Talking Drum Studio in the Kipé-Ratoma

In January 2006 SFCG launched a new state-of-the art Talking Drum Studio in the Kipé-Ratoma area of Conakry, Guinea. Since operations began, the studio has developed and broadcasted spot messages on the protection and promotion of rights of women and girls in the prefecture of Kissidougou (Forest Region). The radio spots currently air on Radio Rurale Kissdougou, featuring messages of support for women and girls' rights as they face the struggles of daily life, including HIV/AIDS, discrimination, and obstacles toward equal education for girls. In total 18 spot messages have been developed, with the help of staff members from Radio Rurale Kissidougou, using listener feedback and including interviews with key personalities in the Kissidougou community. Currently, spot messages air twice daily in French and Malinké and are repeated in the morning, a decision shaped by a recent survey that established the most popular broadcasting times.

The spot messages have acted as a launching tool for SFCG's new soap opera, which is national in its vision and sets out to address issues that citizens across Guinea can relate to, including issues surrounding HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, and the rift between traditional and modern medicine; equal education for girls, sugar daddy relationships, and forced marriages; and love, family, and friendship. The storylines are based on focus group discussions and were developed by the studio's team. Theatre groups will perform soap opera themes in areas that do not receive the Kissagoudou FM radio signal.

Based on real-life examples and anecdotes from the Kissidougou Prefecture, the soap opera traces the lives of teenage girls, Oumou and Hawa- two friends who face very different fates. Oumou's parents die of the rarely talked about killer AIDS, leaving Oumou threatened with a life of slavery in her uncle's house and an early marriage. Despite her best efforts, her dreams of finishing her education and marrying someone her own age are shattered and worst fears confirmed by a marriage to an older man. Hawa, on the other hand, struggles to stay in school, against the wishes of her traditional father who refused modern treatment for malaria, allowing the death of his own children. Things change for Hawa's father when his best friend's daughter runs away to avoid an early marriage and his son falls in love with a sugar daddy queen and is infected with HIV. Denying the diagnosis, Hawa's father watches his children suffer, realising that he should have prepared them better for the world they now face, while Hawa and Oumou continue their struggle to make a brighter future out of their dismal realities.

The launching of the new studio and the debut of the soap opera help to consolidate recent media liberalizing trends in Guinea, particularly legislation that was passed in late 2005 opening up the radio airwaves as well as offer a breakthrough in barriers by increasing public awareness on major national and community issues. The characters mirror the lives and situations that many Guineans face and aims to change mindsets, attitudes and behaviors while enhancing communication on key social and political issues in a non-adversarial manner.

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