Die Stiftung Hirondelle hat 2014 das Studio Hirondelle Guinée (SHG) in Guinea-Conakry gegründet. Während mehr als zwei Jahren wird in diesem Lehrstudio eine neue Generation guineischer Journalisten und Medienfachleute ausgebildet, die täglich Informationen und nützliche, auf Tatsachen beruhende Sendungen liefern, die von 34 ländlichen Radiosendern im ganzen Land ausgestrahlt werden. Diese Sendungen spielten während der Ebolafieber-Epidemie 2014/2015 eine wichtige Rolle, um Gerüchten entgegenzuwirken und lebenswichtige Informationen selbst an vollkommen isolierte Personen weiterzugeben. Die Unterstützung der Stiftung Hirondelle wurde 2017 aufgrund mangelnder Finanzierung beendet. Die Ausrüstung des SHG wurde an eine Vereinigung nach guineischem Recht, die von dessen Personal gegründet wurde, weitergegeben.
Present in Guinea Conakry since 2012, Fondation Hirondelle created the Studio Hirondelle Guinée (SHG) in January 2014 with the objective of producing and broadcasting professional, neutral, and impartial information and training professionals in the Guinean media. Guinea faces endemic governance challenges, social and political instability, and problems of coexistence between its communities.
SHG's key partners were the Guinea Rural Radio network, whose radio stations broadcast the programs produced by the studio, as well as the Higher Institute of Information and Communication (ISIC). The professionals and students from these two structures received training at the SHG. More than two hundred were trained from 2014 to 2016.
In February 2014, an epidemic of Ebola began in Guinea’s Forest region. The late reaction of local authorities and the international community threatened a worst-case scenario. Clumsy communication, initially driven by the government, only created mistrust, denial, and fear. Humanitarian agencies such as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) were often confronted with hostility from local populations who denied the existence of the disease, or thought that the healthcare actors caused it. Studio Hirondelle Guinea responded by producing radio programs to help people understand the disease, explaining its causes and prevention methods. But the challenge was to find the right tone and the right formats to enable listeners to regain trust in the information and to support the work of healthcare personnel. The Studio produced dozens of hours of programs in 10 languages. The quality of these productions was welcomed by the authorities, the national and international actors in charge of the fight against the epidemic. These productions also attracted the attention of UNICEF, which chose SHG as a media partner in the fight against Ebola.
SHG also informed and sensitized people about all societal problems, both nationally and locally and recurrent political and social tensions in the country. Migration was also a major issue. Migrants of Guinean origin were among the most numerous to arrive on the Italian coast. More than 150 hours of programs were produced in 2016 and broadcast by the network of 34 rural partner radio stations, in particular on these issues, as well as on all subjects that concern Guineans’ daily lives.
In 2016, Fondation Hirondelle began a process of empowering SHG to transfer management, editorial skills, and responsibilities to local teams. This effort aimed to reduce the costs of the project but also to prepare it to function as a local media company. In the absence of funding, Fondation Hirondelle had to suspend its support in the first quarter of 2017. The equipment and studio are transferred to a Guinean association created by SHG staff, RAMAVI.
