Radios in Kwamala

Originally posted at http://teamsuriname.wordpress.com

Maggie Schmeitz, Communications Program Officer, and I stayed behind in Kwamala with our generous host, Joe Adams, a Peace Corps volunteer who is wrapping up his 2+ year service in Suriname this summer. Quick aside: Joe and I quickly discovered that we had grown up 20 minutes away from each other in Minnesota, USA, and knew some of the same people. Talk about a small world!

Maggie and I stayed at a lodge run by Conservation International (CI), an NGO working in Kwamala. Although no cell coverage and few computers exist in Kwamala, existing means of communication quickly (and loudly!) jumped out. The radio at CI was used 6+ hours every day we were there by a core group of village members. Although it was possible to receive radio news broadcasts from Brazil, people used this to communicate to other villages, with friends. There are 7 radios in Kwamala including one at the airport office and one at the health clinic. It’s used to report emergencies, order supplies, and share general news, just like a cell phone is.

During my interview with Suzanne, the head of the school in Kwamala, she shared that she used to use the radio to communicate with a teacher at another AmerIndian village in the interior to swap tips and ask for teaching suggestions, but now it is too busy. Although radio and mobile phones fulfill similar communication needs, community members advocated for cell phones so that they wouldn’t have to wait so long for the radio. In fact, some just stopped using the radio because it would take so long to gain access. Also, a number of people said that the channels were getting busier and harder to use.

The radio in the picture above is powered by a car battery which is recharged by a generator.