In this posting, I will list some of the fact-finding exercises we have done during the first two days of the training, starting with a warm-up of some more simple research in order to activate our brains and minds to the more challenging fact-finding exercises.
To find out the population of Iringa Urban District, the phone number of the Media Council of Tanzania and the street address of the Embassy of Finland in Dar es Salaam were yet easy tasks. Populations, geographical and political details and such can usually be found in a Wikipedia article that you would reach just by searching for the name of the place or country. Links to contact information are usually found on the top of the website at the right end of the page, or in a column on the left side of the page, or at the bottom of the page.
The task to find out who is the president of Sweden was a bit more difficult as the country is a monarchy and has a king – with no political power though. The prime minister is the head of the government, but even finding the name of the current prime minister Stefan Löfven was a bit tricky as the Google search was still full of photos and links to Fredrik Reinfeldt who was the previous prime minister until October last year.
Some other assignments were even more challenging for a warm-up, like what president Jakaya Kikwete exactly said at the inauguration of the new National Archives in Dodoma last Wednesday. The direct quotes of the president were found by narrowing the search to last week only and also searching in Swahili language only as he was most probably speaking in Swahili and not English.
Later on, the participants chose one topic out of three given options and took some more time to write and publish a short story about the topic.
The first assignment option was to find out what is Smart Kigali. It’s an initiative by the capital of neighbouring Rwanda, which is now offering free wireless internet in public places and public transport all through the city. Part of the plan is to donate smart gadgets also to poor citizens to assist and encourage them to access the web.
The second option was to search for information about Anne Kansiime, the Ugandan TV comedian, and how she made use of the internet in launching her career.
The third story option was to find out what is common between Lupita Nyong’o, the Kenyan actress and Oscar Award winner, and Ugandan female chess champion Phiona Mutesi. An upcoming film is the correct reply, starring Lupita Nyong’o and telling the story of how a girl from one of the worst slums in Kampala rose to become chess master.
Some managed to publish their stories today and others will follow tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment