“I think there must be more bicycles than people in Lira,” remarked the station manager of Rhino FM, Kenneth Okello.
As a result, the town of Lira, in the Lango sub-region of northern Uganda, is a much quieter (but no less busier) place than its neighbour, Gulu, where ubiquitous motor bike taxis known as ‘boda bodas’ buzz around all day.
Perhaps it was no surprise, then, that the IRIN Radio team chose to work with bicycle reporters as a way of improving flows of information on humanitarian issues.
Information, salaams, news stories and audience feedback come into many of the radio stations across the region using pedal power. The IRIN Radio project in northern Uganda plans to build on this capacity to go further, and capture voices and humanitarian stories from the local communities the bicycle reporters already serve.
 Photo: Jackie Christie/IRIN Radio  |
| Radio Apac, serving audiences in the north |
Candidates are selected on the strength of an idea for a story they would like to cover, and an interview. After a short but intensive training period during which they record, edit and broadcast their story, they cycle off into the competitive world of the ‘stringer’. (A ‘stringer’ is a freelance contributor to a newspaper or radio, who is paid per piece published or broadcast).
 Photo: Jackie Christie/IRIN Radio |
| Studios of Radio North in Lira |
Three radio stations serving large communities in northern Uganda, Radio North, Rhino FM and Radio Apac, have agreed to air the stories produced by the network.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions