Past Programs
Community and Society - 2008
Keeping Horses In The House - A Roma Radio Station in Budapest
27/09/2008
Despite the recent European Union campaign in support of the rights of the Roma (Gypsies), they remain a visibly discriminated-against minority, facing higher than average rates of poverty, unemployment and imprisonment across Europe.
Roma are demanding inclusion in the public life of the countries they have lived in for centuries, and are turning up the heat on governments in Eastern Europe in particular (where Roma make up significant minorities), through public demonstrations, appeals to the EU and a host of human rights NGOs.
In Hungary, where more than 600,000 Roma live (out of a population of 10 million), Roma face unemployment levels of up to 70%, and make up 80% the prison population. Against this background, the launch of a Roma community radio station, Radio C, in Budapest in 2001 was a cause for celebration by local Roma. Seven years on, Radio C continues to thrive, and is one of the most popular music stations in the city. But how effective has Radio C been in sustaining Roma culture? and is it possible for a radio station to change the popular 'gadjo' (white) image of cigany (gypsies) as thieves and losers -- the sort of people who keep horses in the bathroom?
From Budapest, Rachel Maher takes us on a tour of Radio C, in the heart of District 8 -- the ghetto.
Producer
Rachel Maher
Executive Producer
Tony MacGregor
Sound engineer
Andrei Shabunov
Music featured in the program came from the following Artists/CD
Fekete Vonat/Hip Hop Zene
Szilvasi Gipsy Folk Band/Folklore beats you up
Introducing Bela Lakatos & the Gypsy Youth Project
The Grass is Greener
26/04/2008
Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah is a presenter on Joy FM radio station in Accra, Ghana. Ghana is an African country that is comparatively stable politically and economically, and yet large numbers of the population want to escape overseas to where they think 'The Grass is Greener'.
Christopher, an unemployed graduate, falsified documents to accompany his visa application and was found out. Others, in their thousands, bypass the visa queues altogether and set off across the Sahara towards North Africa, hoping to get to Europe by boat. Ciire, a pineapple farmer, spent seven years trying to get to Europe, though many from his group of 35 illegal migrants died of dehydration in the desert or were killed by bandits on the way.
A continuation of the Global Perspective series on the theme of escape.
