Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo — 'We are abandoned but continue to save lives thanks to our reports.'
When an M23 rebel offensive earlier this year shut down Ismaël Matungulu's radio station in the town of Saké in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the well-known local journalist refused to give up on a personal passion and community service.
Instead, Matungulu lugged a transmitter, generator, and computer to a sprawling camp in the nearby city of Goma, where he and seven other displaced reporters are now broadcasting daily news content to tens of thousands of people uprooted by war.
"It is suffering that led us here [to this camp] but we hold on because we love what we do," Matungulu told The New Humanitarian. "We exist here to inform, train, and entertain those displaced by war."
Backed by neighbouring Rwanda, the M23 rebel group has displaced more than 1.7 million people over the past two years, many of them to overcrowded and unsanitary camps in and around Goma, which is the largest city in eastern DRC.
Among the displaced are hundreds of local journalists who escaped the fighting or direct censorship from the rebels, who occupy vast swathes of territory in the east and regularly use local media to disseminate propaganda.
Some journalists have abandoned their work as a result of the upheaval, though others, like Matungulu, have struggled on, broadcasting in the camps often at their own expense, or organising into unions to support one another through trying times.
Their efforts represent a small part of a wider grassroots response to the M23 conflict, which has seen host families shelter the displaced, local associations set up soup kitchens, and Congolese creatives perform concerts and dance shows in camps.
Displaced journalists who spoke to The New Humanitarian said they are tailoring their shows to the needs of the camps, providing space for communities to discuss events and issues in the sites, from sports competitions to gender-based violence.
Displaced people who listen to the radio said they receive vital information from the shows, even if frequent power cuts and scheduling gaps disrupt their listening experiences.
"If I need information, it is better to follow this radio which shares our experiences here," said Arsène Hangi, a young man living in Lushagala camp, where Matungulu is based. "It helps me to understand information and to know how my brothers and sisters are living."
Radio for displaced people, by displaced people
The M23 is led by Congolese Tutsi rebels who say they are fighting because the government failed to implement a 2013 peace accord with the group, and because the Tutsi community is being targeted by other armed groups.
The rebels belong to a long line of Congolese armed movements supported militarily by neighbouring Rwanda, which sees eastern DRC as its backyard and wants to maintain political and economic influence there.
Both sides of the conflict have put pressure on journalists, either accusing them of supporting Rwanda and the M23, or the Congolese government and its auxiliaries, which include local militias and foreign armies.
Local journalists have also had to navigate a deeply polarised online environment, where rumours, hate speech, and manipulated images have all spread on social media.
Matungulu's station - Radio Saké FM - continued to broadcast even after the M23 launched an offensive on Saké in February. Every day, he would record the crackling of gunfire and the sound of bombs from the hilltop where his station was located.
Over time though, it became difficult to bear the onslaught, Matungulu said. Threats from a government-aligned militia coalition - which objected to him broadcasting details about M23 positions for the safety of the community - made matters worse.
"With such threats, I said to myself I must leave this city of Saké for my protection too," Matungulu explained, adding that the militia, known as Wazalendo ('patriots' in Kiswahili), falsely accused his station of being M23 accomplices.
Setting up shop in Goma's Lushagala camp wasn't easy because the reporters had left behind most of their equipment in Saké. But donations from the seven journalists and from local camp residents have helped immensely, Matungulu said.
The journalists currently work voluntarily, Matungulu explained, contributing a few Congolese francs when they can. Camp residents have provided a generator for power, and a community leader donated a room where the journalists broadcast and even sleep in.
Radio Saké FM programme manager Faustin Bahati said the station currently broadcasts all across Goma - a city of more than two million people - but its primary audience is the displaced communities.
"It is a radio station of the displaced people, by the displaced people, and for the displaced people," Bahati said. "We broadcast content of all kinds on topics that may interest war-displaced people."
Bahati said recent programmes have focused on promoting peace and social cohesion, and highlighting humanitarian conditions in the camps, as well as sexual abuse, which has been a major issue facing displaced women and girls over the past two years.
Community members have also been given the space to design programmes themselves, while shows also deal with news in other parts of DRC and the wider world to ensure camp residents don't feel cut off.
Bahati said the journalism has had a significant impact, informing displaced people about their rights and common struggles, while also encouraging them to report issues like crime to local authorities rather than resorting to popular justice.
Still, he said more resources would help the reporters deepen their work: "We appeal to everyone, whether authorities, people of good will or humanitarian organisations, to come and help us so that we can produce even more than we do."
Sacrifice and solidary
The Radio Saké FM journalists are not the only displaced reporters continuing to broadcast from Goma, which has received more displaced people than any other place impacted by the M23 conflict.
Earlier this year, around 100 journalists organised themselves into a union called the Synergy of Displaced Journalists, according to Justin Bizimana, the coordinator of the group.
Bizimana said members of the synergy - guided by an editorial committee - regularly go out to report on the lives of displaced people. Daily packages are made available to local radio channels, and a "hard-hitting" feature goes out on the weekend.
"The target is the war-displaced, and all our contents and elements concern them," Bizimana said. "We stay in the camps to seek information, we touch on daily life in the camps, we address almost all the subjects that concern them."
Bizimana said the journalists have received some funding to do their work, but they often pay their own way. "We produce at the cost of sacrificing our families because we have nothing ourselves," he said.
"This passion to inform the population strongly motivated us to come together to see how to organise ourselves and to continue to serve the population," Bizimana added. "We are abandoned but continue to save lives thanks to our reports."
Bizimana said the synergy also provides a solidarity fund for its members. If somebody is sick and has medical expenses, the journalists will contribute what they can financially and spend time with their colleagues in hospital.
Still, despite their efforts, many journalists that are part of the synergy have been forced to abandon their work, Bizimana said, while others cannot afford to educate their children or pay rent in Goma.
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"Because the war has already lasted more than two years, and as they no longer see a glimmer of hope in terms of peace, some are returning home. This constitutes a risk because their security in these areas is not reassured," Bizimana said.
Listener perspectives
Camp residents who listen to the shows produced by displaced journalists described it as a vital community resource, providing them with a forum to express themselves and a way of staying informed despite their circumstances.
Hangi, the young man living in Lushagala camp, said Radio Saké FM offers programmes that are particularly interesting to youth wanting to discuss their issues and find out more about community development initiatives.
"We express ourselves freely without paying any Congolese francs," Hangi said. "All it takes is for their journalist to meet us where we are based and they will give us the microphone to talk about what we are experiencing."
Anita Balume, a mother of two children who lives in Bulengo camp, said she got the idea to start a small spice business after listening to a show that promoted women's empowerment in the camps.
"Apart from that, I learn a lot about peace, living together, and it gives me morale," Balume said. "The radio gives me courage by telling me that one day peace will return. I have hope and I believe in it."
Innocent Habimana, a displaced person and a father of four children living in Lushagala camp, said his only complaint is that the radio shows don't broadcast for 24 hours a day.
"Living in the camp is painful and especially with a family [the size of] mine," Habimana told The New Humanitarian. "I distract myself by listening to the radio. Not only do I learn new things, but it also makes me happy."
Edited by Philip Kleinfeld.
