[FoME] More and more youth women give colour to community radio in Bangladesh

[AHM Bazlur Rahman]

​

By Lydia van Rooijen and Jolijn de Blocq van Schelting



*“There have been times when people did not want to speak to me as a *
*journalist,** when they found out where I came from. Sometimes I wasn’t
even asked whether I wanted to sit during the interview. But I’ve never let
that bother me,” says Kakoli Rani Das. She is one of the young women that
take part in the training programme that **organises** the Bangladesh NGO
Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) with the support from Free
Press Unlimited. This means a great deal to her. “It has drastically
changed how I look at my life.”*



Kakoli grew up in a family of cobblers. So poor that the other people in
their village looked down on the family. She did not go to school much, but
when she was there she was put at the back of the class. “Everyone kept
their distance from us.” Until they heard about the training programmes at
Radio Meghna, a radio station in her neighbourhood. This is one of BNNRC’s
community radio stations.



Community radio is important throughout Bangladesh. Seventeen radio
stations ensure that people living in rural areas are given up-to-date news
about their community and a voice in the media. Kakoli did not know much
about journalism when she got the chance to join the training programme.
But due to her perseverance, curiosity and determination she learned to
work for the radio station as a fully fledged journalist.


That is because BNNRC offers a journalism programme together with Free
Press Unlimited. It is an opportunity for young women in particular to find
a job outside the home. This is unusual because there are few women who
work outside the home or even get the opportunity to do so. So it was a bit
of a shock for the family when one of the daughters was accepted on the
programme. Even now, women are far from equal with men in Bangladesh. It
can be especially difficult for fathers to see their daughters working, but
ultimately this feeling makes way for pride when they see that the girls
are trained to be good journalists.


Young women can apply to join the training programme three times per year.
The only condition is that they must be able to read and write. That is
because the training starts with a week of theory. After that the cub
reporters go to work for the community radio station in their village for
eleven weeks with old fellows – women who have completed the training in
the past.


In spite of this training, female journalists do experience a number of
problems. They are not always taken seriously as journalists by
interviewees, which was Kakoli’s experience early on. The dominant view in
Bangladesh is still that women cannot be journalists and cannot work
outside the home at all. Now they get a press card, which they can use to
prove that they really are doing their job. That not only gives women proof
of their occupation, but also recognition of their abilities.


Completing the training does not mean that the hard work and efforts are
over. It is important that the new journalists get to work as professional
journalists and that they continue to do so, which is obviously why they
are training in the first place. Mahbuba Islam Bonhi, one of the
participants in the programme at another radio station, Radio Padma, says
that since completing the training she works harder than ever. “I want to
put everything I’ve learned to proper use so as to become a better
journalist. As a journalist I find it very important to stand up for young
women and children, who deserve to be heard in this country!”

 ---------

Bazlu
______________________________________
AHM. Bazlur Rahman-S21BR *| *Chief Executive Officer *|*
Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC)
[Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United
Nations]

House: 9/4 Road: 2, Shaymoli, Dhaka-1207*|*  Bangladesh*|*
Phone: +88-02-9130750| 9101479 | Cell: +88 01711881647
Fax: 88-02-9138501 *|* E-mail: ceo at bnnrc.net* |* bnnr <bnnrc at bd.drik.net>
cbd at gmail.com *|*
*http://www.bnnrc.net <http://www.bnnrc.net/>*
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