Radio Boukman’s young team aims to show a different angle of Cité Soleil. “There are positive initiatives too” says Lesly, programme director, “and we are the evidence of that”. Radio Boukman is the voice of the voiceless and it considers its duty to inform the population, largely deprived of any means, about how to face their daily problems. With this mission in mind, the radio just launched a new programme, called “prevention is better than cure”. The programme provides warnings and advice on how to avoid the disastrous effects that a hurricane could have, if it hit the tent camps of Haiti. This is now regarded as the most serious risk in Haiti at present, but very little action has been taken so far to warn the population.

The radio programme achieves its goal through a mix of different elements. First, an update of the most immediate hurricane threats is given. This is followed by a vox pop to check people’s level of awareness on this matter (knowledge of the different alert codes e.g. green, orange, and red alerts). Finally, a comedy sketch reinstates the safety instructions. Once more, this shows that in Haiti information must be simple and direct for it to be effective.

It comes as a shock to learn that Radio Boukman are still looking for funding for this vital programme, particularly necessary in the context of troubled Cité Soleil, which houses between 200,000 and 400,000 people. No international organization has come in aid, with the exception of IOM (International Office for Migration) who are now running a pilot programme to promote it in some camps. Over one million people are at risk today. Radio Boukman is trying to avoid more deaths than those caused by the earthquake.

In this video, we meet Radio Boukman’s exceptional team to learn about the profound sense of belonging to Cité Soleil’s community :

Joachin Jorel, the director of Radio Boukman, explained to us the origin of the radio’s name. Boukman was a well-known voodoo priest who instigated the slaves’ rebellion. In the night of 14 August, 1791, Dutty Boukman celebrated a voodoo ceremony. A black pig was sacrificed. Everybody drank its blood, which supposedly made them invulnerable. Boukman then ordered the general uprising, and although he died in battle, the slaves went on to build the first black republic of the world.

The Koute Ayiti (Listen to Haiti) caravan was created to travel to the different provinces affected by the earthquake. Aid is mainly concentrated in Port-au-Prince, and for this reason several international organizations (CDAC, the Red Cross, Oxfam, UNICEF,…), supported by the Haitian government, have put in place this itinerant project, so that no area is left out.

The caravan has toured the country from 12 July to 6 August with the goal to spread vital messages and information to support reconstruction and development. Koute Ayiti has been staged by a very experienced company named “Konesans Fanmi se Lepwa Timoun” (Family Knowledge is Children’s Hope). This theatre company has been around for many years and has repeatedly reached all corners of the country. It’s made up of teams of social workers and doctors who then provide the HIV test to whoever requests it.

The caravan concept is twofold: the day starts with a public debate, where population, government and humanitarian operators meet and discuss serious issues. Then, a show including dances, songs and comedy sketches takes over to entertain the audience. This show, as main goal, reiterates important information while entertaining. Topics covered include AIDS prevention, alcohol, family violence, etc.

This edition of the caravan project ended in Port-au-Prince, on the famous square of Champs de Mars, which has been turned into a huge tent camp right opposite the Presidential Palace. It is here that we met with them, on 6 August. All sketches are in Creole and evoke all the topics mentioned above. It should also be noted that the presenter has a crucial role: actually, after the sketch, he resumes the issues which were covered and interacts with the audience to ensure that the message gets across and is well understood by everybody!

A very good initiative, where laughs and education mix together… to be discovered here:

(We will soon translate sketches from Creole to allow a better understanding the nature of the messages. So we invite you to watch this space from time to time… and we will also inform you via our facebook page)