ABC Ulwazi, an educational radio training and production NGO, has conducted a pilot project in Limpopo that uses community radio stations to get parents, families and the general community talking about children and their well-being. The project, undertaken during 2010/11 in partnership with the Bernard Van Leer Foundation (BVLF), centred on the activities of members of the ECD learning community. Project members partnered with community radio stations in creating and broadcasting content appopriate for all children, including the very young child.

The project will also involve working with youth presenters after a child-participatory framework was adopted during ABC Ulwazi’s previous BVL-funded “Speak Free Project”. In such a framework, children are creators of media and have their voices heard in public spaces.

The project takes its impetus from the fact that although numerous countries in Africa have instruments aimed at safeguarding the well-being of children, these are often contentested at community level. In the case of corporal punishment, for example, many adults fail to understand why their children should not be physically punished as they themselves were by their own parents, caregivers and teachers. Many community members feel dictated to by legislation, and believe “rights” to be a foreign concept that ought to be rejected.

Key questions that the project considered are:

• Have we forced communities to buy into the image of a “global child” where issues of community language, culture and identity are threatened?
• In law-making, do we consider the community’s own defined processes of child-rearing and development, processes that have been passed down through the generations?

The primary aim of the community-radio project was to:

• promote dialogues (both on-air and face-to-face) that advocate for the well-being of children;
• marry experiences coming from indigenous practice in the community with what people are doing today, and to question whether or not these practices support support the rights of children and of the greater society; and
• encourage ownership among parents, caregivers in support of the programme through debates and discussions.

Selected community radio stations held thematic on-air discussions on children’s rights and how these impact on the well-being of the child. ABC Ulwazi produced an effective, educational and entertaining radio series as support material for these discussions. The NGO also trained Early Development Centre partners on the strategic use of mass media (radio in particular) in encouraging discussions on child-rearing. A pilot qualitative research study was conducted amongst community members to ascertain the relevance of the project as well as the issues they would like to address.

The primary target audience was:

• women (parents and caregivers );
• men (fathers and caregivers);
• Early Childhood Development Learning Centre partners;
• youth (7-16) as possible presenters for the children’s radio programme;
• grandparents and elders (as a source of indigenous knowledge);
• very young children; and
• young parents, in order to empower them to deal with the challenges of parenting.

Community radio stations benefited from this project in various ways. Stations were able to enhance their youth programming and tap into new audience listenership, and their staff acquired additional skills.

Parents, caregivers and teachers also benefited from project. They had an opportunity to learn more about young children by listening to the programmes. Observing the interest of children in the show encouraged caregivers and educators to adapt or use similar ideas in their interaction with the children. Furthermore, it is hoped that, through this project, listeners will begin to embrace their cultures and celebrate local practices in child development.