RED Kichwa: 10 Años
For the last month or so I have been living in Quito, Ecuador, taking crash-courses in Spanish, eating lots of mangos and studying radio. I spent last week at CORAPE, the National Coordinator of Popular and Educational Radio Stations (La Coordinadora de Radio Popular Educativa Del Ecuador). The seventeen or so people who work CORAPE do everything from training journalists, to syndicated news broadcasts, to organizing street fairs.
A few weeks ago, CORAPE organized a celebration of ten years of RED Kichwa. RED Kichwa is the national network of radio stations that broadcast in Kichwa, an indigenous language spoken in Ecuador and Colombia (not to be confused with Quechua).
The ten year anniversary celebration began with a conference on November 19th, featuring panels on the impact of policy on radio stations and the importance of Kichwa radio. Panelists spoke about how the survival of indigenous cultures is dependent on language preservation. Many local community radio stations in Ecuador play a huge role in cultural survival by broadcasting in Kichwa, Shuar, and other indigenous languages.
During the afternoon panel on “Practicing an Intercultural Constitution” (”Hacia La Práctica Real De Una Constitución Intercultural”), panelists discussed Ecuador’s new constitution and its impact on indigenous communities.
The celebrations also included a Feista Del Aniversario (anniversary party). Here, Angel Criollo, the director of RED Kichwa, speaks about the importance of Kichwa radio at the Feista Del Aniversario.
The Feista Del Aniversario also featured dance performances from groups across Ecuador, including a performance by dance group Mashipura from Imbabura.
Tomorrow afternoon, I am heading two hours north from Quito to visit Radio Iluman, one of the RED Kichwa radio stations. Radio Iluman broadcasts a number of programs in both Kichwa and Spanish and hopefully I’ll pick up some Kichwa while I’m there!
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Tags: CORAPE, Ecuador, Happy Anniversary Red Kichwa!, Kichwa Radio