Posts by Johnny Fisher
Change made real through a neighbour’s voice
This is Refugee Week. In Northern Uganda, refugee voices are at forefront of the battle against the problems Covid-19 brings to their communities. We heard about some places where the only information comes through megaphones. After a while this can seem a list of do’s and don’ts and people in those communities say they feel…
Read MoreRising voices in Omugo Zone
Just over a week ago, the Soot Semee team in Northern Uganda handed out first Soot Semee podcasts on memory cards to a community of South Sudanese refugees. At the same time, they distributed speakerboxes so that over 100 groups of around 10-20 people each can listen to the podcasts together. One of the community…
Read MoreRevitalising audio … smart speakers, podcasts and speakerboxes
Did you receive a Smart Speaker this Christmas? – or did you get one in the last two years? Voice activated speakers like the Google Home and Amazon’s Echo Dot (pictured) have triggered renewed interest in audio media and boosted the popularity of podcasts according to Reuters Institute. Reuter’s research reveals that, in an image-…
Read MoreSoot Semee (Voice of Compassion) begins …
In the last week of September I joined a great group of people for a workshop near Arua, Uganda. Some of the group are South Sudanese refugees and others are Ugandans. They have a plan to work together on a media project to improve community health, education and social cohesion in northern Uganda. We facilitated…
Read MoreSoot Semee – Northern Uganda
Misinformation fuels conflict but community engagement fosters trust. Soot Semee is a community-centred media pilot designed by South Sudanese refugees living in resettlement areas in northern Uganda. The project engages community members in making content and in assessing and tracking rumours. It invites service providers based in these communities to provide information that the community…
Read MoreBuzi bounces back
Empowering Yesterday Cyclone Kenneth made landfall near Pemba in Mozambique, the second cyclone to hit Mozambique this season. Only one month ago, Jon and I traveled to Beira in central Mozambique in response to Cyclone Idai. Damage to road infrastructure meant that Beira was cut off from many parts of the country for several days,…
Read MoreCelebrating 3 years of Amplifying Voices in Freetown
HCR (now Amplifying Voices UK) joins with the AVS (Amplifying Voices through SALT) Project in Sierra Leone to celebrate 3 years of strengthening communities and locally generated action with a big vision for the future. There is much to celebrate! The project is actively working in 7 communities in Freetown with a strong group of…
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