It took members of the Afno FM team more than two hours by motorbike to reach the village where they hoped to find one of their most faithful callers.
They knew her as “Janaki”, the name she used when she called the station and on Facebook.
But when they arrived and asked for Janaki, nobody seemed to know who they meant.
So they tried another description.
The woman living with disability who calls the radio station every day.
Everyone knew her.
Her name is Jamuna.
The team found her at home, confined to bed and listening to Afno FM on a small mobile phone.
Eleven years earlier, Jamuna had fallen nearly 30 metres from a tree and suffered a severe spinal injury. Her husband later left her, and their daughter now lives with him. Jamuna has not been allowed to see her child.
She shares a home with her brother and sister-in-law and is often alone while the family is at work and the children are at school.
That makes Afno FM more than something to listen to.
The radio is a companion and a close friend that speaks to her.
Jamuna calls when she can afford the phone credit. When the power is out or her battery dies, she can lose that connection altogether.
So the team had brought something with them: a solar-powered radio that local Partners like Afno FM distribute.
Jamuna’s story was later shared on air. A woman in Kathmandu who had lived with a similar disability for 17 years sent financial help, while a Nepali believer who listens online provided a replacement wheelchair. Both later spoke with Jamuna on air, praying with her and sharing the Good News.
For Jamuna, having a radio she can rely on means the voice that has become such an important part of her days can stay beside her even when the power goes out.