BBC journalists train Sierra Leone radio stations

Child rights are addressed by the station

Journalists from BBC Radio Humberside travelled out to the country earlier this year to provide training and other support to the radio stations MODCAR FM in Moyamba and Voice of the Handicapped in Freetown.

MODCAR, which stands for Moyamba District Children’s Awareness Radio, is supported by Plan. The radio station is situated in a rural area 75 miles south of the capital, it is an agricultural area where most people live in widely dispersed villages with no power, running water or tarmac roads.

Radio Humberside's Louise Adamou gives advice

The radio station is really the only link between these scattered communities. The station is run by the children themselves and produces a wide range of programmes on health, human rights, education and other subjects of interest to young people.

The volunteers working on the station age from eight to eighteen. Children’s rights are the main message behind the station’s work. The civil war put increased pressure on the already fragile position of children in Sierra Leone society.

Children from MODCAR interview hospital nurses

One of the volunteers Harriet Tucker says it is about raising awareness of social issues; “In most of the areas in Sierra Leone people don’t value education and so as the child reaches the teenage age they decide to send them into marriage.”

Sandra Brobbey, Media Officer for Plan UK says that the station is a crucial part in the rebuilding of the community; “When rebel forces attacked Moyamba during the war many children witnessed atrocities, lost close relatives or were kidnapped by rebel forces. MODCAR is regarded as a positive forum for reconciliation for those affected by the conflict. It has helped to reintegrate ex-combatants and young people traumatised by the civil war in Sierra Leone.”

Voice of the Handicapped was originally created to cater for the disabled community but has since broadened its broadcasting to cover all parts of society.