Catholic Church Uses Radio To Inform, Empower Youth

Posted: 14th November 2007

Father Omer Giraldo, director of the Catholic social communications

PHNOM PENH (UCAN) -- The first regular radio program of the Catholic Church in Cambodia is aimed at helping young people develop their potential.

The Catholic Social Communications Centre of Cambodia rents airtime from a Protestant radio station for the program, "I Need You," on which two presenters and a counselor discuss problems youth face. They take calls from listeners.

"The purpose of the Catholic Church in creating this program is because nowadays there are men and women who face various problems related to communication -- such as family and love problems," explained Hou Soktheary, the 27-year-old program director.

"We produce this program in order to help them with all these problems. We want them to know themselves and to know how to solve their problems," she told UCA News.

Soktheary said the show airs every Monday from 9:30 to 10:30 am. "It is a call-in show," she said, "and we take five to six calls every week."

Rin Bunrith, 25, the other presenter, told UCA News the majority of callers are between 25 and 35 years old. "Our program is designed for listeners aged 14-18, but they are not the ones who call," he said. "We want to help youth who have problems and with no one to help them. We help with our program counselor who gives them new ideas."

The first "I Need You" broadcast was aired on March 16 this year.

Father Omer Giraldo, director of the Catholic social communications office, says they started the radio program "to increase the positive influence of the Catholic Church and Christianity in general among the youth."

The Colombian priest of the Yarumal foreign missions society told UCA News: "We feel many youth in Cambodia and particularly in Phnom Penh lack moral education and a good psychological orientation. Through this program we are trying to answer this need."

Another goal of the program, he added, is to help young people create a network through which they can help each other or look for assistance in problems that crop up because of their limited life experience.

Father Giraldo expressed hope the program will help many young people become more aware of their potential. "Through dialogue done during each weekly program, young people learn how to handle their affectivity and sexuality," he said. "I think this is a good way for a lot of young people to prepare for adulthood, to be responsible in society."

Dut Vy, 24, a caller, said he listens to the show every week and tried to call many times but had not previously gotten through. "It is a good program because it can help me know about life and prepare myself before falling in love," he shared.

Soktheary acknowledged the program challenges her. "I find it difficult to solve problems from the callers, because I have little experience with youth programs." She said she created two similar radio programs for the Catholic Church, but they were prerecorded, not live, "so it was not as difficult as the 'I Need You' program."

However, the counselor on the program is a psychologist and has experience in handling problems related to emotions and the family.

The two major costs for the "I Need You" program are the psychologist's stipend, equivalent to US$5-10 dollars a show, and the airtime rental of US$60 an hour. As of November, the Church communications office had spent about US$2,100 on the program.

Article Source: UCAN