“Good evening, Tordera!”

Ever dreamed of running your own radio programme? Try tuning in to the team at L’Arche El Rusc, Tordera, Catalonia (Spain) click here to listen

Erika, project leader explains: “from small beginnings 13 years ago, we now broadcast twice a month, on Sunday afternoon for 25 mins. Our programme is called ‘Diversones’. It is a name we chose together – made up of two words, ‘diversity’ and ‘person’.”

Before they started, neither Erika, nor the L’Arche radio team members with intellectual disability, had any professional training in radio work: but who needs a qualification when you have enthusiasm by the bucket load?! Just listen to Magda, Jordi, Marc, Enric, Júlia, Pilar, Samuel:

Magda: “I love the feeling of others hearing my opinion!”

Enric: “before, I always used to listen to others speaking on the radio: now it’s my turn!”

 

Júlia: “I really like doing interviews.”

 

Pilar: “I love the radio: all of us, we create a team together, like a pine tree!”

Marc: “each person has a chance to speak. I like it when we all talk together, like the last programme we did.”

However, for Jordi, it’s not just the broadcasts themselves: it’s about the dignity that comes from “walking to the radio station through the town, Tordera, and meeting people on the way.”

Samuel wants L’Arche Internationale to know: “Thank you for being there; thanks to you, there are a lot of people who can live better and find their path in life…”

Last word to Erika: “we choose the week’s theme together, something topical: for instance, we had a really good discussion on the word ‘handicap.’ The upcoming elections in Spain and Catalonia are another theme: people with intellectual disabilities have been given the right to vote. I believe that the most important thing, the essence of the project, is to contribute: so that the person with an intellectual disability becomes visible and has their opinion heard…; each is a citizen with a voice!”

To find out more about El Rusc by clicking here

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