The Radio Workshop:
Giving Young People a Voice

Kauther Sallie, age 8

Kauther walks towards the E2 ward of Red Cross, the section of the hospital for children with kidney problems.  She’s on a mission to record the sounds of this ward, and has her recorder and microphone all ready to go.  Kauther can describe the various beeps of the machines that have saturated her environment while in the hospital, and can tell you what each beep means.  She can also tell you what it sounds like if things are not going well for a patient. As we enter the ward, the nurses start to fawn over Kauther.  Kauther, like many of the other children in the group, is very popular with the hospital staff.  They often go out of their way to acknowledge the kids, giving them hugs and kisses, and anything else they can think of to make them feel special.  But before they could get their hands on her, Kauther vanishes.  She had something she had to do first—she had to go see her friend. Kauther jets past the doctors and nurses and heads to the room just past the nurses’ station where Maurice stays. Maurice is just 2 years old, and Kauther says he’s her very good friend.  He’s waiting for a kidney transplant, just like Kauther.  They’ve been through much of the same routine at Red Cross, and shared a room before.

Kauther and Maurice

Maurice’s big eyes see Kauther coming around the corner.  He immediately turns away from the nurse at the side of his bed, throws down his plastic rattle, and holds both hands up high, inviting her embrace.  Kauther gives him a big hug with a smile, says a few words into his ear, and then lets him get back to the nurse.  “I love that boy,” Kauther says.  “He’s on dialysis.”  I ask her what dialysis is, and she replies, “I don’t know. But they take you into that room over there and hook you up to a machine.  My friend is on dialysis quite a lot.”  Kauther then returns to her sound collecting mission, in search of the beeps, and slowly makes her way back to the nurses to give them a proper hello. Listen to Kauther’s story:

Qaqamba interviewing a Red Cross cardiologist

The staff at Red Cross have all been exceptionally supportive of our project.  The CEO and management granted us access to all of the wards, gave us permission to interview patients, doctors, nurses, and staff, and allowed us the freedom to roam around the halls of the hospital with our recorders (and our inquisitive natures!). Still, we have been careful not to abuse this access—we do whatever we can to exist in the backdrop, to respect the rights of the patients and staff, and not cause too much disruption to the hospital’s daily flow.

Mujahid recording sounds of machines in the ICU

The doctors and nurses regularly commented to us about the value of a project like this, as it not only gives the children something to do, but it provides them with the space to talk about their lives and their situations. They have witnessed firsthand the boredom kids experience in the wards, and realize how difficult it can be to spend your days and nights in the oftentimes crowded and loud hospital quarters.

Nonnie interviewing Dr. Dimitri Erasmus, Chief Executive Officer of Red Cross Hospital

Fifteen year-old Nonnie’s health took a turn for the worst on the second day of the workshop, and she had to be readmitted to the wards of the Red Cross Hospital. While her health kept her from taking part in most of the group activities, she made it clear to us that she was very eager to participate in the workshop, regardless of her health. So we took the project to her!

Nonnie and Qaqamba, in Nonnie's room in Red Cross

We went down as a group to Nonnie’s room, recording the sounds of the hospital en route to her ward.  Nonnie was lucky to have only two other children in her room.  She shared her quarters with a young boy, who Nonnie said was “friendly but loud,” and a teenager from Congo who nearly drowned in a public swimming pool the previous day.  Nonnie’s bed was positioned right next to the television, which broadcasts soap opera reruns most of the day.

We had just finished training the rest of the group how to use the field recorders and talked about how one tells stories for the radio.  We practiced interviewing each other and thought about the kinds of topics we might want to explore for our own radio stories.  Now it was time for the other children to teach Nonnie the skills they had just acquired.

Qaqamba led the way, showing Nonnie the ins and outs of the recorder, where to hold the microphone, and things to watch out for while recording.  Mujahid asked her a few introductory questions, and then handed the recording kit over to Nonnie.  The microphone was hers.

Nonnie takes the microphone

Nonnie picked up the microphone from the bed and got to work right away. She put on the headphones, and began to introduce herself.  She spoke for a short while, and then turned to those of us crowded around the bed. “You can go now guys,” she said.  “I’m fine.”

So we left her to talk.  And to ask.  And to think.  And to listen.  She sat up in her bed with her microphone for countless hours, speaking diary-style about the twists and turns of her life.  Here is her powerful story.

Qaqamba, Kauther, and Iyad recording the sounds of the hospital.

It was the first day of our radio production workshop with patients at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital.  We entered the hospital building with bags of equipment in tow, eager to meet our young co-producers in radio for the next few weeks.  As we set ourselves up in hospital’s cozy primary school room, the first participant arrived—right on time. Mujahid Wiener, 7 years old, had eager written all over his face.  “Where are the other children?” he said, as he entered the room and immediately busied himself with anything and everything within his reach.  Mujahid first came to Red Cross last year as a burn patient in the Intensive Care Unit.  He is currently a hospital outpatient, yet a frequent visitor. Already with many skin grafts and other surgeries under his belt, Mujahid is scheduled for more procedures in the upcoming months.  “We are forever in Red Cross,” Kamilla, his mother, noted.  Mujahid, like most of the other children in the hospital, knows the hospital building like the back of his hand.  He can describe in detail all the nooks and crannies of the hospital, telling you about nurses and doctors he likes to visit, which patients stay where, and also, the hidden and unknown corners of the hospital complex.

Mujahid Wiener, age 7

Next to arrive was 8 year-old Kauther Sallie.

Kauther Sallie, age 8

After a greeting filled with smiles and hugs, Kauther quickly took a seat at the table.  First order of business—she pulled out her blue lunch box filled with small white bags of pills.  She sorted through the various medications, adding them one by one to the pile of pills.  She cut some in half, and cringed about the prospect of ingesting certain pills. “This one tastes like toothpaste,” she said smiling.  “And this one—no, no, no,” she remarked, pointing to a pair of large pills.  Fourteen pills, twice a day—this has been her routine for quite some time.  Kauther is waiting for a kidney transplant.  “2009 is our year,” her mother noted.  “The year of the kidney.”

Kauther taking her morning pills.

Next to arrive were the two participants from St. Joseph’s Home, Qaqamba Cuba and Nonkhanyiso Mphanga.  St. Joseph’s is a residence care facility for children who suffer from chronic illnesses, and the place where children with less critical cases go after being treated at Red Cross. Qaqamba is 9 years old, and a tracheostomy patient.  Because of her spine interfering with her lung development, she had to have a tube inserted into her trachea that allows her to breathe and talk.  Qaqamba spent several months in Red Cross last year before she was transferred to St. Joseph’s.

Qaqamba Cuba, age 9

Qaqamba speaks Xhosa as a first language, and originally comes from the Eastern Cape.  She says it’s quite hard to be hundreds of kilometers from home, as she rarely gets visits from family members and friends.  But when she walks through the halls of the hospital, she is greeted with superstar status—high-fives, hugs, and waves from patients, nurses, and doctors alike. Nonkhanyiso, or “Nonnie” for short, is 15 years old, and the oldest participant in the workshop.  She has heart and lung problems, and has been in and out of the hospital on a regular basis for the past few years.

Nonkhanyiso Mphanga, age 15

Nonnie requires a constant stream of oxygen, and walks around with an oxygen tank when she is not in her hospital bed. She started to list all of the different instances when she was staying at Red Cross.  “Its too many to remember,” she said.  Nonnie said that she is very excited about the workshop, and that she looks forward to telling the story of her life on radio. Iyad Africa, 9 years old, is the final participant in the workshop to arrive.  He had a full day of chemotherapy today.  He and his mother stopped by to say hi and to meet the rest of the group, but Iyad decided that he was not feeling well enough to stick around.

Iyad Afrika, age 9

Iyad has leukemia, and is currently undergoing a year’s regime of chemotherapy.  Iyad’s mother, Fatima, said that his involvement will depend on how he feels—some days are good, and others are not. So that’s our cast of characters—keep reading updates on our blog to see how things develop!