Stories

PEKKA Community Radio, from Sending Out Greetings, Quran Recital, to Getting Electric Shock

On the evening of every Thursday, Rukiyah – sixty years old woman – walks to a radio station located in Sungai Ambangah village, Kubu Raya District, West Kalimantan. Once inside, she steps into the studio, get her on-air materials ready, adjust her seat and volume level, put on her headphone, and then she begins to recite the verses of Surah Yasiin (Quran Recital) on the microphone.

Yes, Rukiyah is a radio broadcaster, on air every Thursday evening on a community radio, PEKKA (Women Headed Family) Khatulistiwa 107.7 FM.

“The radio is managed by men and women in the community,” she explained. The on-air slot for the women is between 4 and 5.30 PM, and then continues after Maghribprayer until midnight. “Afterwards, the men will take over where they normally read poetry, rhymes, or simply say hello to the listeners. You know, send out nice words and well wishes.”

The women of Sungai Ambangah normally take turns in reciting their broadcasting materials. They have an hour to talk about issues related to education, law, and politics – all of which they learn from the trainings they received from PEKKA. As for their management and broadcasting skills, they’ve got trainings from the Private Broadcasting Association (Lembaga Penyiaran Swasta). The women admitted being really nervous at the first time. Especially knowing that they have listeners all the way to Pinang Dua in Kubu Raya district.

“Somehow talking becomes difficult when you’re on-air. It’s not as easy as the normal talk with the ladies,” said Kholilah, one of PEKKA’s cadre.

“Even Miss Magdalena (secretary at PEKKA Pontianak, West Kalimantan) got it wrong once by saying good-evening-to-afternoon instead of good-afternoon-to-evening and immediately received a message from the community telling her she was wrong,” uttered Kholilah. “Apparently other community radios monitor our broadcast, too,” she laughed.

Although their materials are limited to the things they’ve learned from PEKKA’s trainings, they’re very happy that they’re able to relay useful information to a broader public. These women believe radio is an effective means of communications to broadcast important information, whether it’s about village administration, children education, daily nutritional intake, so on and so forth. Furthermore, their listeners can communicate with them directly by calling to the station.

Unfortunately, it has been four months since the last time PEKKA Khatulistiwa on-air. Another radio station somehow overrides their frequency.

“Not really sure what the name of the radio is. There’s another voice that overlays ours when we’re on the air. So our listeners can’t hear us. We’ve filed a report to the regional chapter of Indonesian Broadcast Commission (Komisi Penyiaran Indonesia Daerah) and still waiting for the mediation schedule,” explained Kholilah.

“Then again, our schedule slows down lately since many of us are now busy with our crops,” added Rukiyah. “Besides, it seems like the device is a bit broken, we often get an electric shock. So we’re a little scare to touch it.” (***)