“Most radio stations in Somalia have stopped playing music, on the orders of Islamist insurgents who say that songs are un-Islamic,” reported the BBC just over a week ago. This certainly reminds us of how stringent and controlling governments are in many hard-to-reach parts of the world. Radio listeners there can still tune in to Feba’s daily short wave broadcasts (that include local music). Short wave, owing to its ability to broadcast from a distance, still has a vital role to play.

“Our [short wave] transmitters are far out of government control reach,” says Dawit, Horn of Africa Coordinator, “but still people in Somalia are afraid to openly listen to the programmes because of the fundamentalists that have no mercy for any broken rules. Our listeners listen to the programmes in their bedrooms and in secret places.”

Music is very important to these people as it is to any oral people. They use chanting and music during prayer and in traditional storytelling. One of the programme producers met a listener who had memorised many songs—and he began singing them to him!

Dawit says: “Songs are easily memorised and they are in the hearts of the people.” So the programmes include music (mostly traditional and a few Western ones). Most of the songs are spiritual (from the book of Psalms, about the greatness of God, about the prophets including the Messiah, a call for repentance and faith, about the love of God). Some of these hymns are available on CD and cassette to programme listeners.

A partner in the programme shares: “While nearly all the voice recordings have been completed for most of the 50 hymns in the Somali hymnbook, approximately 30 have been awaiting mixing and final production for several years.”