Kunene Region, one of the regions with the highest rate of youth unemployment and marginalized communities.

The introduction of the community radio station there was meant to alleviate some of these challenges; however, the targeted group is yet to fully embrace a tool many call "the voice of the poor."

The Kunene Community Radio Station Manager, Rufus Sheehama, is one of the four volunteers at the small community radio station.

He is a passionate storyteller, mostly interested in narrating the stories of the indigenous community around the vast and culturally rich Kunene Region.

After the launch of the radio station in 2017, Sheehama would soon realize that he would not be traveling the region to gather cultural tales and tell stories about the local people and their languages.

A lack of interest from the unemployed youth in joining and owning the community radio station is problematic, he said.

"Local youth is not really involved; mostly the volunteers of this station are not locals, but mostly youth that come from outside, and I think it's high time for the Kunene youth to stand up and come tell stories of their villages."

There is also a need for political will, which Sheehama said would bolster the youth's growing passion for the radio station.

"The whole leadership, Kunene leadership, the local authority, they don't see the importance of the radio, and they don't invite us to their events."

Sheehama explained that youth in the Kunene Region face multi-dimensional challenges that require a high-level strategy that is more responsive.

"Some of the problems we try to communicate with the stakeholders involved, who can help us or who can help these communities, for example, the water issue, we do reach out to the councilors, have you heard about this challenge in this village, and we try to get the councilors so that they can explain"

The Kunene Community Radio only reaches a 30-kilometer radius, and many in this sparsely populated region are not aware of its existence.

Though it has the ability to go live, it focuses the majority of its content on pre-recorded material.

The region has poor mobile network coverage too, particularly in rural settings, which hinders interactive communication between listeners and stakeholders.

The radio station survives on advertisements from the local business community and minor funding from a South African NGO.

Kunene Governor Marius Sheya identified low levels of education and inadequate skills as contributing factors to the high unemployment rate.