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