Update: 40 Radio Shows and Counting

Preparing, recording, and broadcasting our bi-weekly rural radio program is probably one of the more significant contributions of our Peace Corps service, though we have not talked about it much here since we started last March. That’s partially because we forget about it, as it does not take up huge amounts of time every week,  but also because we ourselves have trouble seeing its impact. However, every once in a while, a fan of the show will speak up, reminding us that we need to update all our readers on this great activity.

The Background: Despite the fact that many of our other projects cost money and require immense effort, we often have to remind ourselves that our radio show project, started last March,  is probably the most sustainable thing we will do during our service. Twice a week, hundreds of listeners who we will never meet and many of whom are completely illiterate are tuning in to hear what the local Tubabs have to say about development. Because most of our listeners are so rurally located, many of them never attend NGO trainings on maternal & child health, gardening, deforestation, sanitation etc. Many of them are ignorant of small lifestyle changes that could significantly improve their well-being. Thus, the goal of our radio shows is to bring that knowledge to them and present it in an interesting way.

The Format: Our radio shows are always dialogues.  Each show centers around one topic; for example, recently, Joye pretended she wanted to start her own garden while on the show and wanted to ask James’s advice. James then proceeded to explain all the points she needed to consider before choosing a garden plot. Joye asked a lot of questions, especially those covering common Malian misconceptions about gardening, and got all of her answers in full. But 30 minutes of nonstop Bambara can be exhausting, so we break up the show every 10 minutes with American songs straight from our Ipods. Often, we try to theme the music in our shows to explain a little about American culture or teach a little English.

Topics we’ve covered recently on our radio shows include: tree planting, the benefits of the Moringa tree, Improved Shea butter methods, composting, organic pesticide and fertilizer recipes, starting a garden, building a vegetable nursery, the importance of fruits and veggies, baby weighing, the three Malian food groups, breastfeeding, hand washing with soap, treating your water, general sanitation practices, oral rehydration solution for diarrheal diseases, American holidays, American Seasons, germs,  the importance of education, the importance of learning other languages, and English lessons.

The Response: Only a week ago, James was on his way to attend a meeting in Duguba when he was startled by a group of very enthusiastic Malians who were thrilled to meet one of the famous local ‘Tubabs’ who they had been listening to on the radio regularly. The four of them proudly recited phrases they had learned from the English lessons on Joye’s shows. They were also vibrantly excited about and complimentary of the gardening discussions on James’s show, since as it turned out, their association had just started a garden and they was soaking in every piece of gardening advice they could find. Still, the coolest detail they shared was that their village was 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Duguba and 35km from our home in a village James had never even heard of.

Though that was one particularly rewarding encounter, we often hear villagers from all over the area more generally tell us that they listen to our shows and thoroughly enjoy them. Sometimes we’re asked to repeat recipes we’ve talked about on air or give advice about a situation. However, the biggest change we feel that we’ve made is simple awareness of many issues concerning agriculture, health, and education. We’re hoping that this understanding of the issues will lay the groundwork for another volunteer to come after us and continue to encourage people to change their behavior and hence improve their quality of life.

- Joye (& James)