There are many youth organizations in Nepal working for the betterment of youth around the country while many opt for volunteerism work to garner experience so it’s easier to get into universities abroad. [break]
But here we have five such youth who are adamant about bringing about a wave of change in the thinking of people across the country using radio as the prime medium.
“Saathi Sanga Manka Kura (SSMK) is a program for the youth, created by the youth,” informed 28-year-old Hemant Pathak, Program Manager of SSMK. He came back to Nepal after studying in India for seven years and joined Equal Access, which produces the show.
SSMK has been on-air for the past 10 years.
“Before I joined, I never heard the show. I had applied for the internship but then they had a vacancy for Junior Program Producer and I just gave it a try. The interview was a fiasco but it turned out well and I got called for the second round of interview and I was chosen,” shared Ayush Joshi, 22, now a program producer.
It was the same case for Swarnima Shrestha, 24. She joined the team as an intern but after the six month term, she could not give up the job. “I joined because I had nothing better to do but after I joined, I knew that this is what I wanted to do,” she said.
However, for 28-year-old Sabin Singh, now a team leader always knew this is what he wanted to do. Even after being rejected for the job at SSMK twice, he applied the third time and got in.
“I used to work in the drama team for the show and I applied twice and got rejected but I was determined to get in and I did,” said an optimistic Singh, adding, “And I want to keep doing this. Perhaps even manage the team in the near future.”
The young team of SSMK consists of six people in total off which Kala Dahal and Swapan Pradhan are out station and could not join us.
The job that these young lads and ladies do has been helping the youth around Nepal. “We have a listenership of around 7.2 million people in Nepal and we get a lot of letters, SMS’s and emails, from a lot of youth around the country,” informed Sabin.
“There are a lot of things the young ones are inquisitive about and sometimes even we don’t have the knowledge about it. That’s when we consult an expert about it and then prepare our answers,” informed Swarnima. And echoing in the same direction, 20-year-old Sabita Acharya said that they get to learn a lot of things too.
“We are getting exposure that no other job could give us perhaps,” she said.
SSMK is produced by Equal Access Nepal but is aired by various radio stations around the country, including Radio Nepal. The programs are based on the letters, emails and SMS’s it receives and some field research.
“We were in Humla recently and it was amazing to see how the people live there. We think that the people in the hilly regions are dirty looking and unhygienic but if you see, a bar of soap would cost you Rs 150 and its cold, of course,” said Ayush.
When on field, the team goes around spreading awareness about various issues like washing hands properly, using toilets and not using it as store rooms, among many other things.
“We get to learn so much when we’re out in the field and know what Nepal is all about and we wish we could do so much more but we try and do our best,” said Sabin.
“SSMK is not a just a radio show for us because this has changed us a lot on a personal level and we all act much mature than we are because we have so much knowledge,” believed Ayush.
10 years down the line, he along with Sabita would love to be a journalist and work for a national daily.
For Swarnima, the field of communication and development attracts her more and Sabin would love to stick around SSMK, make it better and touch the lives of millions of youth around the country.
According to Hemant, Equal Access, in the near future, is also trying to produce television shows focusing on youth.
“The trend of watching television has grown enormously and producing a TV show for the youth is up our sleeves at the moment, keeping the radio show intact,” he said.
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