Radio Netherlands Worldwide is sending a mini radio station to Haiti. Many radio stations in the country have been destroyed by the earthquake and many of the people that worked there have been killed. It is in disasters like the one in Haiti that information is vital for survival.
By Marcel Decraene and Marjolein Stoop
It's a reliable, sturdy and low-cost integrated mobile broadcasting system for community radio in disasters and emergencies. The box measures around 55 x 50 cm. It contains a laptop, mixer, CD/cassette player and an FM transmitter. It can be used to produce radio programmes using a portable digital audio recorder, microphone inputs or other pre-recorded material.
Close ties
The idea is that Haitian journalists use the equipment. Radio Netherlands has enlisted the help of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association to get the equipment to Haiti. This organisation has close ties with partners in the region. The request stated: We feel the exceptional magnitude of this recent disaster merits exceptional consideration and support.
Rik Rensen, Radio Netherlands' editor-in-chief, thinks exactly the same. The question is whether Radio Netherlands, which is primarily a journalistic organisation, should be giving emergency assistance. Mr Rensen is usually reluctant about this kind of thing, but thinks Haiti is an exception: "Of course, our job is mainly to provide news to and about these kinds of areas. But in exceptional cases like this, when all round emergency assistance is needed, it is important to provide material assistance as well."
Self-Sufficient
The earthquake in Padang, Indonesia last September was apparently another exceptional case. Then RNW sent a 'radio in a box' to Sumatra. The reactions were positive. Technical coordinator Marc Brouwer says, "It works really well. The equipment is small and compact. You can put it in any plane going that way. It is completely self-sufficient."
Incidentally, the ‘radio in a box’ will be returned to the Netherlands one day. It has been lent out and is not a donation. Dutch media legislation wouldn’t allow that.
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