Empowerment of
Indigeneous Storytellers
A Practical Approach
The example of "RADIO
BRIDGE OVERSEAS" / Zimbabwe
presented by its Founder, Trustee
& Managing Editor at Bremen-University,
10.07.2014
RBO, an African non-governmental
media organisation based in
Harare, Zimbabwe, was the medium
through which a South-North,
South-South dialogue had begun to
be achieved, with RBO acting as
the "bridge" between
various cultures of the two
hemispheres. The development in
Zimbabwe forced a freeze on all
of RBO's operations.
However, RBO and its Editor offer
— through Internet —
advice and assistance for
emerging media entrepreneurs in
the South ...
Two examples of
RBO's pioneering approach
to bridge cultures and to break
language-barriers within Africa
in an effort to provide education to
people by focussing on their own
experiences:
RBO
produced in October & November 1996 a
series of 8 x 15-minute episodes titled
"MAKING IT WORK" about use of
appropriate technology, on ZBC (Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation) Radio 4, which
was also aired in different language
versions in Botswana, Kenya and Ethiopia.
Episodes in this series were used as a
method of informing policy-makers by
identifying and assessing the demand for
sustainable technical solutions in
various sectors of the developing
economies in East and Southern Africa.
The programs were researched on the spot
and produced in RBO's Harare-studios in
English, Shona and Kiswahili. They were
designed to sensitize the rural and urban
poor to the existence, availability and
applicability of appropriate
technologies. The series also constructed
a forum for the cross-fertilisation of
ideas from around the region through an
introduction in each episode of a
technology and its usage in individual
countries of the region.
This
is RBO's most successful
multimedia-production, still downloaded
by users worldwide every other day. ... more
Another
24-episode series about community-based
management of natural resources called
"Kuchengetedza Zviwanikwa" -
"LIVING IDEAS" has been aired
on Radio 2 of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation in 1998, with overvoiced
versions in other African languages
simultaneously on air in Botswana, Zambia
and Namibia. This series had the
objective of passing on knowledge to the
grassroots about community-based natural
resources management by illustrating
various community initiatives and their
benefits. Rural communities from a
variety of countries in the Southern
African region were provided with a
chance to exchange ideas and experiences
so that they could learn from each other.
The radio series covered issues like
traditional knowledge and practice,
issues of legislation, capacity building,
and community participation.
This
multimedia-production involved, over a
period of 6 months, co-operation of 8
RBO-interns from 4 African countries
coupled with 7 interns from Germany. ... more
