Our team arrived in Mozambique in January 2001 to conduct three weeks of academic research. We were five graduate students from New York University's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service working on our final project for our master's degree. We went to evaluate the impact of the Freeplay radios—solar-powered/wind-up radios—on the lives of people in rural villages who were affected by the floods in 2000. Each day provided its own treasure of discoveries in both our research work and our appreciation of the vast and largely unspoiled beauty of Mozambique.
In our travels we were struck by the friendliness of the Mozambican people and their willingness to share their flood experiences. In the bustling market in the capital, Maputo, we encountered the first of many Freeplay radios. The shopkeeper who owned the radio proudly told us that, since most individual stall operators did not have access to electricity at the market, his radio served him well. He simply winds up the crank on his radio whenever he wants to listen to a news program.
In the countryside of Gaza and Maputo provinces, we began to hear tragic stories about how the floods had destroyed both human life and property. A woman in the village of Matuba, in the Chokwe district, told how she had lost everything in the floods and was barely able to save herself. Until she was given a solar/wind-up radio a couple of months after the flood, she was without any access to information. Her radio became the primary means to reconnect her with the world. "The radio," she said, "is like a witness to how the rest of the world lives."
The United Methodist Church in Chokwe is a modest building that was rebuilt with clay bricks and mud on the foundations of the former building, destroyed by the floods. I worshiped there with the people one Sunday morning. Despite their limited means, they have survived with optimism and faith in their future. One change is that people now believe what they hear on the radio about floods and about other issues as well. The devastation created by the floods has enhanced the value of information broadcast by radio. People are interested in rebuilding their lives and property. Relevant, practical information—such as programs teaching about ways to prevent malaria, cholera, and HIV/AIDS—is gratefully welcomed.
A pastor in the XaiXai area told how he and 28 other people spent two weeks on rooftops waiting to be rescued from the floodwaters. In some areas water levels reached as high as 24 feet. All that people had to survive on was 25 liters of water and a rationing of 10 peanuts per person per meal. After the waters subsided, people thought it a miracle that they had survived. This experience of spending long periods on rooftops or in trees, waiting to be rescued, was a story we heard in several villages. Despite rescue efforts, 700 people died in the floods of 2000.
We found that people want an affordable, durable radio—one that provides them with popular programming, such as news and community information. They are unable to afford the batteries that power some types of radios, and with a national electrification rate of only 5 percent, electrical appliances are not an option. A solar-powered/wind-up radio is a popular and suitable solution for both emergency communications and the long-term broadcasting needs of the people of Mozambique.
Maurice Seaton, along with Christian Bowman, Shanya Harris, Alicia Polak, and Tuesday Saperia—four fellow students at New York University's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service—carried out the radio impact study in Mozambique under the sponsorship of the General Board of Global Ministries and the Freeplay Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the radio manufacturer.
Text and photographs copyright 2001 by New World Outlook: The Mission Magazine of The United Methodist Church. Used by Permission. For reprint permission, contact New World Outlook by E-mail at nwo@gbgm-umc.org.