107.8 Musana Fm

To Shine and Transform (Gwaake Gukyuuse)
By Aaron Kirunda,  Musana 107.8 FM General Manager, NHU Staff since Jan. 2010

Eight months and still counting…the Lord has been good, amazingly good. He has done great things; we cannot tell it all.  Since Musana FM (Musana means light or sunshine) started in January, the station has gotten an excellent reception from listeners. They have owned Musana as their station, Radio yaffe (Ours), and have now formed over 10 Fans Clubs in their communities both near and far.

Individuals

Through our radio programs, people are continuously being challenged and transformed. A lady who had left her husband came back to him after listening to our morning show, Zukuka okole (Wake up and Work), where she was encouraged to return; A Moslem family in Kiwoko tells us they are blessed and strengthened by our late night program Anyiga Emitima (Our Comforter); After listening in to our Sunday morning program, Tusinze (Let us Praise), a man decided to go to church after 13 years of no church; Another family is full of celebrations because a son who had run away from her mother, has come back home following a radio program, Koola ne’ssanyu (Work with Joy). After the program, one of our listeners reached out to the boy, discussed the issue and he decided to return  home.

An elderly Muslim lady says she started listening after her daughter, who is also Muslim and is starting a Musana FM Fans Club, introduced her to the Station. The elderly mother listened in and decided with her husband that will only listen to Musana Fm for the rest of their lives, even though there are Muslim radio stations in the country. She has also committed to start her own Fans Club and has a membership of 30 ladies so far. It is amazing what God can do.

A student at a local secondary school wakes up every morning when our morning program, Zukuka Okole starts at 6am. He getsto work in his garden and now his beans are ready. He used to wake up later but the radio reminds him it is time to work.

Mrs. Kateregga tells us that her family was hanging in the balance, on the edge of a break up. “Things were really bad,” she narrates. But since she started listening to godly wisdom and encouragement from Musana Radio and applying it to her life, she says her family stabilized. She has kept listening and joy has returned to her family life.

Several others have given their lives to Christ after being confronted with the TRUTH from our Radio Programs while others are continuing to grow spiritually and also holistically in other areas. Our listeners worldviews are confronted. They are learning to work hard and earn for themselves and their families rather than blaming the government for what it is not doing.

Our listeners perceive Musana FM as their platform for development. In their own words, they call it a “Radio to develop the local person,” a radio set up “to bring unity amongst them,” “an eye opener,” a radio “to build people up,” setting a “God fearing foundation amongst them,” “promoting hard work,” “building relationships and brotherhood and friendships” and giving them “ideas for business.”

We are grateful to God for his wonderful work. He is amazingly using our programming and music to transform lives and change circumstances for His glory.

Community

A community, a family is being built everyday. From the beginning when Kafeero Moses (now President of all Fans Clubs) was so blessed by our Program Okozewo Ki (What have you done? or more specifically, What is your contribution to Uganda?) and he invited the whole Musana Family to his home for a feast, there was so much excitement. There were hugs and shouting when people had a chance to put faces to names they had heard on Musana FM. This was just the beginning. Through the outreaches we have had, we have witnessed passionate love for the station. People are literally “drunk with the station” as one observer said at launch in Kibati-Luwero.

We have seen people travel over 200km with their own money to just come to a fans club launch event. The love for each other has never ceased. The brotherhood amongst listeners is getting stronger and a family is visible. Listeners flock at each other’s families in case of death, to grieve with those who grieve, becoming a new family for them as one listener said after she lost her father.

God is using Musana FM to build responsible citizens, empowering them with information. We believe he who has the information has the power and the wealth; Musana FM is helping create a biblical worldview and true tangible transformation with the values of LOVE, INTEGRITY and HARDWORK.

We have also started on ‘giving back’ to the community, being responsible and going GREEN. In May, we gave out 7,500 trees to our listeners through their fans clubs, and they did plant them. A big number of the trees are growing steadily.

Comments from listeners.

[quote source=”a listener said on air”]If you are not listening to Musana, then you do not enjoy Radio.[/quote]

[quote source=”a listener said at a Fans Club Launch”]…We Musana listeners speak the truth[/quote]

[quote source=”Moses Kafeero, local farmer”]The radio has built us into a family and a brotherhood of real love, that people can know each other so much more and are committed to each other[/quote]

[quote source=”Ssemambo Willy, a local musician”]The Radio is our platform, where we are known and get to know others. It has helped us build a strong relationship among us as listeners. We do not know what we can ever do for the station[/quote]

[quote source=”a listener”]Radio that has united us together as a family.[/quote]

[quote source=”a listener”]The only radio for people to listen to, old and young, a radio you can listen to with your in-laws without fear of foul language[/quote]

Needs

In the midst of these exciting stories where God is the hero, we have needs for us to be able to run effectively and continue to grow.

Towards the end of August, our Radio console was hit by lightening; we now used a borrowed mixer from Church. This has added to our current equipment needs.

• Radio Console (to replace the one damaged by lightning): $6,041
• Automatic Switch: $1,350
  • so we do not go off the air when grid power stops and we switch over to the generator.
• 4 Microphones (professional quality): 4 x $250 = $1,000
• 4 Voice recorders (for news and documentaries): 4 x $233 = $932
• 4 Computers: 4 X $700 = $2,800
• 2 Sound Card: 2 x$1,620 = $3,240
• Notch Filter (as required by Communication Commission): $ 5,082
• Phone Hybrid (to adequately sort listener calls): $3,257
  • presently have only one line.
• Radio Van: $10,000
• Staff salary support: $1,250

About the author

Aaron Kirunda, 25, is the General Manager at 107.8 Musana Fm. He is passionate about working with young people to bring about real-net-impact and transformation in communities. He has been engaged in several youth-led development activities and has also started two social companies working across the globe linking small scale producers to global markets.