Week 1: Introductions and understanding of collaboration

[Busi_Ngcebetsha]

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the Collaboration e-discussion. My name is Busi Ngcebetsha, I am the moderator for this e-discussion. You will learn more about me a little bit later.

This discussion is about collaboration for effective rural communication services. We want to look at how broadcasters and stakeholder groups can work together to produce better radio programs that reach more people in their rural communities. Examples of stakeholder groups are extension workers, women’s organizations, farmers organizations, youth organizations and agricultural researchers.

This is a 4-week discussion and each week we will have specific topics that we will be concentrating on. During the course of the discussion, we will cover these and other topics:

• The benefits of broadcasters and stakeholders collaboration.
• The challenges broadcasters and stakeholders face in collaborating with each other.
• What broadcasters and stakeholders should keep in mind for a radio program interview.
• Strategies for sustainable collaboration between radio broadcasters and stakeholders.
• How collaboration with stakeholder groups help radio programs address gender issues

These 4 weeks are a chance for us all to learn from each other. I would also like to introduce our resource people for this e-discussion, Dr Patrick Mphaka, Josephat Mwanzi, Thomas Zulu and Fridah Nkonde Mubanga They will tell us more about themselves as we move along.

For this first week, you need to do the following 3 things:

1.Click on the “reply” button and introduce yourself. Your introduction should include your name, where you are from, the name of your radio station or organization, and your role.

2.After introducing yourself, please share your understanding of collaboration for effective rural communication and tell us what exactly about “collaboration” you would like to discuss with others.

If there are other topics that are not related to collaboration you would like to discuss you can visit the Cafe make a post there.

Active participants who introduce themselves in week 1 and make at least two meaningful posts in weeks 2, 3 and 4 will receive an “Active Participant” certificate at the end of the discussion.

Cheers

Busi

[Donjosh]

My name is Joshua Baba Madaki
From Farman, Gidan Jatau Ward, Zango Kataf Local Government Area, Kaduna State, Nigeria.
I work for NENZIT COMMUNITY RADIO 100.5 FM.
I am the Station Coordinator carrying out other functions as Producer, News Editor, OAP, and Newscaster.

When we talk of collaboration, it means to agree by working in partnership with others who can be individuals, organisations, associations, experienced persons in the chosen fields we are embarking on such collaboration, bringing into play the processes of carrying out the partnership and or alliance towards achieving certain goals.

It is the desire to bring out a certain goals that prompts two or more people to come into agreement for an expected results.

For instance, Farm Radio and Media Organizations, NGOs with focus on Agric, Health etc have overtime put this medium we are using for education, knowledge and information sharing in other to help not just the farmers but to help educate broadcasters by bringing in the expertise of other partners in relevant fields, practicing farmers, extension officers, and governments in order to improve both their agricultural well-being which encompasses; best agricultural practices towards high yield, good health, best storage methods, improving nutritional values, and generally improving the living standard of a family as it were.

Therefore, when working with an expected delivery, it helps both partners to put in a working effort for the overall success of such collaboration.

[Denis]

Hello everyone.
My name is Danis Ngwenya from Zimbabwe. I reside in Bulawayo, the second largest city in Zimbabwe located to the south west of the country. I am currently the programs officer for a community radio initiative based in the city called Y-FM. We work with young people from the ages of 13-35 years.
I understand collaboration as the coming together of different institutions/ individuals who have the same goal, in order to work together to produce better results or to cover a larger space. Effective collaboration therefore can mean coming together to produce the best results in whatever field one could be working.

[Gboluma]

My name is Henry B. Gboluma, Jr. I’m the team leader at the Voice of Gbarpolu 102.3 FM located in Bopolu City, Gbarpolu County in Liberia.

As a Team Leader or Station Manager, I supervise the day-to-day planning and implementation of activities at the radio station. This includes programming, news gathering, broadcasting, outreach event, and fundraising.

I ensure that all producers do their programs in and timely air. Besides, I go all out to seek partnerships and also make sure that audience gets the best out of the radio in terms of content outputs.

Secondly, my understanding of collaboration is that it can play a significant role in enhancing active communication in rural communities.

Here are several ways in which collaboration can achieve this:

1. Establishing community networks: Collaboration allows individuals and organizations within rural communities to come together and form networks. These networks can facilitate the exchange of information, ideas, and resources among community members. By sharing knowledge and experiences, active communication can be fostered, enabling community members to stay informed and engaged.

2. Creating platforms for dialogue: Collaboration can lead to the creation of platforms that encourage dialogue and open communication within rural communities. These platforms can include town hall meetings, community forums, or online discussion groups. By providing spaces for people to share their thoughts, concerns, and ideas, collaboration promotes active communication and helps identify common challenges and potential solutions.

3. Encouraging participatory decision-making: Collaborative processes often involve community members in decision-making, ensuring that their voices are heard and their perspectives are considered. This participatory approach to decision-making strengthens active communication by fostering a sense of ownership and empowerment among community members. It encourages individuals to express their opinions, engage in constructive debates, and work collectively towards common goals.

4. Sharing resources and expertise: Collaboration allows rural communities to pool their resources, skills, and expertise. By leveraging the collective knowledge and talents of community members, active communication can be enhanced. For example, community members with specific skills or knowledge can offer training sessions or workshops to share their expertise with others. This sharing of resources and knowledge fosters learning, cooperation, and active communication among community members.

Finally, collaboration in rural communities can enhance active communication by fostering networks, creating dialogue platforms, encouraging participatory decision-making, and sharing resources.

By working together, community members can create a vibrant communication ecosystem that empowers individuals, strengthens community bonds, and addresses local challenges effectively.

My thoughts! Thanks for the opportunity to share.

[Mamsul]

My name is Mariama Sowe a Media Trainer from Freetown Sierra Leone.
Rural communication is an interactive process in which information, knowledge and skills that are relevant for development are exchanged between farmers. The main thrust of rural communication is to help in forming branding strategy of various products.
As a Media Trainer, I am looking forward to

• knowing the strategies involved to facilitate knowledge and skills to African farmers

• to learn about successes and challenges of rural communication from other colleagues in other countries.

• and also to know the way forward for rural communication in our communicaties and key factors to male rural communication easy.

Thank you

[Pmphaka]

Greetings colleagues.
My name is Patrick Mphaka, and I am one of the resource persons in this month-long discussion on Collaboration for effective rural communication services. I have been a broadcaster of radio and television programmes and a trainer of broadcasters in different countries, including Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Malawi.
My contribution to community radio has been research (and practice) on the role of community radio (and, of course, any radio station) in sustainable rural development. I am fortunate and humbled to be here with you all because I always gain a great deal of new knowledge by hearing/reading your contributions to the topic under discussion. I am Malawian based in Blantyre, Malawi.
I look forward to interacting with you all in the coming four weeks.

[Pmphaka]

I look at our topic: ‘Collaboration for effective rural communication services’ through the lens of Communication for Development (C4D) and Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) theories.

Through the lens of C4D, we look at how development themes are communicated to the targeted communities to achieve the intended ‘development’. The approach uses different communication formats, including radio. When using the radio, we play our role as broadcasters to communicate the issue. Considering that we are not experts in the topic (agriculture, health, education, food security, economy, etc.), our role as broadcasters is to present a conducive forum/environment where the experts have an opportunity to present their issues in a manner that the targeted audience can hear, and understand the information and put it into practice. When the audience has questions or needs clarifications, the broadcaster ensures that the source of information is available to provide the needed clarifications. In this scenario, the broadcaster ensures that they build a responsive (strong) collaboration with the concerned duty bearers and the intended audience to achieve the intended objective. Strong collaboration is essential to sustain the needed interaction between the duty-bearers and the community members until the community members start acting on the message.

When using the SBC theory, there are three spheres that the broadcaster needs to be aware of and address. These are the individual, the community, and the environment. For an individual to adopt positive behaviour, it must be acceptable and accessible for them to adopt, acceptable within their community, and the environment must support it. Again, based on this background, it is clear that the broadcaster needs to be strategically prepared to ensure strong collaboration among all stakeholders to achieve the intended behaviour change.

This is my initial contribution. I can clarify further as the days go by if needed.

[Busi_Ngcebetsha]

Hello @Donjosh @Denis @Mamsul @Gboluma

Welcome to our discussion platform. We are delighted to have you hear and we are looking forward to sharing experiencing and learning from our resource people and each other.

Welcome to our resource person @Pmphaka. Other resource people will still come and introduce themselves.

Cheers

[JosephRobi]

Hi every one.
My name is Joseph Robi. A radio presenter and a program producer.My current designation producer 1. I work with KBC Kisumu -Kuria service 100.9fm. The station is on for four hours that is from 10.00 am -2.00 pm on week days only.

Collaboration:
Collaboration is a working practice whereby individuals work together for a common purpose to achieve business benefit. Collaboration enables individuals to work together to achieve a defined and common business purpose.In our different communities each community has unique needs and demands. A ll this needs can be meant partial or fully through collaborations from different organizations.
In the case of good and current farming tips different Governments both locally and internationally have always put their efforts together in ensuring that there is sufficient food for the growing populations.A practical example is Farm radio international by partnering with rural radio communities through good farming practices food production has up-scaled.
Collaboration can be undertaken in different forms and can manifest in Health sector,Education,water,Environment,Mining,Agriculture,Construction and communications etc.
Thanks hoping for A healthy discussion.

[Busi_Ngcebetsha]

Hello @JosephRobi

Welcome to our discussion! We are delighted to have you on board. We trust you will learn something from the discussion and we will also learn from you. Thank you for sharing your understanding of collaboration and sharing examples.

Which country are you from?

[Busi_Ngcebetsha]

Good morning everyone

We are halfway through Week 1. We are delighted to know you all. If you have not said anything yet, we are waiting for you. Kindly introduce yourself and share your understanding of collaboration. You have until Friday to do this.

A friendly reminder, please use your real name when introducing yourself to make it is easy for us to issue a certificate, should you qualify for one.

Since we are still in Week 1, you are allowed to invite colleagues, broadcasters and stakeholders, anyone you feel will benefit from the discussion. Your participation is very important to all of us, we get to know you as a person and your thoughts and beliefs on collaboration. We are still going to learn more from your experiences.

Remember to share other issues related to collaboration you would like us to cover in this e-discussion.

As you share your understanding and thoughts on collaboration, our resource persons @Pmphaka @ThomasZ, Josephat Mwanzi and Fridah Nkonde Mubanga will comment where necessary and respond to questions that come up.

Cheers

[Charles_LubaoFM]

Thank You so much Ms. @Busi_Ngcebetsha for another excellent opportunity to articulate issues of concern to our productivity as media stations. * I am Charles Oduor, Director of Programming and Operations at Lubao FM in Kakamega City, the Republic of Kenya. ****Collaborations ** is a crucial aspect in any developing entity or community or group where individual or corporate efforts and resources converge and are realigned towards a specific unique objective with an end goal either in the short term or long term within a specified timeline. Thank you

[Mamsul]

Collaboration can refer to a patnership, union geared towards producing or making something together. Collaboration can take place between two people or many people, strangers or best friends.
To collaborate is to commit to the possibility of producing an outcome greater than one that would be developed in a silo.
When collaborating, we need to consider the following.
-cooperation
-collegiality
-trust
-fairness

• accountability

For example as a Media Trainer,if I want to collaborate with broadcasters to do any campaign or work together, they need to be informed and consent to the idea. Then we work together to achieve our goal

[JoeWacha]

Hello. My name is Joe Wacha. I work as a Station Manager and Director for radio Etoil A Karamoja located in Karamoja region, north eastern Uganda. I appreciate all the previous contributors. My understanding of collaboration is that it is a process where two or more individuals or even groups with a common interest get to work together towards achieving a common goal. In this regards, I am most interested in learning how to use the currently available and accessible options to effectively collaborate to produce good media content. Thank you.

[ThomasZ]

Good morning everyone!

My name is Thomas Zulu. I am one of the resource persons in this discussion on Collaboration for effective rural communication services.

I have been a broadcaster of radio and television programmes. I am currently a media trainer and working in communication for development. I have been in this industry for 23 years and still counting.

I am excited to be with you all. I am Zambian based in Lusaka, Zambia.

Looking forward to learning more and also sharing my experiences in this colIaboration on this platform

[Charles_LubaoFM]

Thank You so much Ms. @Busi_Ngcebetsha for another excellent opportunity to articulate issues of concern to our productivity as media stations. * I am Charles Oduor, Director of Programming and Operations at Lubao FM in Kakamega City, the Republic of Kenya. ****Collaborations ** is a crucial aspect in any developing entity or community or group where individual or corporate efforts and resources converge and are realigned towards a specific unique objective with an end goal either in the short term or long term within a specified timeline. Thank you

[JosephRobi]

Hi Busi.
My name is Joseph Robi fromMarket/mlimani ward, Kisumu central sub county,Kisumu county, Nyanza region, Kenya.
I’m A presenter and A producer for kbc kisumu -kuria service 100.9fm.My role is to present news and program production.
A sensitive subject or issue is what is likely to cause disagreement or make people angry or upset in general.An example GBV, politics,sterio types,gender,disability,religion and race/ethnicity.
In our station we use friendly terms to refer to certain group of people e.g People living with disability not a cripple, a blind, a dumb, a deaf, and albinism. When it comes to the healthy maters.e.g Those who are HIV positive we do not say suffering with HIV rather say Living with HIV and any other terminal diseases we always find a way on how to harmonize.
Regards
Robi
Presenter/producer
kbc kisumu kuria service.

[Busi_Ngcebetsha]

Hello @JoeWacha @ThomasZ @Charles_LubaoFM

We are delighted to have you on board and we are looking forward to learning more from each other.

Enjoy

[Donjosh]

By working together we achieve greatly. An adage says “those who eats alone die alone”