Musekeweya

In my very first blog, I mentioned my friend Laurie and the radio program she’s involved with here in Rwanda. I recently had the opportunity to talk with the Rwandan head of the project, and so here’s more on the radio show.

(I wrote this little story for the VSO Rwanda newsletter, where it will eventually come into print in English and Kinyarwanda).

Peace education is critical for a new road forward in any post conflict society. In order to shift habitual patterns of seeing and behaving towards a vision of a just and peaceful world for all, creative methods must be found for shifting attitudes and expanding the possibilities of how people might live together and address the problems that face them.

For example, the intriguing soap opera radio program New Dawn, or Musekeweya, first broadcast on the 10th anniversary of the genocide, and now followed by 90% of Rwandan radio listeners.

Musekeweya is a fictional story of two villages on two hills, with a legacy of historical animosity that escalated to violence, and a raft of current problems. As the characters learn how to work together and resolve their past, they inspire the listeners.

“We use entertainment,” Rwandan mission head Aimable Twahira said to me, “in order to educate. Rwandans need more than speeches and conferences.”

Twahirwa, a musician, dancer, artist and comedian who has a background in journalism and communication, has a passion for combining culture and communication in the service of violence prevention education.

The approach appears effective. 80 to 100 letters arrive each month by mail, text and Internet. Listeners comment on the character’s problems, offer suggestions for change, express their annoyance at those stuck in harmful behaviours.

“One listener wrote that it was her life she saw reflected on the radio,” Twahirwa said. “She wrote that she was inspired by the woman character who decided to marry a man from a different background despite opposition from their families, that the decision of this lady changed her.”

Twahirwa tells me that he received a call from an administrator in Gitarama. “He said we had to come and talk to the people from two villages because he couldn’t believe what was happening. He said these people hadn’t really spoken since 1994 and now they were working together. When asked why, the villagers said it was because of Musekeweya. The villagers said they had listened to the show for four years and then they decided to change.

He smiles. “When we went there, they had their arms around each other, and said their former enemy was now their friend.”

Twahirwa is also proud of another radio program, Kuki? (Why?). This factual show solicits questions from the listeners and then chooses one, for example: “How can you recognize bad propaganda?” The question is sent to a group of experts in various disciplines, who write out their responses. These are then translated into Kinyarwanda and read on the radio, with ensuing discussion
Before I leave, Twahirwa opens the door to an empty room with a microphone hanging. “This is our recording studio,” he tells me. “People can’t believe that all this drama comes out of this little room.”

Musekeweya, a version of which is broadcast in Burundi and DRC, and Kuki, are programs sponsored by the Dutch NGO, La Benevolencija. On their website, Radio Benevolencija describes its mission as educating citizens to be critical consumers of media messages, strengthening the psychological foundations for peaceful interaction between citizens and authorities, and contributing to a democratic and hate-free media landscape in the Great Lakes region.