by Dan Greenall
Radio ELWA (Eternal Love Winning Africa) is a Christian ministry station that has been on the air from Monrovia, Liberia since 1954. When I first heard them in the 1970’s from my listening post in Ontario, Canada, they were using 10 and 50 kw transmitters to broadcast their programs to targets in most parts of the African continent and the Middle East. A couple of old recordings I made captured their interval signal and a station ID in Arabic: https://archive.org/details/elwa-monrovia-liberia-1970
They sent me this attractive QSL card in 1970.
The 1971 Communications Handbook profiled the station on page 14.
From 1989 to 2003, Liberia was embroiled in a couple of lengthy civil wars, and ELWA was forced off the air at least a couple of times. This simple folded paper QSL, that included their program schedule, was issued during this period for reception in 1994.
The station also endured a major Ebola outbreak and the Covid 19 pandemic as described in this link: https://www.elwaministries.org/radio/
Today, ELWA broadcasts programs primarily to the city of Monrovia on 94.5 FM. However, these programs are simulcast with one kilowatt on 6050 kHz shortwave for the rest of the country. They can be tricky to hear in other parts of the world. In recent months, a co-channel Chinese station made reception difficult, even through the use of remote KiwiSDR’s. However, this past week, I have found them in the clear (in English!) for up to 2 hours before 2230 UTC sign off, using a KiwiSDR in the Azores Islands.
Five separate recordings made between September 17 and 20 can be found at this link and embedded below:
ELWA 1
ELWA 2
ELWA 3
ELWA 4
ELWA Sign-Off
I have also been able to hear their signal recently using SDR’s in Cape Cod, MA and Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles.
You can listen to ELWA 94.5 FM online at: https://radio.galcom.org/?station=ELWARadio