We arrived in Djumu in the dark, the skilled boatsman new exactly what he was doing. I met Charles Vervuurd, the director of Apinti Television in Suriname in Bronsberg. He told me that he has been working on getting television into the interior and has just set up a station in Djumu. Charles gave me the number of Captain Albert (capitain is similar to a chief in South Africa, he is a bit like a the major of a town) who was extremely happy to hear that I’m a media trainer. His radio reporters (radio Mai Fei) needed some help.

At Djumu we found out that the TV station is actually at Asindo-opo. Not on our map. The boatsman took us there, we were greeted by Captain Albert and Beatrice who showed us our hut for the next days.

Surreal
Asindo-opo was just surreal. It looked fake. We walked out of our huts seeing the flowing river and another village on the other side. Mango trees lined the grass shore. Heaven. We washed ourselves in the river, explored the village, spoke to everyone who walked into us (people just wanted to find out who we are and why we are there) and ate our white rice (cooked in rain water) on the porch of our hut. Its a very natural way of living, very satisfying.

The media training at radio Mai Fei took from 10am to 10pm. Basic journalism skills, radio production and a computer class…there was a lot to cover. I managed, even though it was very hot and the language barrier slowed us down. It was a great experience that I am willing to take to the next level if it is possible to combine some of the work that needs to be done at Mai Fei with my work at the School of Journalism in Utrecht… Just thinking about possibilities…

We’ve spend some time in Paramaribo now, also visiting Parbode (a local opinion magazine) where some of my previous students are working on a journalism project for 12 days. It was good to see Casper and Timon again, well done guys!

If anyone has ideas about setting up a media project in Asindo-opo / the Surinamese interior, please contact me.

Elvira