PAKTIYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Coalition Special Operations Forces team members introduced a revamped call-in radio trivia show to heighten awareness and award prizes to villagers in the Chamkani district, Oct. 17.
The call-in show features a series of questions that quizzes villagers on basic services, education, security, and development projects in the district.
“We figured we had a lot of listeners because when we go anywhere, [the villagers] always say they listen to our station,” said a coalition SOF team member. “But this is to try and get [the villagers] more involved.”
Each day, the radio call-in show, entitled “Voice of Chamkani” awards a small prize to one caller for answering a specific number of questions correctly. The prizes include: phone cards, hand-held radios and Afghani gift certificates.
At the end of the week, the winners compete against each other, while broadcasting live from the radio station, for a chance to win the weekly grand prize: a 1,000 Afghani gift certificate.
The program is designed not only to promote the Afghan government, but also to get villagers more directly involved in the security and development projects near their home.
“We know a lot of people will be listening, so we can make sure to get good coverage and reception of important messaging we put out,” added the coalition SOF team member.