Press Release

Extending the Airwaves in Afghanistan’s Remote Farah Province

(May 14, 2009) Residents of Farah province in far western Afghanistan started getting new programming on their radios and televisions this month, thanks to a joint effort of Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), Internews, USAID. . . and some very hardy donkeys.

Last year Internews conducted an assessment of the Farah facilities of RTA, Afghanistan’s state broadcaster — and found considerable room for improvement.  The studios, located in the city center, were in disrepair and the transmission equipment was poorly located and underpowered.  

Internews’ technical team installed modern television and radio equipment in a new studio building at the base of a mountain outside the city.

A Provincial Reconstruction Team contracted construction of a two-kilometer path and power line from the studios to the top of the nearby peak. To haul all the necessary building materials and equipment, donkeys had to make 1200 trips up the hill.

Internews then erected a 30-meter tall transmission tower on the top of the mountain and installed a new radio transmission and television antenna system. The higher antenna and increased power are dramatically expanding RTA’s signal, with villages up to 100 kilometers away reporting good reception of RTA’s programming.

“This was one of the more difficult installations I’ve had a chance to work on,” said Joyce Rere, Internews’ Deputy Resident Technical Advisor, who coordinated the project along with Resident Technical Advisor Jeff Bemrose. “The rough terrain and intense heat made the one-hour hike from the studio to the mountaintop transmission site all the more challenging. You did not want to forget a tool at the bottom of the mountain and have to make the trip twice.”

Internews Technical Manager Mirkhallilulah Sadat trained RTA staff to use the studio equipment and to conduct field interviews, edit them in the studio and put them to air. For some of the RTA staff, this was their first introduction to a computer.

Internews Network’s work in Afghanistan is funded through a grant from USAID via Pact.

www.internews.org