An Afghan commando hands out fliers for 'Radio Hope,' a Kandahar radio station broadcasting news and entertainment to Afghans across a large swath of the southern province.

ISAF Joint Command - Afghanistan
2010-12-D-075
For Immediate Release
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KABUL, Afghanistan (Dec. 6, 2010) — On the streets of Kandahar province walks Shakeel Ahmed, a 21-year-old, Afghan National Army commando trained in Afghan Information Dissemination Operations, taking requests for a nearby radio station called “Radio Heela,” or “Radio Hope”.

He’s a “roving reporter”, quick with his microphone, one moment asking a shopkeeper who their favorite Afghan poet is, the next discussing Pashtu music with a taxi driver.

“Much of rural Afghanistan is without electricity and television,” said Ahmed. “Radio is the entertainment for people in Kandahar.”

“Do you listen to the radio?” Ahmed asks shopkeepers.

If they reply no or that they don’t own a radio, he hands them one, while spreading the word of FM 95.5, “Radio Heela.”

With a range of over 120 kilometers, Radio Heela delivers music and literature to Afghan listeners.

“When the Taliban was in power, we weren’t able to listen to music,” said Mohammed Mosa, a cellular phone shop owner in Kandahar. “Today we like to listen to the music and literature programs on Radio Heela.

Deejay Zazai and station manager Azad, run the station just outside of Kandahar Airfield, using two computers, poetry books and nearly 1,000 hours of music and input gathered by the commandos.

Zazai produces a daily call-in program where listeners can phone the station with requests. Some even use the chance to recite their own poetry.

The station averages more than 300 calls per day.

“These are just the nuts and bolts of running a radio station for Afghan citizens,” said Zazai. “The moments of extraordinary hope at Radio Heela makes it all worthwhile to the staff.”

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