Give me hope, help me cope....

This is going to be one of those long-excerpt-brief-comment posts that I try to avoid, but I just really liked this story and have nothing of substance to add except that it's an example of taking your hope where you can find it.

From the BBC for June 11:

A small community radio station in Democratic Republic of Congo has won the Special Award at the One World Media Awards in London.

Richard Pituwa, founder of Radio Canal Revelation, accepted the prestigious prize at a ceremony on Thursday.

Operating on a tiny budget the station provides news, civic education, health and music programmes to the north-eastern town of Bunia. ...

"We feel very small in the face of this very big thing," said Mr Pituwa to a crowded audience of broadcasters, filmmakers, aid agencies and non-governmental organisations.

The station was started in 2000 during ethnic fighting between Hema and Lendu militias, when "many people found themselves voiceless", Barry Sesnan from the United Nations Development Programme told the BBC.

"Youths no longer had jobs... and many opted to become combatants.

"But a small group decided they would do something about it and set up a little a radio station which they created from old mobile phone handsets, old bits of wire and large amounts of spirit," he said.

It reaches 200,000 people in and around Bunia and is especially aimed at the young, and has become a lifeline for many in this remote region.

Radio Canal Revelation has become an important barometer of the opinions of young people, who communicate regularly with the station.

"As mobile phones have come there, have even been people phoning in with questions about Aids and the peace process," Mr Sesnan said.

Run by some 70 volunteers from all sides of the community, the station is also used by the UN as part of its reconciliation work.

Broadcasting in French, Swahili and Lingala, the station continued to air its programmes throughout the ethnic disputes, aiming to remain neutral.

The Beeb also notes that the station has served as a link in reuniting families dispersed by the conflict. All power to the peacemakers.