“Rigolo Thérapie” (“Comedy Therapy” in English) is a daily live programme on Caraïbes FM, the leading radio in Port-au-Prince. Its mission is simple: help the population forget the difficulties of life, heal their wounds, and turn the page by giving them some moments of hilarity.

Results are outstanding: Rigolo Thérapie, which is in Creole, enjoys the highest share in Haiti right now. The programme has been on since 2004. That year coincided with another difficult moment in Haiti, when Aristide’s government was topped, a period of unrest followed, and people were afraid of leaving their homes. That is when Marc Anderson Brégard and Peterson François junior (“PJ”) had the idea to create a program to give people some relief from the daily stress. They summoned some of the best comedians, joke tellers and imitators in the country, such as Maxime Clerger “Congo”, Smith Egalité and others. Rigolo Thérapie was born.

Smith Egalité is a talent who is regularly on the show. His trademark is the impersonation of a young street boy from Cité Soleil, an area of Port-au-Prince with serious problems of crime and difficult life conditions. Here he presents himself… and his younger double! *

Maxime Clerger (“Congo”) is the most famous impersonator in Haiti, with a 20-year-long career during which he has provided imitations of virtually any politician in the country. The current situation, with the debates on responsibilities, use of aid money and the upcoming elections, is a perfect setting for his sketches. Here Congo explains how amusement is working as a humour therapy for the people.

* (we deliberately left the original voice in Creole for the central part of the audio to let you savour Smith’s voice as a young street boy). Here’s what he says: “Good evening to all, my name is Egalité, I was born in the Dominican Republic, I have two children, although that may sound to you a bit strange…. I am a professional comedian, and I sing a little bit. I do theatre, here as well as in France, I am a character who is a bit lyric, comic, pacific and… leave me alone!”

Ralph is the author of “A camp per day”, a feature of a 20-minute programme called ENDK (“Enfomasyon nou dwe konnen”, meaning “Useful News”) and produced by Internews.

He visits a different camp each day, and talks to the people there to understand where the major urgencies are. His reports represent a direct line for the displaced people living in the camps to express their feelings and needs, and at the same time receive news about the other camps.

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We followed Ralph in his visit to the camp in Saint Anne’s square, in Port-au-Prince. The camp is right in the commercial centre of the capital, the area that saw the worst effects of the earthquake. Piles of rubble from collapsed buildings, including those of Saint Anne’s Church, surround the camp from all sides. More than 5,000 people have found refuge here.

In the audio portfolio that follows, we can listen to Ralph’s voice as he describes his day, his experience and learnings, and how he takes in the difficult human stories that he witnesses daily. What emerges is the touching view of a Haitian young man on the tragedy affecting the entire population of his country.

ENDK is broadcasted daily by a network of 35 radio stations in Haiti. The programme was conceived and set up immediately after the earthquake to provide emergency information to the population. Today the format has evolved but the focus remains on social and useful information.