The young man behind the microphone in the small, claustrophobic studio is reading messages aloud from his handwritten notes. There are greetings from people in every corner of the station's coverage area, up to 100 km from Maputo.
The local radio station, Radio Muthiyana, is the people's voice. From the studio in the small, insignificant house on the outskirts of Maputo, 15 volunteers allow listeners to get in touch with each other.
The station also seeks to hold local authorities to account for any failure to meet their obligations, give people in poor remote areas a chance to talk about their lives and problems, and make sure the locals get involved in debates on current topics such as abortion and AIDS.
"What we do is really simple, but it works. To take an example, we recorded a debate on the waste collection problems people were experiencing in this neighbourhood. We played the tape to those responsible for waste collection at the local municipality and got their comments.
"Our listeners were able to hear those responsible being held to account. More importantly, the municipality went on to tarmac the rutted road that was preventing the garbage trucks from getting here," says Palmira Velasco, Managing Director of Radio Muthiyana.
The peeling walls, the holes in the concrete floor and the meagre radio transmission equipment bear witness to the fact that the voice of the people faces a constant battle to make ends meet. But help could be on its way: Radio Muthiyana is one of the potential recipients of money from a new foundation set up in support of civil society organisations. Austral-COWI administers the Civil Society Support Mechanism (CSSM). Over the next five years, the funds will help to strengthen organisations which seek, in one way or another, to foster democratic governance in Mozambique. Funding comes from the British Department for International Development (DIFID) and Irish Aid.
The station goes out of its way to lend women a voice - they use Changana, the local language, as well as Portuguese because many women in the area are not fluent in the latter.
The volunteers have also set up listener clubs in the countryside. The women meet once a month and record discussions about their problems on tape.
The tapes are picked up by volunteers from Radio Muthiyana and played for those in authority who are given an opportunity to respond. Finally, the recordings are edited and a tape of the programme is brought out to the listener groups - the poorest don't even have a radio.
By: Janne Toft Jensen, jaje@cowi.dk Published: 29.10.2007