Posts by Johnny Fisher
Refugees act to get vital information
Soot Semee podcasts are proving their value, as more and more community members are finding ways to access the podcasts.
Read MoreBuilding Trust – Saving Lives
Soot Semee is helping refugee communities in Northern Uganda to protect children at risk. A large child protection NGO has been working with Soot Semee volunteers to help community members recognise abuse and know how to report it.
Read More“…you’re still on mute!…”
Johnny Fisher “… you’re still on mute! …” If I could have a pound for every time I hear that phrase, I could probably fund our projects many times over! Love them or hate them, free Zoom webinars quickly established themselves in March this year as a means for organisations to contribute in the prevailing…
Read MoreClosing the physical distancing gap
Despite Covid-19, Amplifying Voices’ partner, Community Development Centre, Uganda (CDC) continues to bring communities together. CDC’s Soot Semee project uses community-centred podcasts to overcome physical distancing challenges caused by the pandemic. Physical distancing not only prevents people from seeing loved ones, it also exaggerates the separation between people from different community groups. Barnabas Samuel, from…
Read MoreEmergent Agency
During the Covid19 crisis, one encouraging theme to arise is that of ‘Emergent Agency’. As many NGOs and official sources of assistance have had to withdraw or reduce services, or have even become barriers to assistance, people in disadvantaged communities have shown great resilience and entrepreneurship in developing their own ways to overcome the crisis.…
Read MoreChange 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…
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