Eve D’Souza was born in Mombasa, Kenya in 1979, the daughter of Andrew and Martina D’Souza and sister of Sharon and Jason D’Souza. She traces her Goan roots to Moira. Eve attended Loreto Convent and the Aga Khan Secondary School Mombasa followed by the Catholic University of Nairobi where she did the Bachelor of Education degree in English and English Literature. Her professors encouraged her to try a career in media but “I’m very camera shy and opted for radio”.

Eve has been with 98.4 capital fm Nairobi since 2001. She won the Favourite Female Radio Presenter award 3 times in a row [2003, 2004, and 2005] at the CHAT awards. The annual CHAT awards is nationwide and around 8,000 Kenyan teens vote in 42 different categories, including local musicians, actors, TV presenters, radio presenter etc. This year (2006), she is a nominee in the Favourite Female Radio presenter category as well as Favourite show category.

Eve D’Souza’s radio show, Hits Not Homework is broadcast Mondays to Thursdays, 16:00 – 19:00 GMT. You can listen to it by logging in at http://stream2.netro.ca/984capitalfm

Excerpts:

Editor's Note: Young people in Kenya are finding their voice as government censorship abates and media proliferates and diversifies.

NAIROBI, Kenya--From her studio on the 20th floor of an office building in downtown Nairobi, 25-year-old radio disc jockey Eve D'Souza has a good perspective on the tastes of young Kenyans. As she spins CDs for the evening show "Hits Not Homework" on Nairobi's Capital FM, D'Souza juggles the phones and keeps an eye on the dozens of instant messages on her computer screen from her young listeners.

From the requests, it is clear that young Kenyans have wholeheartedly embraced American pop culture. Among the hundreds of messages D'Souza receives nightly is a call from Larry in Baru, who requests a track from Naz. Joey in Nairobi writes, "I'd luv any tight trick by Dead Prez going out to my cuz Willy wherever he at."

D'Souza says that until a few years ago, her show was filled exclusively with Tupac, Dr. Dre and other U.S. artists. But Kenya's music scene has exploded in recent years. These days, D'Souza's Top 10 countdown includes tracks from Nameless, Prezzo, Necessary Noize and others from a growing list of homegrown talent.

D'Souza welcomes the change. "We're finally becoming serious about local music, and being proud of being Kenyan," she says. DJ Adrian, a Nairobi native and a fixture on the city's club scene, agrees that the last three years have seen a major shift in the tastes of young Kenyans. "You can't do a party any more without local music," he says. For full text click here.