Catherine Wanjiku is a young radio presenter on Radio Koch FM, based in the Korogocho slum in Nairobi. She was in Brazil for the first editions of the World Social Forum 2010 in Porto Alegre and Salvador. Wanjiku also went to Belo Horizonte, visiting Radio Favela – which inspired the creation of Koch – as well as cultural movements and community radio stations that were interested in the Kenyan story.
Some of the most surprising things that Wanjiku talks about deal with the period of conflict in Kenya during 2007, when elections led to violent confrontations between supporters of candidates from different ethnic groups, attacks on communities and cases of fires started in churches during services, all of which left an enormous number of people dead and injured. According to her, Radio Koch’s work was instrumental in keeping the conflict outside the enormous slum. One year later, Koch was legalised and it inspired the creation of other community radio stations in two other slums, among them the vast Kibera shantytown.
Here, you can read some passages from Ciranda’s interview with Catherine Wanjiku.
How and why did you become part of the Radio Koch team?
I’m 20 years old. I became part of the Koch FM team in 2009. I started as an intern, and because of my hard work now I am staff and working as a presenter of a programme called ‘Mabeshte’. This programme deals with youths, what is happening around them, and what happens in Korogocho. It is an evening show from 4-6pm; this time is when people are out of work and very tired. It’s also a request show and it also gives youth a space to express
themselves.
In 2006/07, Radio Koch had a programme that dealt with the protection of women’s rights and campaigning against rape, with Helen Shiko. How is the situation today?
The programme is still on, we are still advocating for this behaviour to stop
completely. There are very few cases of these rape cases now. We also invite
experts (women) during this programme to talk on different issues.
In 2007, when Radio Koch helped the WSF to mobilize voluntaires and artists, it was connected to the Korogocho cultural events in Nairobi? Are they working together? What are they doing?
Yes this has been happening; last year we had one event. Koch FM and other
organisations participated. This happens every end of the year, in the month of
December. This is when all the organisations exhibit what they have, their
experiences, and what they do for the community.
How do you feel about Radio Koch having to work in difficult conditions?
The need to serve the community surpasses all the challenges faced and with
the spirit of volunteerism makes all of us proud of the outcomes of being the
voice of the voiceless
Since the WSF in Nairobi, and during the the conflicts in 2007/08, what has Radio Koch been doing?
Koch FM really worked hard to advocate peace in Korogocho. For a long time, the
Korogocho slum has been taken as a place with a lot of violence, drug
dealing, human rights violations, rape cases and other bad things. Since
2007, Radio Koch started working closely with the community. Now Koch FM has educative programmes that deal with these issues. Also in 2007/08, during
the crisis, Koch FM worked as a mobilizing tool to inform people that all
of us are one people, there is no need to fight your neighbour and we should live as one. A lot of people thought that Korogocho would be affected or residents would fight each other, but this was all wrong. Through Radio Koch we worked hard to calm people’s minds down. Apart from that, we invited other people from the community to talk to the others on air eg. Youth leaders, area chiefs, some of
the residents in Koch and also as presenters during our programmes we really
told people that fighting is not the solution. A lot of people were surprised that
Korogocho was not affected and nobody was fighting each other.
There are other community radio stations in Nairobi today. Are they inspired by Koch?
Yes, there are 2 of them: Pamoja FM in Kibera and Ghetto FM in Majengo. All of these radio stations were inspired by Koch FM.
Why is it important for Radio Koch to be in Brazil taking part in the WSF events?
It was important for Radio Koch to participate in the WSF in Brazil. First of
all, as a presenter from Koch FM, I was able to share with many community
radio stations what they do, their experiences, their programmes, where they are
located, and we also shared CD’s from different stations and programmes. I was even given an opportunity to talk about Koch FM as a community radio in a slum
area. Koch FM was given an opportunity to participate in several forums and
mass movements in Salvador and Porto Alegre. All the forums were great and had am impact; for example, I learnt that people in
Brazil, the blacks and the rest, are willing to work together.
How did you find the activities with Radio Favela in Belo Horizonte?
They have got educative programmes and good news reporters and they work together to keep the station going. They were fine and I felt a part of them too.
Translated by Jack White