[Imc-africa] Rural Africa

[franklin bayern]

I'll be sharing some thoughts with you asap, John. I
must confess I'm only reading your mail this night
(April 19). Someone might've noticed I've been
disconected for a while. Some problems.
Gretings all,

Frank, Yaounde, Cameroon

 
--- John Bwakali <jonbwak at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi Friends,
> It is a bright sunny morning here in Nairobi and I
> am happy to be alive. My country Kenya is doing
> okay, apart from the usual national challenges that
> are faced by just about every other African country.
> We now have a coalition government and this being
> unprecedented, there seem to be quite a number of
> teething problems. But life goes on  
> For those of you who were in Senegal, you may recall
> that we talked quite a bit on the African context of
> Indymedia. There was a general consensus that the
> Internet will not be that useful in rural Africa
> because it just isn't there. So what are the
> alternatives? Suggestions included; community radio,
> newsletters, caravan videos....Im interested in
> knowing what you are doing in your rural areas and
> what you plan to do. Have you been able to organize
> any meetings in such areas and what has been the
> outcome of the meetings? If there are any existing
> traditional forms of communication in your
> respective communities, do you think you will be
> able to fully utilize them? 
>  
> This Easter weekend, I will be going to a part of
> Kenya near L. Victoria. This lake is the second
> largest fresh water lake in the world and is the
> source of River Nile. It is shared by Kenya, Uganda
> and Tanzania. We are going to try and establish a
> media initiative between the L. Victoria communities
> in these three countries. Some of the issues to be
> addressed include; exploitation of the communities
> by large fish companies, HIV/AIDS, child labor, wife
> inheritance, female genital mutilation, community
> dignity and self-esteem, family values, gender
> victories (triumphs of village women groups) and
> music as a positive force. 
>  
> All these issues affect the communities in question
> and are very important to them. Our idea is to hold
> village meetings, film different aspects of the
> above issues, print 4-page newsletters in local
> languages and conduct baseline surverys on
> possibillities of community radio. All this will
> take a lot of time, efforts and resources but we are
> confident that with full cooperation, a measure of
> success will be realised. One step at a time. There
> are a number of small Kenyan media and social
> outfits that can be useful in these ventures. We
> hope to mobilize these outfits to be an active part
> of the Indymedia collective here in Kenya. We also
> want to focus more on social, as opposed to
> political issues. A lot of social issues are done a
> lot of injustice by the mainstream media and can be
> generally ignored by the alternative media. 
>  
> Must go now. Have a fabulous week. And Grace, hope
> you are doing okay in Mombasa. I will let you know
> when we can meet there in Mombasa. Most likely the
> last weekend of this month. All the best. Gilberto
> my brother, have a great time in South Africa. Maybe
> you could link up with the Indymedia people there?
> Nicolas and the others. I'll write to you soon.
> Frank, how is good old Yaounde? Are you now with
> another radio station? Is your wedding still soon?
> Ha ha. Jean ca va? Er....er..my French fails me. 
>  
> Kwaheri,
> John
>  
> P/S Mambo vipi Oloo?
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------
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