SFCG celebrates World Radio Day

World Radio Day

Radio is an important, yet often overlooked, dimension of today’s communication systems.

In the explosion of social media, iPhones and thousands of television channels, it can be easy to overlook this fundamental technology that preceded it all and still plays a huge role in connecting much of the world that lacks stable access to energy and more sophisticated equipment.

So on World Radio Day, SFCG celebrates the transformational power of radio. We celebrate its ability to provide low-cost access to information for millions of people around the world and the space it can create for honest discussions regarding fundamental issues such as peace, community, livelihood, and health.

This month, The Soul Beat newletter highlights the role of SFCG in using radio in Africa’s social development, from peacebuilding to civic education to community radio research.

As the first part of a three-piece series, the focus today will be on L’Equipe, “The Team”, radio series in Burundi.

Burundi still feels the after effects of long-term Hutu-Tutsi ethnic conflict, while poverty and high unemployment discourage the youth from feeling they can change their own society.

Broadcasting from June to September 2011, L’Equipe used traditional storytelling and local actors to dramatize the formation of a soccer (football) team. During the extensive 32 parts, the actors demonstrated how non-violence and reconciliation can occur amongst young people, empowering them to be successful together. Peace and unity messages by politicians, a music contest and concert helped to further establish the message of the drama.

L’Equipe is just one of a score of radio and television series in which SFCG has used football to teach the principles of non-violence and reconciliation in conflict-ridden countries throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The latest series, entitled Tim Bui or ”Prison Team”, is debuting in Indonesia this month. (To read more on Tim Bui, click here.)

To read The Soul Beat‘s full article, check it out here.