The name of Radio Azania was just before it went on air changed into Radio Damal. With the small crew I had trained weeks earlier, we jump into the deep end of the pool. I worked with them in hands-on training during the first two weeks of broadcasting. It was a challenge for Mandala TV (http://mandalatv.com/) which had hired me.

Despite of having emphasised the importance of the clock in radio, hardly anyone kept to the minutes they got for their programs. We had to cut life on air and in some cases dragging the presenter away from the microphone.

As the broadcasts were in Somali I could not check on the content. I was cheated accordingly. I requested not only to have football in the sport program but also other sports. It was promised. But after days I heard from a Somali friend it was just football. The same happened with the press overview. Despite demanding a variety of papers the presenter just stuck to two the same every single day.

But there were hopeful exceptions. Suhayb who had a religious program in the evening stuck to all the rules in the book and was a solid rock in the sometimes seas of mayhem. But after two weeks it started to sound like a radio station and my trainees got to the conclusion that the job required rules and order.