By Pete McNamee | Project Reports Manager, Peace Corps Volunteer
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 11th, 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 49th 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 50th 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
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