RX Radio is a platform where children with different health conditions and children in general come together and speak freely about issues that are important to them
What we do and why
RX Radio is a unique award-winning radio station that is by and for children, based at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. Our vision is to exist to empower South African children with voice and agency so they can exercise influence within the community and the issues facing them. The RX Radio team and volunteers coordinate, and support the reporters – but the children are always behind the microphones and are active participants in the production. They design their own shows, choose the music, invite guests, write interview questions, and even plan fundraising events!
child and young reporters trained
child and young reporters trained
Leveraging the potential of a rights-based framework, RX Radio uses the magic of the microphone to give children a platform for expression, information and participation. Enabling them to ‘join the conversation’, we legitimise marginalised voices, break down social barriers and catalyse the transformative relationships needed to build a cohesive network of support (family/peer/professional). The ease, portability and affordability of radio makes it the perfect medium to empower chronically ill children to reconnect with the world around them.
Donate
RX Radio began broadcasting on the 20th of May 2017, providing an important social service to young patients, their support networks and health workers of the Red Cross Children’s Hospital. RX Radio is donor driven and we welcome your financial support – not only to keep the service going, but to expand to other hospitals.
helps purchase refreshments for reporters
contributes towards better equipment
to train a child to become an RX Radio reporter
helps purchase refreshments for reporters
contributes towards better equipment
to train a child to become an RX Radio reporter
Listen live
RX Radio allows the reporters and those who care for them to meet, share ideas, ask questions, tell stories, have fun and build a happy, interactive radio community.
Our impact
children have completed basic radio training
children are actively engaged in ongoing advanced training and skills development
voices on the COVID-19 pandemic from children, caregivers and healthcare workers
events have been covered by our reporters
Meet RX Radio Reporters
Radio is a powerful tool for communication, advocacy and development and this is even more so in the case of children, if their world of meaning and reality is to be widened and deepened.
Children often do not have the information, confidence, or opportunity to express their views and contribute to actions and decisions that affect them. Add compounding issues of poverty and chronic illness into the mix, and the situation magnifies. This cannot be our accepted ‘norm’, and is why RX Radio is committed to helping children and young people find and raise their voice.
Meet RX Radio Staff and Board members
Noluyolo Ngomani
Station Manager
Chelsey Daniels
Junior Project Officer
Gabriel Urgoiti
Station Founder and Advisor
RX Radio Board members
Professor Alan Davidson: Head of the Paediatric Haematology-Oncology Service
Geetesh Solanki: Health economist and senior specialist scientist at the Medical Research Council of South Africa, an Associate Health Researcher at the Health Economics Unit, School of Public Health, University of Cape Town
Sr Jane Booth: Registered nurse, midwife and retired paediatric nurse
Prof Mark Tomlinson: Co-Director of the Institute for Life Course Health Research in the Department of Global Health at Stellenbosch University
Qaqamba: Student of law at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), recently on the Dean’s Merit list
Prof Tanja Bosch: Associate Professor in Media Studies and Production at the Centre for Film and Media Studies, University of Cape Town
Yvonne Counter: Facilities Coordinator at ABSA Regional for Corporate site
Claire Mawisa: Investigative journalist on Carte Blanche
Nadierah Pienaar: Personal Assistant in the Department of Student Affairs at UCT
Mujahid Wiener: Youth ambassador at the Children’s Hospital Trust
Tarique Kenny: Communications student at University of South Africa
Our partners
