“Culture Radio”: Fighting Illiteracy in Sierra Leone (eLA 2007)
 In Sierra Leone, Shelter for Africa has initiated various activities to tackle the acute problems that disadvantaged and vulnerable groups are facing. Besides vocational training and projects, education ranks high on the association’s agenda. Today, the literacy rate in Sierra Leone ranges about fifteen percent of the total population, and for the majority – because of entrenched poverty – school fees remain unaffordable. With “Radio Culture”, an independent broadcasting station, the association wants to fill the gap by providing fundamental schooling to the underprivileged via radio.
In Sierra Leone, devices like TVs or PCs are out of reach for most of the people. However, an old functional radio can be found in almost every home. With “Culture Radio”, Shelter for Africa intends to reach everyone interested in getting a basic school education. A qualified teacher at a fixed broadcasting time will give radio lessons - from primary stage up to higher levels of education. In addition, there will be three substations with community teachers to appear in person, helping illiterate students to manage the radio lessons and to surmount individual difficulties. If the student misses some lessons, the community teacher is committed to help him.
The second motive to establish a radio station lies in its potential for capacity building, as well as in addressing medical and healthcare tasks, and offering a more sophisticated point of view on relevant issues like HIV/Aids, malaria, and circumcision is also an objective of Culture Radio’s founders. The station is going to make regular broadcasts on these issues.
The status quo of the project is that Shelter for Africa has already bought the basic equipment and shipped it to Sierra Leone; it is now necessary to start with the real-time operations. The association is looking for new supporters to assist in this effort.
Appeal for donations: If you are interested in supporting Shelter for Africa and “Culture Radio”, please contact Elijah Gegra or Nadja Rix, shlafrica@aol.com
Link
 www.shelterforafrica.de
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