BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (August 10, 2008) — With steady hands, Mohibullah, a broadcaster for Kala Gush Radio, held his cell phone up to a microphone to pick up the voice of a local Afghan, who was calling in to make a request. Out his window the purple mountains stood tall against the two small connexes that house the station, but the signal carries far, reaching the entire province of Nuristan.  

About a year ago, the Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team had a vision to create a radio station for the people of the province. After months of planning and coordination, the dream became a reality. Kala Gush radio aired for the first time, in March.

“The people are so happy, they are so glad we have a radio station,” said Farooq, Kala Gush radio broadcaster. “Everyone you see is talking about the radio. They’re calling on the phone to ask for songs, or introduce themselves or read some poetry.”

For many people living in secluded villages throughout Nuristan province, Kala Gush Radio is the only means of getting accurate information. Since the literacy rate is so low in the province, newspapers and other publications aren’t as beneficial.

For years, the Taliban have used the illiteracy rate to their advantage, changing the meaning of the Koran to promote their own agenda. This is something the PRT and the Kala Gush broadcasters plan to change.

“Every Wednesday there’s a bazaar in Nengaresh where people bring in their animals to sell,” said Farooq. “They come from all the villages and we’re going to interview these people to find out what they want, what they need and find out what kind of problems they have.”

One of the challenges in distributing information is the limited amount of radios in the area. The broadcasters talked about how the village women always send their children over to their house to see if they can get a free radio. They figure since the broadcasters work at the station, they must have extra radios to give away, unfortunately this isn’t the case.

The radio station asked the PRT for more radios so they can give them out as rewards during their question-and-answer show.
  
The PRT has made numerous trips to the surrounding villages to hand out radios and the broadcasters have given several away as prizes. Still, radios are scarce in the province.

When Task Force Centaur arrived in country, Kala Gush Radio was already up and running, but the unit wanted to do something to contribute to the success of the station. They completed their first joint operation with the Afghan National Police, the 527th Military Police Company, Hohenfels, Germany, and the PRT, handing out radios to the people of the small village of Nengaresh, Jul. 28.

When they arrived at the village, word spread quickly as a crowd of villagers stood waiting, with outstretched arms, for the chance to own a radio. U.S. forces and the ANP stayed until the last box was empty, and it seemed as though every villager had a radio in hand.