, the public radio station licensed to UL Lafayette, has received a $15,000 international grant to support the production of its French-language morning program “Bonjour Louisiane.”
The funds come from Représentation de l'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, or OIF. The organization, headquartered in Paris, promotes the French language, multilingualism and cultural diversity around the world.
“Bonjour Louisiane” has been part of KRVS’s lineup from its earliest days. From 1981 to 2021, Pete Bergeron hosted the weekday sunrise show. Colby LeJeune, a master’s student in the , currently hosts the show live from 5-7 a.m. five days a week.
LeJeune and KRVS Assistant General Manager Megan Constantin recently offered a tour of the station to OIF’s Sabine Mengue Abessolo, who visited from Quebec. Jonathan Olivier, business and international specialist at the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana, also joined the visit.
Louisiana French and Créole-language programs are an integral element of Radio Acadie’s commitment to public service. Its audiences — which include growing numbers of listeners in Francophone countries, thanks to the KRVS digital streaming and smartphone app — hear those idioms every day on the station. KRVS programs like “Bonjour Louisiane,” “Zydeco Sont Pas Salè” and “Bal Dimanche Après-Midi” address not only people who grew up hearing their elders speak French and Créole, but also rising generations of language immersion students reclaiming this region’s linguistic heritage, said Cheryl Devall, the station’s general manager.
“Radio Acadie’s mission is to enlighten, inform and entertain its listeners with a variety of programs they won’t find anywhere else,” said Devall. “The station carries more than 70 hours a week of original, locally produced shows, many of which present the best of its home region’s culture. Languages are essential to that mix, and station veterans are proud to have created a broadcast platform for the Cajun and Créole renaissance that made way for today’s robust Acadiana music scene.”
The French language that lends life here its flavor has become more than a source of pride, said Devall. It’s an economic engine. Travelers from other states and nations visit southwest Louisiana to sample its singular culture, and many natives who left choose to return when they start their families.
“French flavors everything in these parts: the place names, the music, the food, the humor,” Devall said.
This includes artists writing new lyrics in French and Créole and experimenting with musical traditions. Dozens of those performers are participating in another KRVS initiative, the monthly Acadiana Music Showcase on World Café, a weekday program heard on 285 public radio stations across the United States.
"You cannot deny the influence of Acadiana if you are a creator,” Megan Constantin, who coordinated the station’s effort to offer national exposure to musicians from the region, told Lafayette television station KATC. “It comes through, no matter what genre you play.
"The melody and the music, the lyrics, they all kind of blend together and come out, and the expression is genuinely Acadiana," she said.
Photo caption: From left to right, Megan Constantin, Colby LeJeune, Sabine Mengue Abessolo and Jonathan Olivier. Photo credit: Paul Kieu, ŷƬ.