“Why,” asked the CBC’s David Gutnick of an ex-soldier and new journalist in Mali, “did you become a radio reporter?”

“Because it is a way of doing good,” answered Daouda Diarra. “When I go on the radio I try and do my best to tell the truth about what I find out. I try to choose subjects that are important. I think I can help listeners have better lives. “

Gutnick was there as a teacher, with aid group Farm Radio International, and wrote a piece about it for the CBC website.