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‘Sudanista!’: A Non-Fiction Reading list for The Sudans
Emma’s War: Love, Betrayal and Death in the Sudan by Deborah Scroggins The Root Causes of Sudan’s Civil Wars (African Issues) by Douglas H. Johnson South Sudan From Revolution to Independence by Matthew Arnold and Matthew LeRiche The Fate of Sudan: The Origins and Consequences of a Flawed Peace Process by John Young Sudan: Race,…
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Kenya’s Community Reporters
NAIROBI, Kenya – I believe in the power of community media to transform communities. In my home country, due to the National Film Board of Canada’s Challenge for Change program from the 1960s to 80s, marginalized Canadians came together to speak truth to power through participatory filmmaking. This tradition now continues in documentary film and…
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India: Prayasam’s endeavour into Calcutta’s slums
KOLKATA, India – “When I first visited the slums…The community became my canvas and the children became my paint brushes and colours,” said Amlan Ganguly, founder of Prayasam (Endeavours) to me during an interview on the balcony of his home and office. Prayasam is a community-based organization working with youth from six of the 65 slums in Calcutta,…
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Radio Boda-boda goes the extra mile to serve listeners
Rural radio broadcasts reach some of the most remote areas of sub-Saharan Africa. However, when FRI Tanzania staff visited the farming village of Engare Nairobi west of Mount Kilimanjaro, it became clear that people there were unable to receive a radio signal. Without access to radio, Engare Nairobi’s farmers were missing out on critical agricultural information.…
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Beep4Weather: Forecast and Farming advice available on-demand in Tanzania
With weather patterns shifting due to climate change, farmers need weather-related information they can count on. Luckily, their mobile phones can help them get it. “Utabiri wa hali ya hewa” (Swahili for “Beep for Weather”) is a radio and mobile phone service for farmers that was recently developed at our radio and ICT innovation lab, The Hangar. It…
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Afric-lit: An Afro-centric non-fiction reading list
I was recently asked to make a list of books on Africa. When I asked if it was to be a list of fiction or non-fiction, the response was “both.” But, for space and time’s sake, here’s a not-by-any-means comprehensive list of 10 non-fiction books I’ve found useful during my travels around the continent. If…
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Dreams of Abyssinia: A ‘forenji’ in the former Ethiopian Empire
Forenji is an Ethiopian word, in the Amharic language, which means foreigner. I arrived in Addis Ababa on Dec. 20, due to spend my entire Christmas holiday traveling to the north of the country and back before New Year’s Eve – Dec. 31. At Hotel Taitu, located in Addis’ historic Piazza district, I checked in and hit…
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The New Payola: Brown Envelope Journalism in Africa
Payola is a bribery scheme made infamous in the American music industry, paying radio station disc jockeys to put particular songs on the airwaves to gain popularity and, ultimately, sell records. This ethical violation and illegal practice was put to an end many years ago in North America. Across Africa, the idea to be payed…
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Pikipiki Diary: A Bodaboda Guide For East Africa
Pikipiki = motorcycle. Bodaboda = motorcycle taxi. It all starts with a bus, to take me out of my comfort zone and into new adventures and surroundings. I left Arusha for Nairobi last September, taking a few weeks to travel East Africa, and I figured it was time for a new mode of transportation: karibu pikipiki…
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A Visit to the Cemetery of Polish War Refugees in Tengeru
I stepped off the dala-dala mini-bus along the highway and immediately felt the intensity of the blazing mid-day sun. It’s not ideal to do any strenuous activity in the afternoon in Tanzania, but today I was on the hunt for something a little unusual, a cemetery. A Canadian friend of mine living in Nairobi, Kenya was in Arusha…
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Adam Bemma 