the Yu Tok blog

Radio is a long-lasting companion for us. It has been the first media to enter our lives and it has informed us and entertained us long before TV came into existence. Of course, the domination of image in media nowadays has made radio less attractive to younger generations. Nevertheless, radio is still useful in our days and can provide knowledge and information to areas that are inaccessible to other media.

 

Many of the country’s ‘remote and inaccessible areas’ are without electricity. Can you imagine what that must be like? Some places might have a TV set which could be watched by the whole community – but only when the power supply is on, and in many places outages occur frequently. In some remote places it is difficult for children to get to school – in other places, girls are taken out of school at an early age – and so literacy is a problem and newspapers or books are not viable alternative form of media. Radio is relatively inexpensive, portable, low-tech and, in many places, broadcasts programmes in local languages. Batteries have to be paid for but electricity is not essential for this form of media and you don’t have to be able to read to be able to understand.

 

Thus radio can influence the lives of young people in these areas by providing information to their parents about every aspect of health and survival, it can provide entertainment, it can provide education, and it can influence their lives by giving them the information they need to know and understand their rights and, crucially, to combat HIV and AIDS.

Background

According to a recent survey of youth[1] in the Papua New Guinea, young people view crime, poverty, unemployment, basic education, health problems, and government-related issues to be the most pressing challenges facing the nation. At the same time, respondents overwhelmingly answered that they feel helpless in addressing such challenges and most do not have access to reliable information to address these challenges. Thus, with that in mind World Bank has initiated a Youth Community Radio Program as part of its Youth Outreach Program. This community radio program is organized and run by a group of young people who feels for other youths and are motivated to make a difference in the lives of fellow youths. The group members consist of juvenile delinquents, academics, and youths who are employed full-time all combining their efforts to help young people in Papua New Guinea. Currently the group consists of 12 volunteers working for this radio program. They are using the facilities provided by the World Bank to help other less fortunate youths address pressing challenges. The youth community radio program is called Yu Tok Radio Program in the neo-Melanesian lingua franca. It means to speak (say what’s on your mind, speak your mind, say something, tell me etc…) your mind. In a broader sense it aims to motivate young people to speak their mind and to start thinking positively about changes and improvements in their community.

Problem

With young people, ages 12 to 25, making up more than one-third of the Papua New Guinea’s population, we believe that they play an increasingly large role in the development of Papua New Guinean society. But this young population is face with challenges, and sometimes they don’t know how to address these challenges. These challenges are in the form of;

·        Education - many young people within this age group are not in school, and others don’t feel that school is giving them what they really need to get a good job or get technical training or go to a university·        Healthy Lifestyles – when young people don’t have full control over things that affect their health, or don’t make good choices, they can become very sick, die or harm others. For example, about half of all HIV infections (that develop as a result of unprotected sex or drug use) occur in people who are younger than 25, and most them are girls and young woman.·        Unemployment - All young people, at various points in their lives, start to look for work and a way to male a living, either near home or further away. Their decisions on when to do that, what kind of work to do, what skills to develop, and where to work have many important implications for them as well as the country.·        Law & Order - Many young people who do not have a formal education and have not means to earn a living turns to criminal activities to make ends meet. This creates problems for the youth and also impacts the community and the country.·        Role Models – Young people need someone to look up to on how to behave as a civilized person. They need to find someone who can be their role model.·        Youth Participation – Many young people do not know their rights and responsibilities as citizens of Papua New Guinea. They also do not participate in development activities and don’t contribute to national issues. How do you empower young people to make a difference? How do you maximize the efforts of youth leaders who are actively promoting social change? Such questions have long motivated us on our work as a youth volunteers. We see great promise for engaging the active participation of Papua New Guinean youth in helping to ameliorate a range of urgent social problems.The youths are the most important groups in Papua New Guinea.  Their attitudes, values, mindsets and priorities and potentialities have critical role to play in shaping the future of our country. Thus with these in mind, we the young motivated group of individuals are focusing our efforts on launching a youth community radio program to address these challenges facing our young people.   

Objectives

Our objective is to reach young people and provide them with information that they can use to benefit themselves. This information will be actual facts disseminated by our researchers who will be specializing in an area of research to provide our young listeners with this information. We will also air achievements by striving youths and feedbacks for our programs. This airing of achievements will give hope to other youths to be productive, find a job, take up sports and further their education and to maximize the impact of young people working to make a difference By doing this we hope to help other young people to believe that there is a future for them, which they can do things to help themselves, they can live without committing crime and that one day they will raise a family of their own. By address issues to help these youths and by equipping them when they are young, we hope to provide a new generation of leaders who are better equip with good character and access to information to help this country. Yu Tok Radio Program is about encouraging Papua New Guinean Youth to believe in themselves and their ability to make a difference in our country Papua New Guinea. We want to create an environment where young people are exposed to new thinking, a diversity of voices, and new opportunities. Driven by youthful vigor, our goal is to foster a sense of leadership, participation and social entrepreneurship through the innovative use of technology and media, creating meaningful experiences for the youth in the Papua New Guinea. Strategies for Achieving Objectives 

1. Radio Program

Provide a daily radio program on various challenges that faces the young people in Papua New Guinea

1. Form Partnerships/ Networking

Build community, local, national and international partnership so we can bridge some existing gaps between young people.

1. Newsletter /Youth Magazine

Provide a monthly youth magazine to inform partners, donors and other stakeholders of the radio programs activities.

1. Community Outreach

Through these partnerships we can provide communities with information, skills and other resources to better their lifestyles

     Program Phases Phase I: Radio ProgramYu Tok Radio Program is planning to go on air as of February 2006. Fm100 is willing to host our Youth Community Radio Program and has given us an air time of 7:30 p.m. just before their Family Show Program. This family show is very popular with many listeners throughout the country. The time reserved for our radio program will gain popularity as more people tune in just before the family show. This will bring in more listens and we can convey the message to the young target group.

Daily Programs are as follows;

Days	Time	Topic		Partners?
Monday	7:30 – 8:00	Education		???
Tuesday	7:30 – 8:00	Sports/ Music		???
Wednesday	7:30 – 8:00	Health		EU/NACA
Thursday	7:30 – 8:00	Citizenships/Rights		TIPNG/YACA
Friday	7:30 – 8:00	Law & Order		POLICE DEPT
Saturday	7:30 – 8:00	Employment		???
Sunday	7:30 – 8:30	Open Forum

 Yu Tok Radio Program will initially start as a radio documentary and will be on air for 30 minutes per day, Monday to Saturday discussing challenges that the young people face. Sunday will have a special time of 1 hour. This will be an open forum where listeners can write in or call and ask any questions regarding the program from Monday to Saturday. We will have our researches and any interested person to sit in during this time and answer all their questions.  Phase II – Forming Partnerships/ Networking

1.      Forming Partnerships

Forming a partnership with organizations such as UNICEF, AusAID, NZAID, YACA, Dept of Community Development, CDS, and Law & Justice Sector. And  also with international communities such as PNG community in Australia, United State, Great Britain, Indonesia, Philippines and other PNG communities in countries throughout the world.

2.      Networking

Networking with other youths and their youth groups throughout the country and around the globe. By networking, we can build a database of what is happening where and who is doing what. This will help each youth group to specialize in something and work together in a coordinated approach. Only by networking can we help other youths in their efforts to help less fortunate youths in remote areas of Papua New Guinea.

   Phase III – Newsletter / Youth Magazine

Publish a monthly newsletter/ youth magazine about the program that we have aired on the radio. This will further enable young people to see and read about the challenges that youths are faced with in Papua New Guinea. This magazine will be used also to inform partners, donors and stakeholders of the activities of the radio program and how much impact it has on the lives of youths. This also a useful way for feedbacks to our partners on the activities and challenges faced by the radio program and how they can help further.

 Phase IV – Community Outreach

After forming partners and setting up a network of young people and their groups, our radio program can now do community outreach and help communities in their projects. By forming a network we can be sure to provide the best program/activities that are needed in each community. Such needed activities may be in learning to sew, cooking well balanced diet, building a necessary, right tools for carpentry etc….

This community outreach will help communities to be self sufficient and to do what is right to help them. It is to provide them with skills that they not receive from other places. It is to enable youths in remote areas to information that could save their lives or the lives of their loved ones. It could empower them on their rights and to make informed decisions that can influence others who look up to them for support.

  Implementation Schedule Schedule for Year 2006 

Activities	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov
Radio Program
Build Partnership
Community Outreach
Youth Magazine

    Schedule for 2006 – 2013 

Activities	Yr 0	Yr 1	Yr 2	Yr 3	Yr 4	Yr 5	Yr 6	Yr 7
Radio Program
Build Partnership
Community Outreach
Youth Magazine
Youth Radio Station

   Long Term Goal 

The long term goal for Yu Tok Radio Program is to have its own Youth Radio Station. This will enable it to provide more information to young people through the country and especially to those remote areas. It will air radio dramas; school radio programs, talkback, play music and most importantly provide our young listeners a sense of direction in their lives. This long term goal is depended on funding and partnerships from various stakeholders and international communities.

In the future, youth radio station will be on the most popular radio station as the majority of the young people will be able to tune in and listen to their fellow youths talk about their achievement and how to achieve ones dreams successfully.

  Program Organization Our young people come from a variety of background, we all are skilled in our own ways and can compliment each other to make this radio program feasible. 

Name	Skills	Role
1.Rex Paura	Bachelor of Economics	Co-coordinator, Research
2.Marie  Eorage	Honors Political Science	Research
3.Cecily Kome	Honors International Rel.	Research
4.Dakan Doiwa	Bachelor of Law	Research
5.Bernard Eliuda	Bachelor of Law	Research
6.Michael Maino	Chemist	Research
7.Steward Yareki	Information Technology	Design our logo’s/ Research
8.Baker Vere	Sound Engineer	Will be doing all the recordings
9.Lawrence Savoa	Presenter	May host the Show
10.Ricky Kila	Amateur actor	Provide support for research
11.Emmanuel Ali	Amateur actor	Provide support for research
12.Kone Bulina	Social Work	Provide expertise from previous work / Research

 With these skills that we have, we can be able to combine them and produce a sustainable radio program to our target audience.

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[1] Recent survey at 6 mile Saraga community by Yu Tok group in Jun 05

Also the reports on WDR07 in Madang, Goroka & Port Moresby in Nov 05