Soot Semee: How Community-Centred Media Is Bridging Information Gap In Uganda Refugee Camp
By: Alison Lemeri
Tags: Uganda, Refugees, Writing, Community Media, Covid 19

Soro’s most favorite programme on Soot Semee is the news,.. health issues falls second.

Soot Semee’s programmes include news, covid-19 updates, health and environment, education, Life style, and Economy.

Soro loves listening to accurate and reliable news updates within refugee settings, Uganda and also about his country, South Sudan.

Soro is a refugee from war-torn South Sudan. He fled his country in 2018 and settled in Uganda’s Omugo refugee settlement.

It is in this camp that he regularly listens to Soot Semee, a community-centred media programme that provides weekly audio programmes to refugees.

32-year old Soro recalled that ‘a communication vacuum’ existed in the camp when he first came. There was very limited sustainable communication medium, he says.

He had been struggling to access trusted information or updates about what was transpiring within and outside the camp.

Though settled in a peaceful camp, Soro was information-wise unsettled. He lacked radio at the time while his phone had difficulty in internet connectivity.

“We could mostly depend on unverified rumours”, says Soro, a father of 4.

“We were moving blindly. Our leaders and others used to come and tell us what was going to happen. But that was very limited”, he says.

In his new home of Omugo refugee settlement, the struggle for effective communication medium has been one of the baffling challenges.

Mobile speakers, megaphones, posters, local leaders and community centers were some of the most common sources on which refugees depend for accurate information.

Soot Semee is a project of Community Development Centre — Uganda, with support from Health Communications Resources — HCR UK.

The name Soot Semee is in simple Arabic and literally translates into English as ‘good voice’ which is a voice of compassion. The pilot project is presently responding to access to accurate and reliable information challenges in the refugee settlement.

Soro is one of the 11,000 refugees in village four of Omugo listening to Soot Semee programme on weekly basis. The refugees are in listening groups of 10 members.

Over 110 speakers were distributed to listening groups from both the refugees and members of the host community. Soro’s group, Iyete, got one speaker box. Iyete is in Bari language and translates as ‘thanks’. Iyete is one of the 100 listening groups.

The weekly audio programme is made up of mixed episodes including news, covid-19 updates, music, drama, community service announcements, poems, talkshow and interviews.

The diverse community volunteer reporters gathered content and produced from various stakeholders not limited to the refugees, natives, local leaders and service providers.

The reporters are from both refugees and indigenous community. They work collectively to produce the episodes in simple Arabic and Lugbara languages so that both communities, including that of Soro, will listen to.

It’s been twelve months since the project first launched its episode in January, 2020. So far 49 episodes have been produced.

Soro highlights Soot Semee’s transformation in his community in the areas of health, education, peace building, human rights and so on.

“I can see changes”, agrees Ondoma Benard, a member of the host community, adding that a bond of social cohesion, peaceful coexistence and economic growth is flourishing.

“Some of our members (natives) have given land to refugees, now they (refugees) are digging it”.

Pandemic response

In March 2020, the coronavirus pandemic spread to Uganda. Information about the virus was critical in the fight.

In refugee settlements, various stakeholders ignited massive combat campaigns.

Soot Semee has been engaging the stakeholders not limited to service providers to combat misinformation and disinformation about the pandemic and other socio-economic effects.

The service providers, through Soot Semee program, freely give out their messages to the refugees and host community.

Gaba lives with Soro in the same camp. “By then, we were staying anyhow and in complete darkness. We could hear a lot of rumours. Most of them were false“,

In May 2020, the World Food Programme rolled out a 30% food ratios reduction plan to 1.4 million refugees in Uganda.

“This disease (covid-19) has increased peoples stress”, says Fekira Joyce, a refugee trauma healing specialist, in one of the Soot Semee episodes.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, Soro and his group could gather together and listen to the programme.

Soot Semee is “adapting to current developments of responding to covid-19”, says Barnabas Samuel, CDC’s Development Program Manager.

To maintain social distance, Barnabas says the beneficiaries increase open the speaker volume so that they ‘now listen to it from wherever they are being played’.

“It is very important that we take measures given by the government seriously, so that our people are safe, our communities are safe at this time”.

Each time, the audio programme is loaded in memory cards so that refugees and the indigenous community listen to it in the speakers.

However, Soro’s Iyete group is among those facing some challenges with the speakers — charging difficulties and breakdowns. Alternatively CDC responded by establishing a power charging point.

“We are very grateful. People have been facing this power problem”, said Joseph Edoru, vice chairperson of the Refugees Welfare Council — RWC during a handover of the equipment.

Edoru’s RWC cabinet with the Soot Semee volunteer reporters do regular supervision and monitoring of the speakers and their usage.

On the other hand, a local technician has been putting back speakers that broke down. CDC also provided some additional speakers to fill some gaps.

For Soro, Soot Semee needs to ‘grow and expand to a radio station’ so that people can widely listen to it at any time they wish.