Edyoufm meets with Upper Mazaruni District Council

May 18, 2023

Team EDYOU FM last week visited a few communities in the Upper Mazaruni District to conduct a community sensitization outreach . The team stationed in Kamarang and visited the two villages on the right and left extremes of the district, i.e. Paruima, the only Arekuna community in Guyana and Phillipai, a remote Akawaio village in the Upper Mazaruni.

Upon arrival in Paruima, the team met with Toshao Lennox Percy, who was hosting the indigenous leaders of the Upper Mazaruni District Council (UMDC) for their quarterly general meeting.
An invitation was then extended to the team to address the Council on their visit to the upper Mazaruni. EDYOU FM’s Network Relations Coordinator, Faye Stewart, took advantage of the opportunity to share vital information pertinent to the radio station, EDYOU FM’s programming & reach and how it can benefit children in those communities. She highlighted the expansion of the network to reach distant communities to provide equitable educational content to the nation’s children.

“It is important for us to touch base directly with communities to test the strength of our radio signal, to ensure its presence and to report on areas to be improved. To have the opportunity to speak with representatives from the various communities is rare as it is unique, and I’d like to ask you to help us reach your respective communities by reaching out to us and letting us know how the reception is in your villages. Your feedback will certainly help us to identify gaps that we need to bridge so that our transmission can reach clearly to you,” Stewart told the gathering of approximately fifty indigenous leaders.

The floor was then made available for discussion, questions and comments, and a few leaders inquired about how communities can get involved in sharing content for the station. They were briefed on EDYOU FM’s ongoing script writing for radio workshops in different regions, which is set to equip teachers with the necessary knowledge and skills to write lessons for a listening audience.

Advisor to the UMDC, John Andries, complimented the team and said, “on behalf of the UMPC we are happy, we are proud about this, and our children would take advantage. . .you came just in time because we were thinking about reading programmes to be set up for every village and this kind of thing, and this can help a lot in that regard. Thank you very much.”