"Some people tuned their transistor radios in the hope, that they could intercept the radio", reports Ibis' community radio advisor, Søren Winther Johannsen.
But that was a bit premature. The community radio will be installed and tested in the coming days, and in late April it is expected to go on air for the first time.
That will be a long awaited occasion. The Community Radio Association of Massangulo was founded two years ago. And the over 30 activists, who will produce the programmes on a volunteer basis, have studied journalism and trained interview techniques for almost as long.
The technical equipment is supplied by the South African company, Pyramid Power Corporation. It's possible to edit programmes analogue as well as digitally. And the signals from the transmitter can be heard up to 80 kilometres away, when the conditions are optimal.
The community radio will be first source of local news in the district. There's no newspapers and television, and the state owned Radio Moçambique has had a monopoly on the airwaves so far.
Ibis has supported the new radio with organisational development, training and financing. Other Ibis-supported community radios are on the way in Maúa, Mechanelas and Muembe - all in the Niassa-province./tgn
