Africa

Coronavirus has severely impacted our lives – from pressuring our healthcare to keeping families apart. Though we’ve been persevering through the global pandemic for nearly a year, it is hardly a new ‘normal’. Sierra Leone had its first reported Covid-19 case at the end of March 2020. However, in the first seven months of the…

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.

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…

With Kenyan schools now unlikely to reopen until January 2021, radio has become an educational life-line for many families across the country.  Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Amani FM, HCR’s partner station in Eastern Kenya, in collaboration with Zizi Afrique Foundation, has been delighting children and parents across Tana Delta, with a variety…

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…

As the number Covid-19 cases begin to rise dramatically in Kenya, health authorities have been urging communities to stay at home, observe physical distancing and not to go back to work. However there is a major concern that many young people, particularly in Nairobi’s informal settlements, are not heeding the warning. To that end, Mtaani…

Stephanie writes about her self-isolation experience and reflects on stories from Sierra Leone, “I started thinking about what could encourage me through this time. I remembered a story from Ebola survivor, Aliu, who I met in Sierra Leone and whose story stayed with me. Even in the darkest of times, facing grief and trauma, Aliu had hope and reached out to others.”

Our partners at Amani FM in Tana River County, eastern Kenya, report that rumours, fake news and misinformation about the Corona virus, are causing fear and panic. They are working hard to ensure that good information is being disseminated, that constructive dialogue is happening and that community fears and concerns are being heard.

Eastern Kenya’s Tana River County has long been affected by violent conflict. Poverty and political interference has added fuel to the fire, along with pressure from Al Shebab extremists who are trying to destabilise Kenya. It is for that reason that journalists from Amplifying Voices’ partner station, Amani FM are undergoing training as “peace ambassadors.”

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…