MORE ABOUT HAITI
Radio La Chandeleur
This was the brainchild of Father Wilner Donecia. Gros
Morne is a city of nearly 50,000 people. The Catholic Church there is called
Our Lady of the Light. It has over 20 chapels in the surrounding areas.
Coupled with St. Joseph's Church in Pendus (about 10 miles to the northwest) and
its six chapels, the priests have a hard time staying in touch with that diverse
area. Father Wilner dreamed of being able to communicate in a more efficient
way. The radio station would solve that problem. While many in the mountain
area were limited in their mobility -- both because of weather and because of
distance and terrain -- most did own a small portable, battery-powered radio.
Since Gros Morne literally translates to Big Mountain, a well-placed radio tower
would be able to reach the entire area.
On one of Father Wilner's visits to Lafayette, he visited a local radio station
to see how it operated and what type of equipment it used. He was going to be
able to buy most of the equipment in Haiti. It would be easier for him to get
the license for an air frequency because he was going to be a not-for-profit
station (which would mean no advertising!)
This 300-watt radio station would be located in a building immediately to the
right of the rectory in Gros Morne (and within their fenced compound). Not only
did this provide additional security for the equipment, but also the three
priests -- Father Wilner, Father Nesley and Father Javier -- would be the three
original "DJs!" It officially went on air on December 5, 2005. It initially
ran only in the evenings from 6-10 PM -- mainly because the generator must be
run to power the station and it cannot be run day long (due to expense and undo
wear and tear on the generator). These hours also fit better into the priests'
schedule to do the DJing on air! The station runs many programs that are
religious in nature, including airing of Mass. However, there are many other
educational and informative programs also being aired as well. Father Wilner
said the entire community listens to it (and not just the Catholics).
As we arrived in early afternoon on our visit in December 2005, the radio
station was on air during the day to greet our arrival (and give the priests a
chance to test the distance the reception could be heard). Stereo 102.7 was on
the air and was playing some Christmas songs in English to welcome us. We found
we were able to hear the station shortly after leaving Gonaives, which meant we
had a very good signal and range of reception.
We have since sent some money to begin buying an inverter and some batteries.
Once in place they should allow the station to store power not used when the
generator runs (and thus simply lost) to be used to power the station more
during the daytime hours.
Click on the thumbnail to see a larger picture. Use the arrows to the left and right of the thumbnails to see more pictures in the gallery.
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Father Wilner Donecia speaks on the air of Radion La Chadeleur.
