Over the airwaves, the voices of Elbeka, Mariam and Awa travel from a small recording studio in Baga Sola, in Lake Chad province, to enter homes throughout the region.
With a confident and determined tone, they denounce the violence that girls like them suffer simply for being girls.
“At first I was intimidated to speak on the radio, but after broadcasting I was happy to be able to express myself.
If we girls start talking on the radio from a young age, we will be able to say everything and everywhere.
In addition, it is a very good way to raise awareness for society to abandon practices such as child marriage.
Everyone in the community has access to the radio,” explains Elbeka, 14.
Only 31% of men know how to read and write and in the case of women, only 14%
United Nations Organization
The crisis in the province of Lago, located in western Chad, intensified in 2014 with the escalation of attacks by various armed groups in Nigeria and northern Cameroon, causing the displacement of ever larger population groups.
Currently, the situation has deteriorated and the needs for assistance have increased.
It is estimated that the number of refugees in Chad is 1.1 million and about 54% are girls and women.
In contexts of humanitarian crisis, the radio plays a very important role.
It facilitates distance education in areas where its access is already a challenge for many children affected by the conflict.
In addition, it serves to transmit to the population relevant information on safety, disease prevention and, even, promote the rights of girls and protect them from harmful practices.
Elbeka, Mariam and Awa, members of the El club de las niñas project, on the recording set of Radio Ningui, in Baga Sola, Chad.Irene Galera
Hence the importance of community radio stations, democratic stations accessible to everyone and that do not understand economic or educational level, something especially relevant in Chad, since it is one of the countries with the lowest literacy rate in the world.
According to UNESCO, only 31% of men know how to read and write and in the case of women, only 14%.
In terms of press freedom, the country ranks 104 out of 180 in the Reporters Without Borders ranking.
The radio as a reflection of oral tradition
It is not uncommon in Chad to find a group of 15 or 20 people gathered around a radio under the shade of a tree.
In many contexts in Africa, radio is much more than a means of communication, it is a social symbol, reflecting the continent's long oral tradition.
In addition, its success is due, among other reasons, to its ability to adapt to the particularities of the continent, since it makes it possible to reach areas that are difficult to access and cope with geographical complexity and the lack of infrastructure.
The girls have perceived their potential and have asked themselves "why not use it to denounce the inequality and violence that we suffer in our day to day?"
Along with Elbeka, Mariam and Awa, another 21 girls, mostly refugees or internally displaced, meet several times a month in the Radio Ningui studio.
All of them make up the so-called "Girls' Club", promoted by the La LUZ de las NIÑAS campaign of Fundación Entreculturas.
In this space, the girls meet to discuss issues such as menstruation, female genital mutilation or early and forced child marriage and prepare the scripts for their programs, broadcast on this community radio through 97.2.
And it is that childhood in Chad goes through many difficulties, but the situation of girls is particularly serious.
67% have been forced to marry as minors, 34% have been victims of female genital mutilation and only 19% of girls reach the first cycle of secondary school, compared to more than 40% of boys,
The success of the radio is due, among other reasons, to its ability to adapt to the particularities of the continent, since it allows reaching areas of difficult access and coping with the geographical complexity and lack of infrastructure
Let's go back for a moment to the group of people listening to the radio in the shade of a tree.
Making a simple calculation, if we take into account the figures of violence against girls, we will reach the following conclusion: 13 of those 20 people who listen to the radio, perhaps, are thinking of forcing their minor daughters to marry, seven of them, in practicing genital mutilation on them, and 16, in taking them out of school so that their male brothers can continue studying.
That is why it is so important that the voice of girls and adolescents be present on community radio stations.
Koubra in front of the Radio Ningui studio, in Baga Sola, Lake Chad.Irene Galera
"We are brave.
When we returned home – after broadcasting the program – our parents and the people in the neighborhood congratulated us, they told us that the information we had given was very interesting,” says Elbeka.
As Elbeka explains, the bravery of girls through radio is having an impact in communities.
However, for these initiatives to multiply their reach, a greater involvement of governments and institutions is still needed to guarantee effective protection of girls' rights.
This is essential if we are to achieve what is set out in goal 5.3 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which contemplates the elimination of all practices that are harmful to women by the year 2030. Meanwhile, the girls of Lake Chad will continue to raise their voices to protect themselves from violence.
Laura Lora Ballesta
is responsible for communication of the La LUZ de las NIÑAS campaign of the Entreculturas Foundation.
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