Mangrove Radio 106.9FM:
AVoice for Change and Organizing

Mangrove Radio is a different kind of radio with a different emphasis. It listens to the communities as it promotes development projects to overcome extreme poverty, environmental protection, and community organization.

Donor support has made many of the project's successes in 2005 possible. Mangrove Radio delivered an effective venue for dissent and demand; greetings, interviews and other programming, a radio literacy program, a teens-2-teens radio show, environmental organizing, and helped coordinate the response to Hurricane Stan. Mangrove Radio is a humble yet resounding voice within the Bajo Lempa region of El Salvador echoing a more just and responsible future.

The communities turned out to help celebrate Mangrove Radio's 2nd Anniversary

Radio Literacy Program

DJ Rigoberto Martinez, conducting a program

El Salvador suffers from high illiteracy; in rural Usulutan, where the Coordinadora works, adult illiteracy stands at 38%. This severely impacts the population's social and economic opportunities, and is a weakness in the development and participation of local leadership. The radio portion of the campaign consists of three weekly 20-minute transmissions of pre-recorded interaction between a teacher and student. Mangrove radio developed a reinforcement program for the people who participated in the first phase of Mangrove Radio's literacy program, CRADEC, now in its 2nd phase.

Teens: "Get Ready for A Better Life"

Mangrove Radio produces and broadcasts a weekly program by teens for teens. Three young ladies lead this radio educational series called "Teens: Get Ready for a Better Life." Three ambitious young women: Wendy Ayala, Yessenia Lopez, and her sister Kenia Lopez, organize, write, and give voice to these segments.

Yessenia, Kenia and Wendy at Mangrove Radio leading "Teen: Get Ready for a Better Life"

Topics include health, what to do when pregnant, sexually transmitted diseases, developing skills for life, adolescence, and self-esteem. The Salvadoran Health Promotion Association (ASPS) supports the production of this radio series.

Hurricane Stan Response

The evacuation of Ciudad Romero during 2005's Hurricane Stan

Mangrove Radio grew out of the need for disaster prevention. Hurricane Mitch in 1998, and the massive flooding during previous years, made clear the value of having a community-run communication system to organize and notify the population in case of disasters and epidemics.

It also played a decisive role in responding to Hurricane Stan in October 2005. This included carrying out constant communication of the risky situation, evacuation plans, family communications, and more. The radio team coordinated various medical brigades that attended to the population during and after the emergency took place. Mangrove radio continues broadcasting health campaigns and preparing the communities for future disasters.

Two Mangrove Radio volunteers, Salvador and Mario, helping out during the storm.

Greetings, Interviews & More

DJ Damaris Velasquez

Mangrove Radio enlivens the community through messages and announcements. It sprinkles personal greetings (short personal messages sent from one person to another, like birthday greetings) into the broadcast. Other programming includes interviews with visitors and foreign volunteers, and testimonials from Coordinadora project beneficiaries, and more.