In South Sudan, most people don't have a TV. They rely on
radio to get information. But limited access to power means entire communities
of are left in information darkness for days at a time, especially in remote
areas. One man is turning to the sun to change that.
Issa Kassimu, an electrical engineer, came up with the
bright idea of setting up the country's first solar-powered local radio
station, Mayardit FM. Since March 2016 the station has been running on
sunshine.
The devastating impact of information darkness
Mayardit FM is not only changing the media landscape, it is
also transforming people's lives. Vulnerable populations in South Sudan are
very isolated and any kind of information darkness can have a devastating
impact.
Since South Sudan's independence in 2011 more than 2.5 million
people have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict. The majority of
them, almost 1.6 million, are internally displaced and reliant on word of mouth and radio to
find out how to access food, water and shelter.
Based in Turalei, in the northeast part of South Sudan,
Mayardit FM is fitted with 84 solar panels and 48 batteries and can broadcast
for 24 hours using reserve energy built up from sunlight. Kassimu says that so
far $172,000 was spent on switching to solar power, but those costs will be
covered within five years and will eventually save them money on fuel,
equipment and repairs.
"We used to spend $22,000 a year just to maintain the
generators. In those remote locations, fuel is two to three times more
expensive than the cost in Juba, so I thought of something that could at least
be sustainable," he said.
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| courtesy internews |
Dependency on generators
While Mayardit FM relies on solar power, most radio stations
in South Sudan depend on generators for electricity — because only 1%
of the population has access to the country's electrical grid. These generators
regularly break down due to the unstable energy they produce.
Kassimu is one of a select few in the country who knows how
to repair them. He spends a lot of time travelling, single-handedly fixing
generators. Remember, South Sudan is the size of France so there are large
distances involved and people often wait for days in information darkness.
"Once a generator breaks down, it would take me up to
five days to fly to the location and fix it. And the radio would remain off
air," Kassimu says.
For remote parts of South Sudan radio is often the only link
to the outside world. Kassimu is part of a network of six local radio
stations called the Radio Community which aims to bring radio to the entire
country, broadcasting in local languages and reaching up to 2.1 million listeners.
Two of the stations are off air because of the volatile situation in those
areas.
The project is run by Internews, an NGO funded largely by USAID that aims to empower
local journalists and develop the capacity of media outlets. South Sudan is one
of Internews's biggest projects.
"The illiteracy rates in South Sudan are incredibly
high," says Steven Lemmy, the Radio Community's Senior Broadcast Engineer.
Adult illiteracy rates are around 30%.
"So, if you use one language to broadcast
to all the people around the country who speak different dialects, they will
not understand. The only thing you can do is bring these standalone radio
stations to different, often remote, localities," he says....
By Nikolay Nikolov
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