Africa

Election time can be a tense time. Soot Semee podcasts helped encourage participation while also promoting peace during the elections.

In the photo you can see one of our favourite community-centred media training themes – “make your shoes dirty” – meaning – get out of the studio and spend time in the community listening to people’s voices and recording local talent. The picture was taken during a special workshop in September 2021 run by our…

Barnabas Samuel is Programmes Manager for Community Development Centre in Uganda, our partner leading the Soot Semee project. Among his many talents, Barnabas is also a singer/ songwriter and he has just released his first album, Sambara. I asked him to tell us more about the album, and what it means to him. Barnabas said:…

Amplifying Voices is supporting our radio station partner BBN in Sierra Leone as their team of 30 community volunteers visit homes in 9 Freetown neighbourhoods to hear what local households are saying about living with Covid. BBN’s “Amplify” radio programmes provide a platform for the communities’ stories and voices, especially where people are finding ways…

On Thursday 12 August, we held a remote community workshop with partners Hope for Relief and Community Development Network (CDN) in Chitipa, Malawi. This is our first experience of starting a new project without visiting the community first. This presents a challenge … how could we honour our commitment to listening to community members, to…

After meeting a team from Amplifying Voices’ local partner, Dennis from Sierra Leone became inspired to positively impact his community by becoming a champion of change. Dennis is from the New England area of the capital. His neighbourhood is teeming with people. After hundreds of thousands flocked to Freetown following the civil war, people made…

Rose owns a shop in Omugo 4 refugee settlement in Uganda. It’s a place where people exchange news. Her ‘talking shop’ has just had an upgrade.

Soot Semee podcasts are proving their value, as more and more community members are finding ways to access the podcasts.

Adopting technology for learning is attractive in the digital era. It gives a sense that we are changing the old for the new. But technology itself is not transformative. Education technology is not about devices or exchanging a blackboard for a computer screen or tablet.   However with one in three children around the world lacking access…

Social distancing – a term that most of us were unfamiliar with pre-2020. These days, we can hardly have a conversation without mentioning it. Though it is essential to keep the virus from spreading, it is taking its mental toll. Communities in Sierra Leone are feeling it too. Ransford Wright, Founder and Chief Executive of…