the young minds to become creative, and access digital learning and digital jobs to empower them economically and have sustainable skills. The centre will offer mentorship while employing a collaborative learning approach that will spur development and inspire innovation that will hatch local solutions to local problems,” he says.

Working with other like-minded groups, we believe this ICT hub will greatly expand the transformative work of the local radio team, combining the power of the FM station with resources such as a digital learning centre, vocational training and a community library – alongside the vital misinformation warning project, Una Hakika.

The post A Game Changer in Tana River 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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