Amplifying Voices

Today is World Refugee Day, remembering that more than 110 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes due to violence or natural disasters.

Two members of our team last week joined our partners Vox Radio in Tana River, Kenya, where they met and interviewed displaced people from the recent floods. Thousands are still living under makeshift tents, still unable to go home, with little access to food, water, sanitation, education and livelihoods.

As villagers shared their stories on air, Vox Radio was able to amplify their voices and begin a community conversation, that it's not just the government's responsibility... it's all of our responsibility to stand up for the rights of refugees.

A shout-out to Robynn Samuels for her amazing achievement at the Brighton Marathon and for raising funds for Amplifying Voices supporting communities facing crisis around the world.

Robynn's fundraiser for Amplifying Voices Help Robynn SAMUELS raise money to support Amplifying Voices

Happy faces on Monday as Simooya Community Radio (94.3 FM) in Zambia, finally switched on and started broadcasts. It followed an energetic week of workshops and a last minute sprint to install the studio, antenna and transmitter, when the technician and rigger were finally able to join us. The enthusiastic volunteers from the communities around Simooya really got stuck in, learning about , mapping the strengths of their communities, and getting hands on to try out new media skills.

Introducing the backpack studio... Developed by Mike Adams and friends, the studio has arrived in Gaza via Cairo. UNICEF and local partners will use it to co-create lifesaving audio content. Messages, songs and announcements will provide displaced children and families with vital information for safely accessing relief and shelter, and for staying healthy.

We are very much looking forward to walking the journey alongside the fabulous CDC team as they play their part in helping rebuild peace in South Sudan and support returning refugees.

Radio Iyete team “getting their shoes dirty”. Joining us for a community-centred media workshop in Morobo South Sudan. Thanks Community Development Centre - CDC for inviting us. What important peacebuilding work you are doing there!

Thank you Community Development Centre - CDC, we loved being with you and are thrilled to be with some of your team in South Sudan, doing a tremendous job.

Johnny and Jon are delighted to be with the amazing Soot Semee team and listeners in Omugo zone, Northern Uganda.

Appreciate the work of Community Development Centre - CDC and the Soot Semee volunteers, making such a big difference in the lives of communities

Good to see communities coming together in times of adversity with support from our partners

Yesterday Johnny and Hazeen were in Cholistan. We enjoyed meeting some new people and learning how the women and girls at Roshni Ro Gahr project are picking up new skills. Really great to hear their hopes to start small businesses to support their families. Looking forward to when they start working on media skills too…

We loved it too…

Umoja FM studio construction in North Kivu continues apace with the roof now on and plastering on the inside and out. It's beginning to look like the architect's impression.

Tragically last week we heard of another brutal massacre by ADF terrorists in a village some of our team visited in August.

With friends in India -

Taking a break today during a volunteers orientation session in Simooya, Southern Zambia. All that talking is thirsty work! Johnny Fisher is working with these great folks to get ready for a new station launch in early 2024.

The new Umoja FM studio building in North Kivu is going up rapidly. The team is just waiting for the roofing materials to arrive from Uganda.

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As work begins on the new Umoja FM studio in North Kivu's Watalinga chefferie, news has reached us of ADF attacks against Kikingi, one of the villages the station is wanting to reach with its signal. Tragically several people were killed and injured and several kidnapped. We are working closely with the Umoja team to find the best way to relay the station's signal, so remote villages can also hear the critical, life-affirming information they broadcast.

On international peace day our partner Vox Radio is praised by a local MP for its contribution to building peace and uniting communities in Tana River, eastern Kenya.

We made it. Thank you for your amazing support

With one week to go before the Brighton and Hove Triathlon, members of the Amplifying Voices triathlon team have been practicing hard. They are raising funds for a peace-building project in North Kivu, DR Congo.
https://www.justgiving.com/team/fabfivetri

We're doing the Brighton Triathlon to help build peace in North Kivu (DR Congo). Will you help us?

https://www.justgiving.com/team/fabfivetri

Umoja FM has been a life-line for communities in North Kivu during war, ebola, a refugee crisis and the pandemic. But they urgently need our ongoing support.

Would you consider sponsoring our team as they take on the Brighton & Hove triathlon to raise money to get critical information to communities facing crises?

https://www.justgiving.com/team/fabfivetri

"Get your shoes dirty!" is one of the phrases that often gets repeated in our workshops, encouraging teams to spend time meeting communities to learn about their strengths and challenges. Today Johnny and Jon joined Sammy and Nickson to meet the community of Kichanga, a remote village in North Kivu who are now able to hear Umoja FM's signals thanks to a more powerful transmitter that has just been installed.

Johnny and Jon are currently in North Kivu working with the fabulous Umoja Radio team. They have seen the enormous impact this team has had, since Amplifying Voices first helped them set up a radio station, ‘Umoja’ (Unity FM) in 2016. Through two wars, an ebola crisis, a refugee crisis and the pandemic, the station has been a vital source of information and hope to so many.

Some of our team were able to spend a day on Holy Island with Scott Brennan reflecting on our work and practice, as well as enjoying the opportunity of walking around this majestic isle.

Members of our operational team and board members are in Scotland this evening celebrating the registration of Amplifying Voices as a charity there. Although our friend and colleague Hazeen was not able to join us physically, we were delighted he could join us online, and we even had a cake celebrating 10 years of collaboration with Amplifying Voices Pakistan