Sòyèt FM: A new popular community radio station for the South-East

SAKS: Gaston, before we talk about Radyo Kominotè Popilè Sòyèt FM, can you say a little about the place where it is based?

Gaston: Chomèy is in a Communal Section of Bainet that stretches from near the town of Bainet right up to the town of Côtes-de-Fer. So a good part of it is on the coast and another part is higher up inland. It’s the biggest communal section in the commune of Bainet at 71 km2, and there are around 16,500 people living there.

SAKS: What is produced in Chomèy?

Gaston: Chomèy produces a lot of mangoes, a lot of fruit and cereals, as well as maize, millet and beans. It also produces all the material used to make artisania. There are a lot of economic activities going on in Chomèy, and its the part of Bainet with the most markets - there are four. Despite all these advantages, Chomèy is in an area which has problems, for example, it is an area where livestock is reared but, when there is a drought, the animals can’t find food to eat or water to drink, because - don’t forget - Chomèy is on a plateau and the problem of finding water is never far away.

SAKS: Why was this location chosen for Radyo Sòyèt FM?

Gaston: We have a lot reasons - Chomèy is a zone in Bainet with organisations, with peasant groups (gwoupman) which have developed well. Then we found that the area is situated in such a way as to allow easier contact than other radio and television stations. So, we saw it as a zone from where we could cover the whole commune of Bainet if we set up a station there.

SAKS: Where did you get the idea to set up Sòyèt FM community radio station?

Gaston: The idea came out of a problem that we encountered when trying to set up organisations in the 9th communal section of Bainet. The first attempt was in the 1990s when we formed all the organisations in the whole section but we were unable to continue to keep in contact with them and so they started to become demobilised. With this radio station, we can remain in contact with all the organisations, and radio will allow us to carry out better training so that we can make better progress by putting the whole section in communication with others who can work together.

SAKS: Can you say a few words about the Koperativ Mityèl Solidarite Benè (KOMISOB) and the Mouvman Devlopman Koperativ Benè (MODEKOB) which are the two principal organisations behind Radio Sòyèt FM?

Gaston: These are two organisations in Bainet. They are not only operating in the town but are also working with peasant farmers in the area because they see that peasants are lacking structures. These organisations participate in training peasant farmers, helping them to organise themselves better in order to improve their lives. In this little area, teachers, agronomists and ordinary people form these organisations.

SAKS: We know that popular community radio stations have their own philosophy but do KOMISOB and MODEKOB share that philosophy?

Gaston: Before, we were not aware of the popular community radio philosophy, but with instruction through the training that SAKS has given us we are really coming to a good understanding of the community activities that are popular community radio. We have started to put our training into practice, and we are setting up a good participative method of managing the station, as suggested by the SAKS training, which will allow us to live together with the community.

SAKS: You talk about the training that SAKS gave you, but are there other institutions that helped you realise the radio project?

Gaston: It was certainly SAKS that gave us the necessary training because SAKS provided us with a community radio education, but on the financial side there were other institutions that helped us, such as FOKAL which helped us to get a lot of materials, and there was another organisation from France, called Electricians Without Borders, which installed a power supply to permit us to make the radio work.

SAKS: Gaston to finish, what are the main challenges that Radio Sòyèt FM faces in order to make progress in Chomèy?

Gaston: The biggest challenge we face is to strengthen the organisation in charge of Radio Sòyèt FM because there are always people thinking that joining an organisation takes up too much time. With Radio Sòyèt FM, we think that by putting our heads together we have gone far and can go further in the struggle we are conducting to change the life our community.

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(Originally - Sòyèt FM: Yon nouvo Radyo kominotè popilè pou Sidès la, 10 mars 2006, translated from Creole by Charles Arthur)

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'Ideas and Action - Projecting the voices of Haiti's progressive civil society organisations' is a Haiti Support Group project funded by the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF).

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The Haiti Support Group is a British organisation working in solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle for human rights, participatory democracy and equitable development, since 1992.

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