To mark World Radio Day, meet the young people taking over the airwaves.
‘I’m no longer lonely’
“I’ve never met my dad. He went to live in Korea when my mother was pregnant with me. Ten years later, my mother followed — leaving me behind to live on my own,” says Quynh, 17, from Vietnam.
Even though Quynh’s aunt looked after her, she couldn’t help but feel desperately lonely.
Quynh was eventually able to move to a school nearer to her house and it was there she found hope. “I met my old friends and they suggested I apply to be part of a youth media club.”
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According to Mariangel, 14, from Nicaragua, “some people do not have a television at home, but they do have radio. Furthermore, people who can´t see, listen to the radio, so through it they are able to know about things that are happening in their community — such as violence, bullying, early pregnancy and trafficking.”
Girls in Action has also let Mariangel tackle issues close to her heart such as bullying.
“In some radio programs we have recorded, I have spoken about bullying and it has given me the confidence to do something about it. At my school, I witnessed children who were being bullied. They were afraid. They felt threatened. So I went and spoke to them, and told them how they could seek help from a counselor.”
Thanks to this project, Mariangel now feels inspired to study journalism and, one day, make radio her career.
