www.radiolajee.com is the home of an exciting new series of podcasts by Palestinian refugees aged between 11 and 22 years.

Established by Australian new media enthusiast, Daz Chandler, in collaboration with the Lajee Centre, the independent project aims to provide the refugee youth with the skills necessary to create a weekly, English language podcast.

The concept was born in June 2008, when Daz met British photographer, Rich Wiles, who was in Sydney to promote a photographic exhibition by Palestinian refugee youth. The pair discussed the dearth of positive stories about Palestinian people, the sense of isolation felt within the refugee camp, the bias inherent in much of the western media’s coverage of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and whether the so-called “blogging revolution” was the most practical answer to truly democratic news and communication. Needless to say, it was a long conversation… and although the two didn’t come up with a conclusive answer, it did result in the formation of www.radiolajee.com.

Rich had a long standing relationship with the Lajee Centre – established in Aida Camp in April 2000 by a group of 11 young people wanting to provide refugee youth with cultural, educational, social and developmental opportunities. After a bit of too-ing and fro-ing the collaboration became official.

On the 1st of November 2008, Daz Chandler arrived in Bethlehem, met the team of enthusiastic podcasters at Aida camp and commenced the radio workshops. The workshops were structured to cover the fundamentals of podcasting, from sound recording to presentation and interview techniques, through to audio editing, program structure, new media possibilities and online marketing.

Visit the home page to hear the first installment of RadioLajee and while you’re at it, be sure to meet the Radio Lajee team

Help us spread the word about RadioLajee and assist in making this cyber-based loud-speaker as deafening as possible!
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Thanks

Obviously, in order for a project like this to take shape, money is required. And money for a project like this doesn’t materialise without the support of some wonderful people. Special thanks must go to Leeanne Torpey and Priscilla Bourne for donating the proceeds of Where’s The Llama (an unforgettable Sydney night out) to Radiolajee which essentially got the project started. More recently, 84 individuals from all over the world donated funds to ensure the continuation of Radio Lajee via the crowd-sourcing site, Fundbreak. Quite simply, without their support, this would not be possible. Thank you!