Ndizathuzomwe is a Chichewa phrase. Anyone who does not speak the language is told that the word – which is also the title of an innovative Malawian radio campaign – means ‘it is ours, let’s play our part’. Nick Ishmael Perkins explains.

Even those of us who helped set up the campaign have to resort to a more prosaic subtitle – the Civic Education Radio Campaign. It was initially conceived to encourage local people to take part in the 1999 Parliamentary elections. Despite Malawi’s 34 years of independence, there was a great deal of anxiety about whether people would participate in and understand the democratic process, following the rule of Hastings Kamuzu Banda from independence until 1994.

The task of mobilising the community was further complicated by two key factors: the illiteracy rate is approximately 65 per cent, and around 85 per cent of the population live in rural areas. Statistics like these give Malawi the lowest ranking on the Human Development Index of any African country that has not been at war. So how can people who cannot read, or whose families may not have enough to eat, be encouraged to take part in the democratic process? The challenge was to develop a campaign that would motivate as many of them as possible to do just that.

The campaign faced another challenge which was ultimately an important opportunity. In an attempt to encourage transparency, the 1998 Communications Bill set out guidelines for a more democratic Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). Any public education campaign would therefore have to keep the MBC talking with the communities. Once the MBC had approached Radio for Development (RfD) – a UK-based media consultancy experienced in implementing public education campaigns in the developing world – the first step was to establish a project team at MBC which in turn led to the creation of a new Development Broadcasting Unit.

The project’s designers felt that fundamentally this campaign was about empowering people. Just explaining the technicalities of voting was not useful to Malawians if they felt that they could not contribute to the running of the country. And to empower the people we needed to focus on process as much as content. So the main ethos of the campaign was to keep it people-centred. This meant allowing the communities to participate at every level. RfD decided to create a network of community-based listening forums. These Radio Listening Clubs (RLCs) would be a point of access to the communities but they also had to work the other way, providing a point of access for the communities.

These RLCs would be presented to the rest of the nation as models of civic practice, so it was vital that they function properly. A mapping exercise was undertaken to identify the areas where RLCs should be established, recognising the fact that communities are not homogeneous and comprise different demographics. In the first year of the project, 15 RLCs were set-up, largely in the Southern and Central districts of the country. Of these, one is comprised exclusively of women, and another of young people. In fact, it remains a constant challenge to the project to ensure that RLCs are socially inclusive, and there are plans to establish clubs for children and for people living with AIDS for the next phase of the project.

It was during these early stages that the local communities were sold on the idea that rural development must come from the people themselves – and this was the key to making the project a success. Each club elected a monitor and a vice-monitor who attended workshop training in leadership skills, radio production basics and civic education principles. But the majority of the time was spent building their confidence, letting them see that they could control a microphone and ask questions. Even the MBC team were surprised how quickly the participants picked up these concepts as their confidence increased. Through their monitors, the RLCs then chose a name and a broadcast time for the programme. This has helped create a sense of ownership so strong that the RLCs now regularly challenge the producers about decisions that are made in the production of their programme.

Another important decision was to make the programmes livelihood-based in order to maintain interest. This was felt to be a more honest approach – voters the world over do not necessarily vote for the most democratic party, but often for the one that will meet their needs. In practice, this means that the members of the RLCs discuss among themselves which issues affect the development of their community. Once they have prioritised an issue and identified a solution, they use an MBC facilitator to arrange discussions with whichever local social service provider can most effectively help. This social service provider, whether it is an NGO or governmental agency, will then work with the community to implement their project. In this way every programme has a lesson about community mobilisation, important to dispel the notions of helplessness for the communities and demonstrate the responsibilities of social service providers.

The strategy has been effective: RLCs now work with community committees who run the various projects initiated by the clubs. Other communities across Malawi have also been establishing their own informal clubs. The project recently received the Rolls-Royce Award for Excellency in Broadcasting from the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association because of its innovative approach to public service broadcasting. But the first real mark of success came when one week’s broadcast was cancelled as a result of a Presidential function which was aired during the allocated programme slot. Two community-based monitors made their way to the MBC with their recorders and demanded an interview with the Corporation’s Director-General to understand why their programme had been usurped. In this one gesture, every objective we had hoped for seemed achievable.

Nick Ishmael Perkins is a project director with Radio for Development.