The participation in these programmes strengthens the children both as a group and as well as individuals. Besides taking responsibility for the joint radio programme and consolidating their knowledge of their mother tongue, they also have a lot of fun.

The teacher is enthusiastic about the radio project and enjoys supporting her pupils. She has attended a further training course at Pukllasunchis and has got to know new teaching methods: her lessons are now participative, she uses visual learning aids, the classroom is colourful and there is a pleasant learning atmosphere.

Ermelinda goes to this school and she really likes recording the radio programmes. The class develops the programme as a co-production: they decide on the topic, think about the sequence and distribute the roles. Every child has a say and can contribute something.

Henry goes to a rural school in Ccoñamuro. He and his classmates regularly produce radio programmes. Here, Henry is talking about his everyday life and the traditional ceremonies he performs together with his family. The radio programmes are listened to by other classes and the content is discussed.

The school Henry attends is very small and most of the children speak Quechua. Their mothers take turns preparing the lunch, which the children then eat together.

At home, Henry has to look after the guinea pigs. 

Like many other people in the community, his family breeds and sells guinea pigs (cuy), which are a popular food in Peru. In addition, most families own a piece of land and some cows.

Constantino at work at the Ausangate radio station. It is located in Quispicanchi in the Cusco region and is one of the places where the radio programmes are broadcast from. 

They reach many indigenous families in the country and in the city. The broadcasts have a high value because they bring information about other regions and strengthen the sense of community. 

In a training session for teachers at Pukllasunchis, Yovana Huanca Huallparimachi is presenting the many facets of the radio project in the classroom. The teachers learn a lot about bilingual and bicultural education that they can put into practice afterwards. They find it motivating to see considerable changes in the students, who become more self-confident and participate more actively in class after working on the radio project.

At school events the students present their various projects to proud parents and other interested parties.

In Chillihuani, these include, for example, designing maps of the surrounding area with the important natural resources, making presentations of the history and culture of the region and, of course, producing the said radio programmes.

Since the beginning of the Corona crisis, schools in Peru have been closed. Especially for indigenous families in the country, it is impossible to ensure digital access to schooling for their children. They lack electronic devices and access to the internet. Pukllasunchis has worked with teachers to develop teaching materials for online distance learning and school lessons for radio. Children with access to mobile phones and the internet have been able to contribute to these lessons. They have sent video and audio recordings of the school topics to Pukllasunchis, which has then made them available to other students via the internet and radio. In this way, the organization has reached many children in rural areas who otherwise would have had no access to education during this time. Additional radio programmes have served to give information about Corona by means of the character of Capitán Jabón (Captain Soap) (https://redsisicha.home.blog). 

Her classmates complement Dania’s story. They wear costumes to slip completely into their roles as frogs. The children choose the contents of their broadcasts themselves and implement their ideas in a very creative way.

Dania lives in Tiracancha, a little village in the Peruvian Andes. Mountains, rivers, corn and all of nature have a very important meaning here.

At home, Dania speaks Quechua with her parents and siblings.

At school, Dania and her classmates listen to bilingual programmes of other classes and regions. After the radio transmissions they discuss different aspects, themes and customs. The broadcasts are an important basis for the teachers to offer intercultural lessons.

Classes in Dania’s school were mainly held in Spanish up to now despite the fact that Dania and her classmates speak Quechua with each other and at home. Thanks to the radio project the teachers use both Quechua and Spanish in most of their lessons and integrate indigenous knowledge into their teaching.

Students and teachers present their broadcasts to the parents. The students regularly make interviews with members of the community while producing their radio broadcasts. Therefore the school is better taken note of by the parents and the community and plays a more important role. As a consequence the children’s school attendance has increased.

Victoria Hualla und Segundina Arroní are live on air today. Victoria Hualla has been educated as a radio speaker by Pukllasunchis. For her broadcasts Victoria Hualla involves the inhabitants of Santa Rosa. The broadcasts are in Quechua.

Victoria Hualla is part of a women’s group in Santa Rosa. In her broadcasts she gives an important voice to the women of Santa Rosa. This year the group has chosen to focus on the protection of the ecosystem of the Andes in their radio transmissions.

Victoria Hualla lives with her husband Alipio and their two children close to Santa Rosa. As a radio speaker Victoria is often out and about. Alipio is very proud of her job and her engagement in the women’s group.

Emiliano Ramos is telling a story from the Andes in the recording studio of Pukllasunchis. He is 76 years old.

Ysabel Palomino Gutiérrez, radio speaker and co-worker at Pukllasunchis advises Mr. Ramos how his story could sound better. Raul records the story and generally puts the final touches on the sound recordings of the children and the women’s groups.

The next radio programme is completed. Ysabel is handing over the recordings to the broadcast station Santa Monica in Cusco.

Local and regional radios broadcast the programmes of Pukllasunchis. Pukllasunchis has an agreement with different broadcast stations in the cities and in the country.

Alejandro Flores Guerra is the director of the broadcast station Nueva Vida de Tiracancha.

Pukllasunchis produces the programmes “Sisichakunaq Pukllaynin”, “The Antplay” for kids and Quiñi Quiñicha, “Hot and cold” for adults.

The programs of Pukllasunchis are very popular in the cities as well as in the country. At Ms. Marcelina Paukar Puna’s market stall in the centre of Cusco the programmes are broadcasted every day. The clients are enthusiastic about the programmes of Pukllasunchis.

The broadcasts also facilitate the work on the fields. Mr. Ipolito Huanaco can now listen to his favourite broadcasts in his mother tongue. In addition he appreciates the information about agriculture in the programmes of Pukllasunchis. He gets to know how farmers in other regions of the country cultivate their land.

The broadcasts of Pukllasunchis are also regularly listened to at work on the salt terraces. The radio still plays an important role in Peru. Especially in such remote areas it is the means of communication people use to keep informed.