You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'africa' category.
I’m trying to set up a citizen journalism project with these kids in Sierra Leone. With the help of Virginia at BBC World Class and Alex and Janette at Plan International.
This boy in the photo is talking about how the hospitals don’t have enough equipment.
I’m trying to find out about some things that effect the kids and help them with their ideas on what they could report on.
These kids seem quite lucky as at least they are in school – although they say they’re having trouble paying their school fees because their relatives abroad have stopped sending them money due to the worsening global economy.
Perhaps they might want to talk about Freetown’s street children, or about child workers, like these reports of kids who worked in the diamond mines , there are also problems of child trafficking, the terrible health problems contributing to high child mortality rates , not to mention child soldiers.
Plenty of issues effecting kids in Sierra leone, it would be a great to finally get kids themselves telling their own stories. I hope that we can get this one off the ground. If you can help with contacts or advice, get in touch. I’d like to add a thanks to Florian who added his photo of a boy from Sierra Leone to the Your Story Flickr group.
Lenny, one of the citizen journalists who has been reporting on the South African elections says ..
Hello people of the world, this is Lenny from Port Elizabeth.
Lenny gets star treatment
When the BBC asked me to be a citizen reporter, I was a little bit scared. It’s been a great experience though as I have learned so much in a short time. When the radio and video recording started, everything started to flow!
Usually, you don’t talk much about how you feel about your livelihood about the problems you come across, the challenges you face, but this reporting has given me the chance to speak out, so I feel relieved now.
In future, I don’t think I will have the same fears about talking or asking questions to other people NOW I don’t fear anything!
At the time of writing this post, the ANC are leading the election count. Get the latest on the figures here.
Your Story has been working with the Township reporters Lenny, Lucky and Asanda. They have been filing their reports and talking live to our presenters on the World Today programme.
Asanda talks about the experience of being a citizen journalist for the BBC World Service during these elections.
I was sceptical when the BBC asked me to do this thing. I wasn’t sure whether they would ask me deep political questions. I thought to myself, I’ll just say what I know and what I feel.
I’ve got so much out of doing it though. The real gift was thinking hard myself about which party to go for. It would have been a huge struggle to decide if it wasn’t for doing this.
Also it’s brought out qualities in me that I didn’t know about. I’m quite grateful for that, I didn’t know I could do it, it boosted my confidence. And I have enjoyed it very much!
Our three township reporters, Lucky, Asanda and Lenny have been busy reporting on issues effecting them personally from in and around Port Elizabeth in the run up to the South Africa elections.
You can read what they have been doing in their reports, see photos and video they have produced here on the BBC news website.
Lucky has been talking about the experience so far ..
Lucky (in purple), his dad who's in the ANC and a friend
When I was approached by the BBC guys to do this, it was very exciting but at the same time I’ve been feeling a little bit of pressure.
Mainly because of the experience that goes with being a citizen journalist. I was told this would be about my country’s development and also about me talking about political issues that face my country.
The important thing for me is to expose what we are trying to do in our community here in New Brighton. I think people need to hear our stories. Like how we have intellectual capability to develop, we have values and morals, entrepreneurs, these are things that will help South Africa move forward.
But then being there exposed in front of an international audience, it was an experience for me!
I’ve had a self realisation from working with the BBC’s Your Story citizen journalism project. It’s made me realise what I am capable of. Sometimes you have doubts, but I have gained confidence and I’ve been able to relate my ideas to other people.
Asanda likes the party but not the leader
I’m excited about the elections but it’s difficult when your head and your heart are saying different things. My father was a loyal ANC supporter, before he died he used to always say ‘you must vote for the ANC’, but now he’s not here and I don’t feel it’s the same ANC anymore.
Read the rest of this entry »
We spent the day on Wednesday with another of the people who’ll be reporting the election for the World Service next week. Mncedisi ‘Lenny’ Mkhize is a 56 year old artist and musician living in Joe Slovo, a semi-formal settlement on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth. It was settled in the 90s, and is a mix of wooden shacks and new government-funded houses.
People who live in Joe Slovo, most of them don’t have money, we are a struggling community, most of the people they have nothing, most of the people are uneducated like myself.
I’m living in a wooden shack just now, built by me and my wife, only the two if us. The government has promised new houses, and to get everyone out of shacks by 2014. We have a new cement house next to our shack, but because of corruption and incompetence, that was left by the contractor half done so I had to finish it myself. My son had to put the pipes in so we could have water. I’m scared to move in because of the cracks… I’m scared that my children will suffer with the cold and the draughts this winter. The houses are falling apart, I think most people still prefer their shacks to the new houses we’re getting.
Read the rest of this entry »
Lucky wants to make a difference in his neighbourhood
Your Story is here in South Africa to help locals tell you what matters most to them in these elections, so let’s cut straight to the chase, and introduce Thamsanqa ‘Lucky’ Gadi Siko. He’s a 29 year old student from White Location in New Brighton …
My passion is to make a difference in my neighbourhood. I’m part of setting up ‘Hybrid’, which is a development and training company, working with high school students and adults. There are seven of us, a mixture of ANC and COPE (Congress of the People ), some of us unemployed and some students.
We want to help learners at high school and adults, so we’re setting up a tutoring programme for school students. Kids at high school have potential, but they don’t know how to get on and make it because they have no guidance in practical skills.
Read the rest of this entry »
The red location is a bedrock of the ANC and resistance to apartheid.
Port Elizabeth is known as the friendly city, and first impressions certainly live up to that. We arrived on Sunday, straight to a warm welcome and impromptu party with the family we’re homestaying with in New Brighton. As well as great food, there was plenty of political talk in the lounge – the ANC and newcomers COPE are the parties everyone’s talking about, some hoping COPE will bring change, others saying let’s stick with the party that’s done so much for South Africa.
Our whole reason for coming to the townships of PE (as it’s known here) was to let people share their stories; they will be the journalists reporting on the issues that matter to them. So on Monday we headed out to find out what they’re talking about.
Read the rest of this entry »
Hi, it’s James here, as you can see I sit next to Nina in the office. In a couple of weeks, my colleague Anna Holligan and I are going to be heading to Port Elizabeth in South Africa to cover the general elections.
But it’s not going to be us behind the mike on this trip – we want to find locals who can report for us on issues that they care about, and tell the world about their lives and why this election matters to them.
South Africans, what do you think are the important issues? For those of you who aren’t in South Africa – is there something you really want to know about these elections?
And if you’re in Port Elizabeth, get in touch and let us know, we’d love to hear from you.
I went to go and meet the 50 bloggers who have been brought to London to cover the G20 summit by Oxfam. See the last blog post about who they are and where they’re from.
Cheryl Contee who worked with Your Story for Obama’s Inauguration, has been writing about arriving in London here.
She writes..
I walked the wrong way to the hotel and saw the entrance to G20 ground zero – the ExCel Centre.
There are a lot of cops around dressed in bright yellow plastic vests and funny shaped round black hats, but they are all very nice and quite helpful. Though like Obama’s inauguration, they are perhaps not as well trained as they might be given the circumstances. One cop whom I asked for directions shrugged his shoulders and good-naturedly exclaimed: “I have no idea. They brought me in from Bristol!” Right…
The bloggers have been meeting up today and talking about the things they care about. I also went along and spoke to the Saudi Jeans guy, Jessica from Mexico – vivrmexico.com, Daudi Were from Kenya, his blog is mentalacrobatics.com and Michael Kleinham from humanitarianrelief.change.org.
I’ve recorded some of their thoughts on what they think the G20 should be talking about and that piece is going to be broadcast on the World Today programme tonight.
Recent Comments