Fernando Andrade

To give poor Bolivians–a majority of the population–the confidence and tools to speak publicly, Fernando Andrade is launching participative radio stations, the first of their kind in the country.

Fernando is fostering democratic participation and organization among Bolivia's poor by starting self-sustaining, community-run radio stations. His first station–Kancha Parlaspa ("the market speaks")–encourages market-goers in the city of Cochabamba to express their opinions publicly, a first step in organizing themselves to engage effectively with policymakers on issues of urgent concern to all–water rights, police abuse, and the use of municipal facilities, to name a few. Broadcast from the city's largest marketplace, the station attracts a diverse audience from among the 50,000 who gather daily. Fernando not only invites participation from all, but also teaches the locals to manage the station, to design programming that informs listeners, and to inspire productive dialogue among those who are least likely to engage in the democratic process–vendors, street children, and migrants from the countryside. In a country where democracy has not yet reached most poor people, participants not only speak up, expressing their opinions openly, but also design and broadcast their own programs. In cooperation with a major university, Fernando plans to bring to many poor communities throughout the country a participatory radio station–and the advances in democratic participation that it promises.

According to a 2001 census, nearly 60 percent of Bolivians live in poverty. The "Cancha" market in Cochabamba demonstrates the grave problems faced by Bolivia's poorest citizens: unemployment, delinquency, drug addiction, unsanitary conditions, and lack of healthcare and education. Though Bolivia is officially a democracy and poor citizens constitute a majority, their problems continue and worsen because, on its own, the state does not respond to their issues. Nor have poor citizens been able to organize themselves well enough to address their problems. Some have tried through unions to pressure the state for help, but that type of organizing takes time that workers like market vendors do not have. The most common way that Bolivia's poor have tried to speak up has been by taking to the streets in protest, but that method is not sustainable, and it has led to oppression more than responsiveness on the part of the government.
Episodic protests aside, a deeply ingrained habit of silence contributes to poor Bolivians' inability to influence their young democracy. Communication is a necessary tool to make voices heard and push the decision-makers to listen and respond, but the poor have little or no access to the media. The media rarely publish stories about the real circumstances and needs of Bolivia's majority, and when it does, it is usually "sensational," responding to a public scandal or protest. Community radio stations directed at poor communities do exist, but only in rural areas, with a small range, and they do not turn the microphone over to the listeners. Poor people do not have newspapers; they do not meet to debate issues or outline solutions. Protests and road blockades on the part of indigenous people, farmers, public school teachers, and other poor people are becoming increasingly frequent and violent. If the voiceless do not find alternative ways to express themselves and be heard by those who wield economic and political power, Bolivia may face the type of violence seen elsewhere in Latin America.

Fernando's first task has been to persuade people who are unaccustomed to speaking out publicly to begin to voice their opinions on the air. He finds those groups most interested–women who work in the market are one such group–and he and his small staff train them to run the programs and design and broadcast their own radio shows. Although Fernando has not been able to dedicate himself full-time for most of the past seven years, the programming has continued uninterrupted. The topics focus on issues like as food preparation, complaints about municipal services, local happenings, health care, labor issues, and environmental concerns. Programs are broadcast in Spanish, Quechua, and Aymara to reach a broad, diverse audience. The hosts of the programs take their microphones into the market to foster as much participation as possible and broadcast from a real-life location. In the future, Fernando intends to create mobile van units, which will allow broadcasts from other marginalized areas in Cochabamba, peripheral neighborhoods, hospitals, homes for the elderly, and jails.
The next step is to make the link between the communicational tool and the desired change–an engaged dialogue with those in power. This has already begun to happen. The most telling example is from the so-called "Water War." In 2000 the city of Cochabamba sold its water rights to a private company, which planned to raise prices significantly. The city rose up in protest, and Radio Kancha Parlaspa served its intended purpose, giving people a powerful voice. The radio station reached so far that it became a center not only to voice opinions but also to help those in need. People who were injured came to the station, as did doctors to treat them. The need for medications was broadcast on the air, and people showed up with the necessary drugs. Everyone who wanted to was able to voice his or her perspective, even city officials. Eventually the city withdrew the contract with the company, and there is no doubt that the voices heard on Radio Kancha Parlaspa contributed to the change. Children who work as shoeshine boys report that it made a difference to speak out on the radio about abuse by local authorities; the authorities now treat them with more respect.
Beyond the direct role that the radio plays in fostering democratic participation, Fernando also asserts that the organization created by participation in the radio station will lead to organization in other areas. He has already seen this happen. For example, one group of women started out shy about going on the air, but, with some coaching from Fernando and others, they eventually broadcast their own program confidently. After the show, they maintained the group they had organized to produce the radio show and wrote a proposal together asking a citizen organization for health training; the proposal was accepted.
Now that he has made the decision to devote himself full-time to the radio station, Fernando plans to strengthen his work on several fronts. First, he will expand his small team. He has already seen leaders emerge from the programs and the experience with the Water War, and he expects that there will be many more. His ties to the social communications department of Catholic University, as well as the public San Simón University, provide him with a flow of interns, and he continues to seek more.
Even though Fernando has not yet been actively focused on spreading his work, other radio stations have expressed interest in adopting his idea and methods. For example, Radio Chacaltaya in El Alto, a city of a million poor people spilling over from La Paz, has adopted Radio Kancha Parlaspa's slogan of "the radio that listens to you," and the two stations are planning to jointly broadcast coverage of folkloric activities in the two cities. Fernando sees this as a first step toward spreading his work. He has made the station self-sustaining, which will allow it to spread easily. The revenue from limited commercial programming and advertising completely covers the minimal operating costs.
He is considering spreading the model to three other major cities–La Paz, Santa Cruz, and Tarija–with the help of the social communications department of Catholic University, which has campuses in those cities. In addition, he sees that the Catholic University, as well as public universities, will help secure future broadcast training opportunities for people from the market and the community. He also envisions the universities as a way to spread the idea to future journalists and to attract, then train, a new generation of journalists who have a passion to use communications as a tool to change, rather than maintain, social conditions.
"Radio Kancha Parlaspa" is part of ERBOL (Escuelas Radiofónicas de Bolivia), which is a national system of radios throughout the country.

Throughout his life, Fernando has demonstrated a passion for "social communication" and a determination to put communications tools in the hands of those who most need them.
His father, a politician, was killed when Fernando was five years old, leaving the family in dire financial straits. Fernando won a scholarship to study at the prestigious private Catholic University in his home city of La Paz. His family wanted him to study economics in order to bring in more money, but his desire to work for the benefit of others led him to change his path, and, ultimately, to study journalism.
Both during his studies and after, Fernando was instrumental in promoting the social communications profession. While in college, he and a group of friends founded the Bolivian Association of Social Communications Researchers. Later, after working for a time with the Bolivian Embassy in Argentina, where he earned a master's degree in social and political sciences, Fernando initiated a training program for radio and television workers who had received no formal education and who could not afford to study at a university. He also started the social communications department at the Universidad del Valle in Cochabamba in 1989, but the school's desire to give the program a commercial focus prompted his departure. He then started a social communications earlier department at Catholic University in the same city, taking a large chunk of the department's students and faculty with him. At Catholic, he was able to build a program with a truly social focus, and the department has since become one of the strongest at the university. In 1995 Fernando bought the radio station he now operates, having secured a 20-year broadcasting license and obtained a grant to purchase the necessary equipment to begin his work.