How Ambridge is helping Rwanda rebuild itself
Felicity Finch, who plays Ruth in The Archers, explains how the Rwandan version manages to address HIV, genocide and child abuse – as well as farming
It was a depressingly dark January morning back in 1999 when I received a call out of the blue from The Archers' office asking me if I fancied a trip to Rwanda. I said "Yes" without hesitation, guessing that their invitation must be in connection with a new version of The Archers, as I was aware the radio soap had already been used as a model for dramas in Kenya and Russia.
And so it proved. I was invited to spend a week in Kigali attending the launch of the new Rwandan soap, Urunana (which means "hand in hand"). The drama had been set up by British charity Health Unlimited. Like The Archers, which was originally intended to educate postwar farmers, Urunana was supposed to be instructive as well as entertaining. Targeted at women, its stories would cover health issues ranging from malaria prevention to domestic violence (which had escalated since the 1994 genocide in the country). It was hoped that by focusing on women, the programme would reach out to whole families.
 | |
| |
Now, on the cusp of its 10th anniversary, Urunana has around 10million listeners (The Archers gets 4 to 5million). If offers a lifeline to people in a country whose recent history, as I was told during that 1999 visit, made it impossible to think further than the present. Urunana is hotly tipped to win at the One World Media Awards hosted by Jon Snow in London tonight.
It was a huge achievement just to get a drama on the air which was both entertaining and educational, not least because during the 1994 genocide, radio had been used as a grisly propaganda tool. Regular announcements were made then to "kill a cockroach [ie a member of the minority Tutsi tribe]) today", often giving specific names and addresses of those to target. Listeners' trust of the medium had to be carefully regained and nurtured over time.
Based in the fictional village of Nyarurembo, and following the daily lives of the villagers, Urunana never tells the listener how to behave or what to do. But thanks to constant contact with rural communities, monitoring their needs and reactions to storylines, relevant scenarios are developed by the scriptwriters from which the listener can make informed decisions in their day-to-day lives.
I've now had the privilege of being personally involved with the programme on and off for over a decade. At an event celebrating the launch 10 years ago, I had the surreal experience of performing a fictional scene from Urunana as my Archers character, Ruth. Ruth appeared as the wife of a shopkeeper Munyakazi. He was reluctant to let her, as a woman, undertake training to become a local community health worker. Although all this seemed not a little bizarre for strong-willed, independent Ruth, when I cast my mind back, it wasn't a million miles away from David's (my Archers husband of more than 20 years) reaction to having a female student arrive to work alongside him at Brookfield in 1987.
When I returned to Kigali a year later to make a documentary about Urunana for Radio 4, I was amused and even a little shocked to witness the recording of a scene in which a married couple were using a condom for the first time given that the unfaithful husband was suspected of being infected with HIV. It was tender, funny and highly entertaining – as well as being a lot more explicit than what might be heard in a similar Archers episode.
My most recent visit was in March 2004, a month before the 10th anniversary of the genocide. The drama never shies away from sensitive issues, but had previously had to steer clear of political storylines. I was impressed that it now had a young student, Agnes, who during the month of April suffered traumas linked to her memories of the genocide, mirroring the experiences of many Rwandans. Other characters were making pilgrimages to memorial sites during the annual week of remembrance. There was also a child abuse storyline, which would previously have been seen as a taboo subject, that resulted in new child protection laws. Clearly Urunana is now able to push boundaries further and thereby become even more relevant to its listeners' lives.
I will be at the One World Media Awards ceremony tonight cheering on head writer Sam Kyagambiddwa and managing director Narcisse Kalisa with the words of studio manager Prudence Uwakaburikiza ringing in my ears. I'd asked Prudence how long he thought Urunana could go on. "Fifty years like The Archers," he replied. "Why not? More than 50 years!"
--
Jean-Louis Kayitenkore
Procurement Consultant
Gsm: +250-08470205
Home: +250-55104140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali-Rwanda
East Africa
Blog: http://www.cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID : Kayisa66
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment