By Yiep Joseph
Residents in Aweil, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, have called on well-wishers to help get Akol Yam FM back on air.
Akol Yam 91 FM is a local language community radio station managed by The Radio Community (TRC).
On Sunday, a strong thunderstorm brought down the mast of Akol Yam FM, taking the station off air.
According to Chris Marol, the Chief Executive Officer of The Radio Community, the station needs USD 200,000 to get back on air. Marol called on well-wishers to intervene and provide support so that the FM station can be rebuilt, restored, and returned to the airwaves.
“This is a call to all partners, friends of free and independent media, humanitarian agencies, and anyone who believes in the power of trusted information. Your support will help reconnect half a million people to the stories, programs, and messages they rely on,” Marol said.
He added that the funds will be used to procure and install a new 72-meter mast; purchase a new 8-way antenna system, RF cables, and tower lighting; reinforce the mast foundation to withstand future storms; reconnect broadcast systems and safety gear; and train local technical teams in emergency response and maintenance.
He also stated that the collapse of the mast didn’t just end programming; it severed a critical link for remote villages depending on broadcast communication, ongoing civic education and peace efforts, life-saving health alerts and humanitarian messages, and emergency updates during conflict or disaster.
Poil Yel, a resident of Aweil and a listener of Akol Yam 91 FM, expressed his dismay at the incident, which has unfortunately left them with no option but “in darkness.”
“It is a bad situation for our radio to go off after being destroyed by heavy rain. We are now left in darkness since we cannot hear what is happening in other parts of our homes; we only know about our own houses now,” Yel said.
He added that the breakdown of the FM hindered the flow of vital information that could help the residents in Aweil.
“Cholera is killing people here in Aweil, and we have been getting necessary information from this station that broke down. We are left without that information; I do not know how we can be informed from time to time,” he said.
He called on well-wishers to donate and ensure that the radio gets back on air. “I am appealing to the donors and well-wishers in general to help ensure that the radio gets back on air,” he said.
On her part, Mary Athiang, a resident in Aweil, appreciated the donors for keeping the radio on air for so long until it was destroyed over the weekend. She called on partners and well-wishers to support the radio to get back on air, adding that it was helping the communities by providing necessary information.
“I am calling on partners who care about communities left in darkness to come together and contribute in order to bring the radio back on air,” she said.
She added that in the 21st Century, the need to ensure a constant flow of information to communities remains vital in saving lives and in peacebuilding.