Ramadan may have ended, but the work doesn’t stop for VOC staff, who now move towards planning for Ramadan next year. While VOC producers are breathing a sigh of relief that the busiest month of the year is behind them, brainstorming sessions have already begun for fresh, creative content for Ramadan 1437.

The radio station has received an overwhelming amount of feedback from the community in relation to its programming schedule during the month of Ramadan, with listeners providing both positive reviews, as well as constructive criticism on how best to improve.

A substantial amount of this feedback, coming via on-air calls in and messages via the SMS line, was directed at the ‘Keeping Up with the Kassims’ dramedy, produced by journalist Najma Bibi Noor Mahomed and aired frequently during the early morning ‘In the Fast Lane’ show.

“The responses were quite varied. Some people liked it, some people did not. I think one of the things that came out of that is that we have to up the ante,” said VOC’s programming manager, Mishka Daries.

Ramadan programme favourites such as the pre-dawn Sabagh ul-Khair show, also received positive reviews from listeners.

“The young voices were so pure and innocent, and I learned a lot. Never too old to learn. Shukran for travelling with us throughout the Ramadan journey as well as accompanying us through the year,” read one sms in response to the show.

“Excellent Ramadan programs and very inspiring. The dramedy series and the children’s stories were great, especially since it was a first,” said another frequent listener.

One of the main attractions during Ramadan has always been the Quranic recitation on air and emerging hifth talent.

“We loved having the athaans in our house and the ghatam reciters are also brilliant,” read one message.

“I enjoyed the three recitals of the surahs and the different qaris,” said another listener.

“I appreciated the selection of English & Arabic duas, as well as the recitations of the selection of surahs by a variety of male and female reciters. Keep the biography of Prophet Muhammad PBUH alive please,” wrote Nadia Charles on Facebook.

VOC were again involved in numerous outreach initiatives during the month, none more prominent than the Ahlan Wa Sahlan programme. AWS saw the station visit different mosques across the city every Sunday, hosting a khatam al-Quran as well as providing a meal for the less fortunate.

Daries said the station had, and would continue to bring the best Ramadan content and programmes to the community for years to come.

“We will definitely be looking at the way forward taking into account everybody’s feedback. We will see what comes next year, but it will be better and it will be bigger,” she stressed. VOC (Mubeen Banderker)