Helmand Voices is part of IWPR’s Journalism Training and Reporting Project in Helmand Province. Over the past year, IWPR has been working with fledgling reporters in Helmand, increasing their skills in reporting and writing for print; now the project has branched out into radio production.

Trainees have completed an intensive workshop covering recording, script writing, and editing. In addition to learning to use professional digital recording and editing equipment, they have produced radio features on stories as diverse as village wrestling competitions, the plight of refugee families, and helicopter noise pollution.

In a society where illiteracy rates top 70 percent, radio is by far the most important medium for broadcasting information and bridging the gap between the government and the governed. Through its radio project, IWPR will help Helmand’s journalists become more professional in audio production, and enable them to reach a wider audience than print alone is able to.

Most of the students have had little prior experience in feature story production for radio. In fact, in the course of the training they helped to create an entirely new genre for Helmand: a sound-rich radio feature, with narrative, quotes, and ambient sound. We hope you enjoy listening.