The Channel | 2004 | September

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In 2001, an amateur youth radio station suddenly
emerged in the middle of one of the deadliest conflicts since
the Second World War. Radio Canal Revelation (RCR)
operates in the town of Bunia in the Ituri province of the
Democratic Republic of Congo where agencies estimate that
more than 3 million people have died as a result of civil war
since 1998. The station’s conception was precarious to say
the least – they broadcast from the store cupboard of a
house using battered equipment and a homemade
transmitter fashioned from scrap electronics collected over
two years.
Amidst such political turmoil and extreme violence, the
development of a radio station appeared implausible. But
charismatic Richard Pituwa – then a 26-year-old medical
student – who founded the station, was inspired by his father
who was a successful broadcaster. “Since the beginning, RCR
committed itself to playing a major role in peace and
reconciliation,” says Pituwa. “Our objectives were to provide
access to information, education and healthy leisure activities
whilst promoting social re-integration of the population torn
apart by the conflict.” The emphasis for Pituwa was to “inspire
young people to live with an eye to a positive future”.
In a town where no newspapers have been printed in a decade,
RCR’s international news relays provide a much-needed link
to the outside world. RCR has no religious content and has
fiercely resisted pressure to use the station as a recruiting
platform for the various militia groups involved in the
widespread tribal fighting. The station’s endurance is a credit
to its impartiality. Even the militia youth considered the station
to be their own, and for two years the makeshift studio was
not looted nor any of its personnel attacked – almost as if they
benefited from immunity.
That changed in May 2003 during some of the worst violence
of the conflict. “It was hard,” says Pituwa. “I never again
want to see the slaughter, massacres, looting and rape which
took place in Bunia and Ituri. There were as many as five
different armed groups in operation at once, each with
several sub-groups and factions. They were supported
sometimes by troops from Uganda and Rwanda. The town
seemed to be drowning in blood and the station’s gate was
pock-marked by bullets.” The station was saved from looting
by a commandant of an invading faction who prevented his
militia from entering the station. The commandant insisted
that RCR’s broadcasts had always remained neutral and had
reported only facts.
Between July 2002 and the end of 2003, it was often too
dangerous for the RCR staff to leave the studio. “We slept on
the floor or tables for days on end. It was a crucial time for
RCR because we had to tell the population what was really
happening but without inciting further violence. It was a
different kind of battle – conducted by youth from all the tribes
who make up the voluntary staff of the radio. No one believed
that we would dare to function under the circumstances, but
our team of volunteers never stopped working, even when our
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