AMARC Conference in Kathmandu, Nepal

The AMARC Conference in Kathmandu Nepal

Report from Pete Tridish of Prometheus Radio Project

AMARC is (looslely translated) the World Association of Community Broadcasters, and a few hundred of us met for six days in Nepal, February 21-27 of 2003. Ford Foundation, through IIE, provided support for the participation of Prometheus Radio Project at this event.

AMARC creates networks of support and solidarity between community broadcasters from around the world. They send out  alerts when community media is targeted by repressive regimes, testify before governments considering the liberalization of their media policies, and of course hold conferences every three years so that bridges can be built between broadcasters from all over the world.

The gathering had the feel of a United Nations meeting, with simultaneous translation of plenaries in English, Spanish, French and Nepali. I met some incredible broadcasters from every corner of the globe, and learned just how small a part the US is of the world community radio movement. There are thousands of stations around the world, and they are on the move in the service of the social movements against war, domination, and corruption.

Prometheus was specifically requested by Elizabeth Robinson, North American Chair of AMARC, to conduct a several day workshop teaching the construction of radio stations.  Two other groups were coming that would collaborate in this process. Radiophony.com, an India based organization which builds tiny (50 milliwatt), unlicensed transmitters for villages using just $2 worth of locally available parts. These transmitters would not be usable in cities, but where there is no other radio these units can cover a 1 kilometer radius. Wontok Enterprises, a private Canadian company, manufactures a$4500 "radio station in a suitcase" for sale on the international market. I shaped this idea to fit in with my expertise and available resources. Since I just had funding specifically for travel and related expenses, I purchased equipment from out of my pocket, with a few generous donations from other Philadelphia radio enthusiasts.

My plan was to purchase a few transmitter kits from the English transmitter company, nrgkits.com, and build them on site with the conference participants. We would then try to gather together everything else we needed from local hardware stores and sources- antennas, basic audio equipment, enclosures that will be able to  handle the climate, etcetera.

My approach was to teach an approach to building which uses what is locally available as much as possible. If a piece of the unit eventually breaks, people would then be able to apply their knowledge and problem solving skills. The alternative approach is Wantok's "radio in a suitcase," in which the whole thing comes to the community completely perfect and as disaster-proof as possible. Their unit, however, was far beyond the means of most of the attendees at the conference- it would really only be afforded by stations receiving some form of government or NGO assistance.

My main goal was to provide sufficient training to assure that students would be prepared- with just the core of a few hundred dollars in kits to make a radio station work anytime, anyplace, anyhow!

I purchased and brought to Nepal two transmitter kits, a compressor/limiter kit, and a small amplifier, to be assembled during the conference and given away to stations in Asia. Over several days of hard work, several dozen people had a hand in constructing this equipment- and by the end, surprising no one more than myself…all of it worked!

The completed equipment went to three groups. The first was given to Anchal Gardia, of the rural movement Jan Jagrity Kendra. Jan Jagrity Kendra is a human rights advocacy and social service organization for many villages in the Raipur region of India. The transmitter will be used in one of the villages. They are best known for their of work against modern slavery and for rehabilitating formerly bonded laborers.

The other transmitter went to Manisha Aryal. She is a founder of the radio production group Antenna in Kathmandu Nepal. Antenna produces news, public affairs and radio drama for the state radio network of Nepal. They will initially use the transmitter for training, but one day hope to get one of Nepal's very hard to obtain radio licenses.

A compressor limiter was also built, and was given to Sandesh Srestha of Koshi FM, a community radio station about 300 km outside of Kathmandu.

I got at least 20 invitations to assist groups who are trying to set up or upgrade community radio stations around the world, from Papua New Guinea, to Nigeria, to Haiti, to Pakistan. I learned a great deal about the barriers that these small organizations face when they try to set up radio stations for their communities, causing me to consider ways that we in the United States can help these groups get past some of their difficulties in starting up.

Prometheus hopes to sort these out and set up a clearinghouse for radio assistance projects and volunteers from community stations in  the United States who would like to participate in international radio solidarity work. We also want to raise money for equipment for groups who can not afford to buy their own, and act as a clearing house for donated gear. Additionally, we'd like to translate dome of our materials so they can be used around the world.

I found that there are many people with great skill working in these places, but even the most commonly available parts in the United States are kept out of their markets with 100% and 200% import tariffs!  Western volunteers can provide material aid, intellectual exchange, technical skills for groups that do not yet have them, and a personal connection to people in the resource rich United States. Enclosed with this report are drafts for forms to be used with this program.

In Nepal, the per capita income is approximately $360 per year. I was very fortunate to meet Suresh Uprety, who works as a radio engineer for Radio Nepal. By Nepali standards, he is fairly well off, making an income equivalent to $105 US per month. He provided essential support to the success of this project. Suresh is much more knowledgeable about radio technology than I am. As a fully educated radio engineer, he was easily competent to build the transmitters that I brought. But his access to even the most common parts and supplies to ply his trade ( 50 ohm coaxial cable, N connectors, Butane) was depressing. His first amateur radio station ( value $200 US dollars)  was subjected to an import tariff of 300% He sold his motorcycle to be able to get it, but it was worth it because it created an invaluable link to the world outside of Nepal. The combination of his technical knowledge and local connections with my resources and deliberately empowering teaching style made for a great educational experience.

AMARC had sessions about many topics. My obligations to my students did not allow me to go to many of the ones that I would have liked to attend, particularly  sessions on transition to digital broadcasting and program listening sessions. One story that particularly fascinated me was from the session on "broadcasting in times of war."

A Nepali station located in one of the Maoist controlled territories of Nepal ( about 35% of the country is currently controlled by the insurgency) told about their experiences with journalistic integrity in times of crisis. After September 11th, the government of Nepal jumped on the international bandwagon and renamed its Maoist insurgency "terrorists" in order to justify their steps to quell the uprising. The king had suspended all elected officials and ruled through his cabinet during the new state of emergency.

This radio station read press releases from the government, and used their language in describing the Maoist rebels as terrorists.  One day, the station received a threatening phone call from the rebels, basically saying "If you call us terrorists again, we will come in there and kill all of you." The station decided to revise its language policy and use somewhat less loaded terms in describing the insurgents.

Soon afterward, the station faced a difficult decision. They decided to air a piece they produced about the Geneva conventions, which both the Maoists and the government regularly violate in their civil war. After the recent death threat, they feared reprisals.

A phone call came from the Maoists- congratulating them!

The caller essentially said " We didn't know half of that! Our fighters are uneducated farmers, and had never heard of most of these rules about human rights. We intend to use your radio program to teach the rules of engagement to our forces, and to hold the government to them as well. Please make more shows like that!."

Stories like this of the power of radio abounded at the conference. To be honest, I did not participate very much in the elections and plenaries and resolutions, since my organization is not a voting member. But in small group discussions, I learned a great deal about the obstacles that would face Prometheus in expanding into international radio work. Ethical handling of the distortions created in local power structures by international donors was a major area of learning for me.

Realistic assessments of risk from peers who live under monarchies and dictatorships were also helpful to me. In my life's work as an agent of social change, I have taken substantial risks. Things I have done have landed some in jail, and resulted in physical violence for others. Seeing how my peers in other countries took similar risks in situations with higher stakes and much more dire potential consequences was an inspiration.

Particularly thrilling was the opportunity to meet Zane Ibrahim. Attached is a document I wrote up for our website about this man's great contribution to the South African freedom  struggle and his powerful influence on behalf of low power radio in the United States.  

The trip to Nepal was a giant step towards our long held dream at Prometheus Radio Project of  expanding  our work overseas. Although I have had doubts about our efficacy  because I am not a formally trained radio engineer, I found from talking to people that in many cases, professional radio engineers who try to help actually end up building systems that are too complex and require excessive maintenance. They also often do not have the pedagogical skills to transfer essential knowledge to the people who will need to run the stations. We think that our volunteer matching and fundraising role will be of great use to many organizations around the world.