From War to the Waves; ‘Radio is my comfort zone’

by Alison Turner

The 94.7 The Pulse team welcomes our valued addition, Friend Kighoma, and her groundbreaking language program titled, ‘Let’s Talk About It’.

Friend is finding solace in the art of expression and utilising the platform for good;

‘radio is my comfort zone’

‘Let’s Talk About It’ runs each Wednesday evening between 7 and 8 pm, providing space for women to discuss issues that are often ignored. ‘It can be quite nerve-racking’ Friend confesses, ‘because you don’t know how people will take what you say, but we talk about it so people don’t feel like they have to be quiet about this stuff’.

Friend is a twenty-year-old student, travelling from Werribee to study media journalism at Deakin University Geelong. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Friend experienced the indescribable hardship of war. At age five, Friend had to leave her homeland. ‘We passed through many different countries’, Friend recalls, before she and her family found footing in Kenya. Once settled in Kenya, the Kighoma family entered the refugee program where, Friend explains; ‘if you are lucky enough, you get to come to Western countries’.

At age 15, Friend’s luck had arrived and her family was granted a visa to come to Australia. ‘We were put in an English language school and once the teachers thought we were good enough, we could move to regular high school.’ Friend was learning to speak the language for the first time. Friend moved into the Australian schooling system through hard work and determination and graduated year twelve.

The Kighomas live within a large community of African families in Werribee. Friend interviews young women from this community, some of whom who she knows personally and some who have been encouraged to speak by past interviewees. In her impressive span of two weeks, Friend has already covered topics such as; forced marriages, unique African experiences, love, and the important impact of parental figures.

Friend believes ‘everything can be talked about, as long as there is respect’.

‘Let’s Talk About It’ is a language program, with the introduction and conclusion spoken in Swahili, and interviews run with both English and Swahili speakers. Friend insists that ‘this program is for all young people, not only African young people.’ From this program,

Friend hopes to ‘gain confidence for young, African women’ and for everyone to understand that ‘the more you talk about something that is bothering you, the more help you get.’ Bringing to light hidden feelings is important to Friend as ‘people might be feeling the same way.’

Tune in to ‘Let’s Talk About It’ on Wednesday evenings and gain insight into the world of our young people.