Radio Veca

Think back with me a month. Do you remember hearing about Hurricane Felix and the damage it caused to Central America? It came ashore in a place called Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. Chances are you have never heard of Puerto Cabezas, but we have. HCJB has a little partner radio station in Puerto Cabezas called Radio Veca.

Radio Veca is a small FM station. They came to us several years ago in need of a new transmitter. We were able to provide them with that and have stayed in contact with them ever since, doing training sessions for the radio producers, etc.

When we heard that Hurricane Felix had come ashore at Puerto Cabezas, we knew our partner was going to need help. However the hard part was communicating with them. Phone lines were down, as were power lines. However, after a few days, enough electricity was restored so that cell phones could sometimes get through to the station. Sure enough their radio tower was several pieces and their transmitter damaged as well. However, the electric company had run a special power line to the station to help them get back on the air, however with a greatly reduced coverage area.

We determined as best we could what the station was going to need to get back up to full power and sent an engineer in to help. Radio Veca had managed to piece their radio tower back together, but the cable that goes to the antenna at the top of the tower was not available in the country. So our engineer had to make a stop in Miami on the way (OK, so its not exactly on the way) to buy some cable.

We were able to get the station back up to almost full power. This was crucial since the station was being used by rescue workers to broadcast key information to the community. This is an example of how HCJB Voz Global is partnering with Christian radio stations all over Latin America to help them more effectively minister to their local communities.