Jubie Matlou
The thumping and rhythmic beats from a batar drum to the tune of a melodic choral rendition bring a small displaced community together. The place for this spiritual union is Mayfair, and the day and time is Sunday afternoon.
The sound created by the batar drum is very special to the Somali refugee community as it evokes feelings of nostalgia and helplessness about their war- torn country. The drum is made from the hide of a camel, the national totem of Somalia.
The lyrics of the song the choir sings speak of rejuvenation, a fresh beginning and the building of a new foundation for a better future. Ironically, the envisaged foundations are lain thousands of kilometres away from the ground where that future ought to rise from the ruins of war.
This inspiring tune is a promotion for an hour-long radio programme called Somali Voices, carried by the Mayfair-based The Voice Community Radio. This radio programme is a first of a kind on the broadcasting landscape – produced and hosted by Somali refugees for their 500-strong displaced community.
Abbas Yusef, chair of the Somalian Refugees Association, said Sunday afternoon is very special to his people, as many of his fellow refugees tune in to the radio programme to receive the latest news and developments from their war-ravaged country.
“Somalia has broken down in all respects. So we use the radio programme to foster a spirit of solidarity among ourselves. The radio programme is playing a vital role in helping us to maintain our culture and traditions,” Yusef said.
Apart from news and current affairs, Somali Voices carries information and phone-in chat programmes. This relates to the provision of information relating to day-to-day problems encountered by refugees. Reports of arbitrary arrests and detentions are common, as are threats of deportation. According to Yusef, the radio programme has come to provide a “kind of help-line service for those in desperate conditions”.
Station manager Abe Mayet explained that the idea of providing a slot for the Somalis came about as the Mayfair Muslim community sought various ways of alleviating the plight of the refugees.
“There is a sizeable Somali community in Mayfair, and we go to the same mosques with them. So after service, people often chat and exchange experiences and problems. That’s when the idea of using radio for the benefit of the Somali refugees came to my mind. We provided them with initial training, and since then, we never looked back,” said Mayet.
The relative success of the pilot radio programme led The Voice to introduce a similar hour-long slot to the Ivory Coast refugee community. Other proposals being considered by the station are from the Turkish and Ethiopian refugees. The case of the Ethiopian refugees is of particular interest as that community is predominantly Christian, belonging to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Mayet said although The Voice is a Muslim initiative, the station welcomes anyone with an interest in community radio. The station has also challenged the Somalis to move out of “ghetto broadcasting” and participate in the mainstream programme activities of the station.
Other radio broadcasting initiatives that have undertaken to highlight the plight of refugees are the SABC’s PM Live programme and the Centre for Democratic Communications (CDC) – a non-governmental radio programme production unit.
The CDC has produced 15 documentaries that have been distributed to more than 20 community radio stations. The Refugee Radio Project, as it is known, was commissioned by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Themes covered by the pre-recorded documentaries include definitions of a refugee, rights, the experience of South African exiles, assistance provided to refugees, as well as the conditions of women and children refugees. The programmes have been produced in Zulu and English, in order to facilitate local and international distribution.
Thulani Njapa, CDC radio producer, said the programmes were produced as part of the Roll Back Xenophobia campaign to create awareness among communities so that refugees are received and treated humanely. The campaign is championed by the UNHCR, Lawyers for Human Rights and the Human Rights Commission.
Njapa said they have received positive feedback from the radio stations that received the programmes. “Radio Soshanguve told us that they found the programmes very useful, and they intend to develop further programme ideas around them. The impact of the programmes was high because their distribution coincided with Africa’s Refugee Day on the 20th May last year,” said Njapa.
The UNHCR is set to distribute the programmes to its international offices.