GlobalGiving.org: Preserve Guatemalan Culture With Community Radio

Guatemalan Elections, Nawal Estereo's 49th Anniversary and Survey Results

Pete McNamee — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:16:12 GMT

Hi Everyone!

Happy Holidays to all of you from Nawal Estéreo. We hope you enjoyed the fall and are bundling up for the winter months depending on where you find yourself in the country. The past 3 months have been even busier than normal for everyone in the radio with several annual activities taking place and some others that are unique to 2011.

In September, Guatemalans went to the polling stations to elect their new president and local government officials. Nawal Estéreo played an integral role in the coverage of elections, both around the Western highlands of Guatemala and particularly in Nahualá. Due to the lack of a majority winner in the presidential election on September 11^th, the country had a runoff election between the two candidates receiving the most votes in the beginning of November. The radio was able to provide up to the minute information on the second round of presidential elections and keep their listeners informed on both the waiting time at polling stations as well as the incoming results.

In October Nawal Estéreo was able to present the results of a several month long study conducted in collaboration with the Federation of Guatemalan Radio Schools (FGER in Spanish) of which the radio is a member. The study was conducted in communities of 3 departments in Guatemala where the radio reaches: Sololá, Totonicapan and Quetzaltenango. With the help of our interns the radio was able to speak to hundreds of listeners about signal quality in their area, what content on the radio they prefer and what they would like changed. The experience was a beneficial one for all involved and strengthened our presence in these communities by putting a face to some of the voices the community hears on a daily basis.

In the month of November Nawal Estéreo celebrated its 49^th anniversary. Several concerts were held to commemorate the event, as well as the radio’s annual ½ marathon and cycling events for community members. The anniversary falls the week before Nahualá’s town fair and it’s always a busy and fun time of the year for everyone involved. The personnel of Nawal Estéreo and the community of Nahualá are looking forward to celebrating the 50^th anniversary next November and many more to come afterwards.

We’ll wrap up our update there and wish you all a happy and safe holiday season. We know there is an endless amount of causes you can donate to and we appreciate every bit of support that we receive from each and every one of you. Now more than ever we can use your support as well; the radio recently incurred a Q50,000 (roughly $6,500 USD) debt in order to renew our broadcasting license with the government regulatory agency in Guatemala. We have been fortunate to receive support from community members during fund drives held in the park, but are still well-short of being able to pay it back entirely. Any support you can give us will go directly towards the upkeep of the radio’s signal and helping to ensure we can provide our listeners with quality, informative and educational content on a consistent basis. Until next time, we hope you all enjoy your holiday season and remember that you can always listen in to the radio anytime via our website: www.nawalestereo.com

Sincerely,

Pete McNamee

Pedro Sohom Cotiy

And the Personnel of Nawal Estereo 93.1 FM

Links:

Nawal Estereo Online

Semana Santa, 2011 Guatemalan Election Coverage and More from Nawal Estereo

Pete McNamee — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 20:57:20 GMT

Nahaulá mothers enjoying the church's anniversary

Hi Everyone!

It’s been quite some time since our last update and Nawal Estéreo has been hard at work serving our town of Nahualá and the rest of Guatemala’s Western Highlands.

It’s an exciting time to be in Nahualá with various celebrations, anniversaries and of course the 2011 national and local elections. In addition to the radio’s everyday programming and coverage of local events, we were quite busy during the month of April celebrating Semana Santa, or Holy Week in the run up to the Catholic Easter holiday. As a large percentage of Nahualá (and much of Guatemala) is Catholic, this is one of the most important times of the year. Family members who have moved to other parts of the country come from far and wide to see their relatives and partake in the festivities. Semana Santa consists of several processions throughout the week in which hundreds if not thousands of participants walk throughout town carrying floats depicting different scenes from the Catholic Easter tradition. Nahualá’s patron saint, Santa Catarina, also has her own float that is carried throughout town with much reverence. The entire town also eats in traditional food during Semana Santa, including fish, white beans and delicious local honey paired with special bread made only during this time of year. Another tradition for Semana Santa that is particular to this region of Guatemala is to erect arches throughout town. The arches consist of two brightly colored 25 to 30 foot tree trunks and a crossbar adorned with different tropical fruit ranging from plantains to pineapples. As an important and long-standing institution in the Nahualá community, Nawal Estéreo erects its own arch each year for the procession-goers to pass through.

As mentioned earlier, Guatemala is getting ready to hold national and local elections this coming September. As a major news source for many of our listeners and a well-established local media outlet, Nawal Estéreo has tried to provide as much information as possible regarding the various candidates, pertinent issues, party platforms, etc. not only for the people of Nahualá, but the entire Western Highlands. We’ve instituted several special Sunday programs for elections season, providing a opportunity for listeners and interact directly with candidates through call-in shows as well as a place for each candidate to officially turn in their governmental plan for the municipality. We’ve also been able to invite officials from the various government organizations overseeing the election process. As Guatemala is in the midst of changing it’s national identification for all citizens, it has been a confusing and hectic process for many citizens to sort out which documentation they will need in order to be eligible to cast their vote. Through our Sunday programs the radio has tried to alleviate this problem, allowing the electoral board to present the prerequisites to vote and also devoting time for callers to contact the radio and presenter with more specific questions.

Adding to the excitement of the past few months was the Centennial Anniversary of Nahualá’s Catholic church. The church stands in the center of town and is a focal point for life in Nahualá. The event was celebrated with a large parade throughout town, including the participation of almost every one of the more than 20 schools currently operating in Nahualá. Priests from several neighboring towns came to celebrate the occasion and a special mass was given on the day of the anniversary. Afterwards all of those in attendance were provided with lunch, consisting of a traditional soup that’s prominent in Guatemala’s highlands called caldo. As with all events both large and small, Nawal Estereo was able to provide coverage for the entire community, particularly those who were not able to attend due to space limitations or health reasons.

We look forward to continuing our work for the community of Nahualá and the surrounding region, providing coverage of local events and interesting and educational content for our listeners. We’d like to take this time to thank each and every one of you who has so generously donated to our community radio station. Through your generosity we have been able to provide an essential service to all of Guatemala’s Western Highlands. Until next time, we hope you all enjoy your final days of summer and remember that you can always listen in to the radio anytime via our website: www.nawalestereo.com

Sincerely,

Pete McNamee

Pedro Sohom Cotiy

And the Personnel of Nawal Estereo 93.1 FM

Candidate for mayor turning in governance plan

Semana Santa celebrations in Nahualá's church

Links:

Listen to Nawal Estereo Online

Mayan Cultural Training, Family Planning Workshops and the Beginning of Lent in Nahualá

Pete McNamee, Peace Corps Volunteer — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 17:49:35 GMT

Hi Everyone!

We hope this latest update from Nawal Estéreo finds you well and hopefully starting to experience a bit of a thaw from what sounds like a snow-filled winter for many of you.

In the past 3 months Nawal Estéreo has been keeping relatively busy with remote broadcasts (also known as transmissions) in our surrounding communities. We have been able to provide coverage of local events such as town festivals for patron saints, celebrations for anniversaries of local youth groups and many other activities that have taken place recently in the Western Highlands of Guatemala.

Since our last update the radio has begun collaborating with Uk’uxb’e, a Mayan cultural organization located in the department of Chimaltenango that promotes the strengthening of indigenous culture among all Mayan communities. The collaboration has resulted in several training workshops for the members of Uk’uxb’e and the personnel of the radio as well as a radio forum for the listeners of Nawal Estéreo. The programming has centered on the Mayan history of the highland communities and previous traditions and customs that might be in danger of being forgotten by future generations if they are not recognized and celebrated properly. Being able to share the history of indigenous ancestors is very important to those working with the radio and the experience has proved to be very beneficial and well received by our listeners.

The radio has also started providing family planning workshops for several highland communities in the past several months. The workshops take place on the weekends when families are most likely to be available and provide the groups of mostly indigenous women with valuable information regarding this topic. In much of rural Guatemala it’s not uncommon for women to have up to 10 children beginning at an early age and often continuing well into their forties. The amount of childbirth can have quite a physical toll on mothers. The family planning program, with funding from USAID and the Institute for Reproductive Health at Georgetown University, provides indigenous families with the necessary information to be able to decide how many children they would like to have and better plan for when they would like to have them.

Nahualá also recently celebrated the beginning of the Catholic observance of Lent. As much of the population in Nahualá is Catholic this is a very important period of the year for both the town of Nahualá and Nawal Estéreo. In the coming months leading up to Easter the radio will be covering all of the local events associated with Lent and eventually leading up to Semana Santa, culminating in the observance of Easter. There will be many processions and parades throughout this time, with relatives of Nahaulenos coming from all over to celebrate with their extended families. We look forward to being able to provide radio coverage of these activities for our listeners both in Guatemala and other Guatemalans that may be working in the states and listening via streaming radio on our website, http://www.nawalestereo.com.

From all of us at Nawal Estéreo, thank you again for your continued support of our radio station. We are eternally grateful for all of your help to assist us in providing our community with an essential cultural source of information and method of communication.

Sincerely,

Pete McNamee

Pedro Sohom Cotiy

And the Personnel of Nawal Estereo 93.1 FM

Links:

Nawal Estéreo's Website

Nawal Estéreo Celebrates 48 years in Nahualá!

Pete McNamee — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:47:13 GMT

Runners beginning the race for radio's anniversary

Happy Holidays to all of our generous supporters! We hope this message finds you well and hopefully staying warm as the winter weather is finally upon us, even here in Nahualá (although we are thankfully lacking the snow some of you are no doubt experiencing).

The past few months have been relatively busy for the radio station, with several nearby communities hosting their annual town fairs. The radio had the opportunity to broadcast remotely from many of these locations, providing listeners who may not been able to attend the festivities with live coverage of parades, marimba bands and other activities. One of the larger fairs covered by the radio was in the neighboring department of Totonicapan. Being one of the larger municipalities in the area, the radio provided coverage of the fair for almost two weeks in October.

Nawal Estereo was also fortunate enough to celebrate its 48^th anniversary this past November with several fun and interactive activities for the Nahualá community. The anniversary weekend was kicked off with a traditional Mayan ceremony conducted by a Mayan priestess and involving all of the radio personnel. In addition to a series of concerts by local area musical groups during the weekend of November 20^th and 21^st, the radio station also hosted a half-marathon and cycling race to commemorate 48 incredible years as the voice of Nahualá. More than 50 participants competed in each event, not only from Nahualá but other communities in the department of Sololá and as far away as the far-western department of San Marcos. Both races took place along the Inter-American Highway, with onlookers from several communities out in full support of the runners and bike riders along the way. After the festivities the winners were awarded with trophies and the radio hosted a lunch in honor of former co-workers and board members associated with the radio throughout the years to conclude the anniversary activities.

Most recently the radio hosted a focus group with 15 volunteers from the Nahualá community to assess the effectiveness of our daily syndicated news program Noticiero Intercultural Maya K’at. The Maya K’at program runs Monday through Friday at the station from 11:00 to 12:00 and provides listeners with the local, national and international news of the day in the Mayan language of K’iche. The focus group was sponsored by one of Nawal Estereo’s affiliate associations FGER (Guatemalan Federation of Radio Schools) and was used to find out what about the daily programming is beneficial for listeners, what they would like to hear more of, and if they have any suggestions for improving the content of the programming. The event was a big success and the radio personnel are currently in the process of evaluating all of the data collected and sending it to our associates at FGER to hopefully improve this valuable service to our listeners.

With the holidays coming up we hope some of you will take the time to keep Nawal Estereo in mind for any charitable giving you might be considering. Your generous donations have already allowed us to bring many of the services described above and in earlier updates to our listeners and our community, and we hope to be able to continue doing so for many years going forward. Many thanks to those of you who have already graciously donated, we are forever grateful. Best wishes to you and your loved ones this holiday season and a very happy new year.

Sincerely,

Pete McNamee

Pedro Sohom Cotiy

And the Personnel of Nawal Estereo 93.1 FM

Racing in front of onlookers

Cycling race for the radio's 48th anniversary

Winner of the cycling race receiving his trophy

Guatemala's Indepenence Day and Other Recent Events in Nahuala, Solola

Pete McNamee — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 22:05:01 GMT

The Nawal Estereo truck reporting on the mudslides

Hi Everyone!

Nawal Estereo has been continuing our work of providing support to our surrounding communities with educational, cultural, values-based programming as well as timely news updates to keep our listeners informed about local events.

In late June we invited several community educators to the station as part of our monthly forum series. Participants included teachers, principals and the superintendent of schools in Nahaulá. Each forum member answered questions from the moderators and discussed their outlook on the state of education in Nahualá and the surrounding communities.

In July we held another forum for community leaders, inviting several former mayors of Nahualá to come in and speak about their experiences. Each spoke of the unique challenges they faced during their time in office and how they were able to overcome such obstacles. The participants also gave some insight on current local municipal issues facing Nahaulá and their opinion on how they might be handled.

In local news, Guatemala has been subject to an especially heavy rainy season this year. The first large storm of the season began in May with Hurricane Agatha. While we have been lucky enough to avoid another storm of similar size, the constant rain throughout the last 3 or 4 months has resulted in significant damage to the road system. As a consequence there have been several mudslides that have occurred in the region with significant loss of life. The first weekend of September saw several mudslides on the highway outside of Nahualá, resulting in 25 deaths. Nawal Estereo was able to provide updates to the community throughout the ordeal and to alert the community to the tragedy and keep everyone informed. Our hearts and thoughts go out to those in our community and all over Guatemala who lost their lives due to these circumstances, as well as to their families.

On a somewhat lighter note, Nahualá and the rest of Guatemala just finished celebrating the 189th anniversary of independence from Spain. This week saw several parades filled with marching bands, dance teams and floats of school beauty queens from elementary, middle and high schools throughout the area. The parades ran for three days, culminating on September 15th, Guatemala’s Independence Day. The radio was able to broadcast all of the events thanks to small contributions from community banks and local businesses as well as the ongoing generous support of the GlobalGiving community.

As we have highlighted in previous updates, much of the funding Nawal Estereo relied on for decades has dried up in recent years. We continue to rely on your support and generosity to help cover our basic operating costs such as electric bills and equipment maintenance. Your kind donations have allowed us to not only strive daily to strengthen and preserve Mayan culture in Nahualá, but also provide necessary services and information during recent natural disasters. This last aspect continues to become more and more important as hurricane season begins to pick up and the soil in our area is already saturated, creating an ever-present threat of more mudslides.

On behalf of Nawal Estereo in Nahualá, Sololá, Guatemala, we thank you again for your continued support in all that we do and wish you all a great day!

Sincerely, Pete McNamee Pedro Sohom Cotiy And the Personnel of Nawal Estereo 93.1 FM

[Note: Pete McNamee has replaced Tim Slattery as the Peace Corps Volunteer currently working at Nawal Estereo. On behalf of Nawal Estereo and the community of Nahualá, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to Tim for his 2 years of service in our community. Be sure to come back soon and visit!]

News Director Pedro Tambriz reporting on mudslides

Reporting from the Independence Day parades

A float in the Independence Day parades

Links:

Hurricane Agatha, Mothers' Day, and Make your donation count 150%!

Tim Slattery — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:00:05 GMT

Hello again!

Radio Nawal Estereo continues our important work with surrounding communities, in education, culture, values, y entertainment.

In May, we put on a forum for Mothers Day, with invited speakers knowledgeable in womens’ issues. Numerous mothers from various communities came to hear the talks, and entered in a raffle to win gifts.

Recently Guatemala has been affected by Hurricane Agatha, and as a media outlet in the southwest part of Guatemala, Nawal Estereo 93.1 covered this disaster, informing everyone of what was happening, and orienting them in how to react in a calm, clearheaded way. We also participated in the collection of food and money for the families affected by Agatha. Once again, Nawal Estereo 93.1 supported our listeners and community, as we have always done.

Also, we have been using our web page www.nawalestereo.com not only as a way to broadcast to all corners of the globe, but also as a way to keep in contact with our listeners. Many listeners mark up the message board every day, and during the last few months we have been updating our website often, to show holiday greetings, announcements of upcoming events, and most recently pictures of the unfortunate damage caused by Hurricane Agatha.

Finally, we would like to inform you of another great opportunity to help us continue our work and mission, and have your donation count 150%! This Wednesday, June 16th, GlobalGiving is increasing every donation by 50%, so if you give $10, it will be like you gave $15. $100 turns into $150. So take advantage of this promotion, and the opportunity to have your support count more!

On behalf of Nawal Estereo in Nahualá, Sololá, Guatemala, we wish you all a great day!

Tim Slattery, Pedro Sohom Cotiy, and Miguel Marroquin

Exciting new projects and more bang for your buck!

Tim Slattery — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:50:57 GMT

Hi! Hope you are all doing well, as this year starts flying by and Easter is already creeping up on us! We wanted to make you aware of some of the projects that we are doing here at Nawal Estereo, and remind you of the ever-present need for financial support. Radio-Drama on Alcoholism We recently finished producing a youth-aimed radio-drama about the all-too-relavent topic of alcoholism. It is voiced primarily by local teenagers, and will air as part of our youth radio show, A Todo Ritmo. The idea is to present important themes in an accesible, dynamic way, with a realistic story and characters that indiginous Guatemalan youth can relate to. If you would like a copy, or suggestions for how to create a radiodrama of your own, please send an email to Tim Slattery, slattery.tim@gmail.com. Broadcasting Tower in the Boca Costa Nawal Estereo currently has one broadcasting tower, whose signal reaches several departments (like states) in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. We are in the process of erecting a second tower to cover the Boca Costa area of Nahualá and thereby reach many more listeners. We have the land secured, but just lack finances to build the tower. Radio Campaign Against Discrimination We are in the planning stages of a campaign against prejudice and discrimination, which will include informational spots, debates, and special programs. Right now is an especially great time to help radio Nawal Estereo continue with these and other projects. This Tuesday, March 16th (probably TODAY for many of you reading this), GlobalGiving is doing a Matching promotion where they will add 30% to all donations! So make your contribution go farther by giving today! And even if you can't donate, please spread the word to friends and family members. Happy March! Sincerely, Tim Slattery Pedro Sohom Cotiy And the Personnel of Nawal Estereo 93.1 FM

Nawal Estereo Update - October 2009

Tim Slattery — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:40:46 GMT

Hi!

Thank you so much to all of you for helping us continue the great legacy of radio Nawal Estereo. Here's an update and clarification on how our big fundraising drive ended, and why we need your continued support. First of all, we will receive all the money donated during the challenge (minus a small service fee the site charges). (That's true for all groups who participated in the challenge, but there was some confusion about that, so I figured I'd clarify.) Secondly, Nawal Estereo earned a spot (at least until December 31st) on the GlobalGiving website! Thanks so much for all your help in donating and spreading the word! During the month of November, GlobalGiving is running a promotion where they will match 30% of all donations made through the site, so that will be a perfect time to continue giving! (Now that the challenge has ended, checks are fine, as are multiple donations from the same credit card or account.) But the really important thing is that there is ongoing need here. The radio gets some local support in the form of paid remote broadcasts and commercials for local businesses and performing groups, but it's not enough. In the past year we've already had to cut all paid news correspondents, and currently are relying on a few who decided to continue as volunteers, and mostly on the radio staff, whose workload has been increased, and whose salaries have remained the same the last several years, despite rising prices. Here's a little history so you understand how the radio was maintained in the past and why that strategy doesn't work anymore. From the time the station was founded in the early '60s up until around 5 years ago, they received quite a bit of international aid, including generous grants from organizations in Germany and Holland. However, since the peace accords in the mid '90s, many organizations have slowly been withdrawing financial help from Guatemala in favor of other worse-off countries. But even though Guatemala is developing quicker than many countries, indigenous communities are not getting their fair share of the developing economy. So even though there is improvement in the national economy of Guatemala, indigenous communities, such as Nahualá and the other towns we reach, really still need the support of others, so they do not lose their language and culture, and so they can be kept up to date on news, health, etc.. Currently Nawal Estereo is getting some support from the Guatemalan Federation of Educational Radios (FGER) and CAFOD, a Catholic organization in England, but it is mostly for training sessions (in news gathering, script-writing, editing, etc.), and doesn't address salaries or ongoing needs like electric bills and equipment maintenance. As far as local fundraising, we are planning to start a "Friends Club" where people commit to a monthly donation to the radio station, and in return we will announce their birthdays and have periodical drawings for prizes (probably donated). We are also considering the possibility of fundraising with a bucket in the center of town during market days. While these strategies make our local listeners feel responsible for the radio and allow them to contribute, the reality is that many of the people we serve are fairly poor and local fundraising cannot support the radio by itself. For this reason, we are trying our hand at international online fundraising, and continue to ask for your help both in donating and spreading the word. Thanks so much! Tim Slattery Peace Corps Volunteer Nahualá, Sololá, Guatemala