Rwandalust
After a Christmas and New Year characterised mainly by staring at my watch waiting for the night shift to end, i’m finally enjoying the reward that I (debatably) deserve.
No, not the promised extra Christmas pay, but a three-week trip to Rwanda, to assist with the training of journalists at the Great Lakes Centre for Strategic Studies.
The GLCSS is a London based think tank with offices in Kampala and Kigali, which reports on the political, economic and security situation in Africa. At the moment it’s a relatively small organisation operating out of Kigali, Rwanda, but they produce some fine analytical work and are looking to expand in the not-too-distant future.
My job is to train the Rwandans who work here in journalism techniques, which is no easy task given that I only left Cardiff Journalism School six months ago.
The tutors who awarded me my fairly average marks at Cardiff would be spluttering into their milky tea if they knew I’d been entrusted with teaching journalistic techniques, and I can’t really blame them. But let them splutter all they like, because we’re actually making some real progress here.
At first I worried it would seem highly patronising to give classes to people who are older and more experienced than me, simply on the basis that I work for a British daily newspaper.
But three days into it and we’re rolling along at a rate of knots, discussing proper editing procedure, structuring of articles and interview techniques, amongst other things.
At the moment, the Rwandan contingent in the office numbers just four: Faustin, James, Fidel and Asimwe. All of them go about their work with enthusiasm and no shortage of raw talent and they seem more than willing to let a 23-year-old upstart like me make suggestions.
This afternoon i’ll be introducing them to blogging, so watch this space for links to their new sites.
In the meantime, check out the GLCSS newsletter to see some of their work.
After a Christmas and New Year characterised mainly by staring at my watch waiting for the night shift to end, i’m finally enjoying the reward that I (debatably) deserve.
No, not the promised extra Christmas pay, but a three-week trip to Rwanda, to assist with the training of journalists at the Great Lakes Centre for Strategic Studies.
The GLCSS is a London based think tank with offices in Kampala and Kigali, which reports on the political, economic and security situation in Africa. At the moment it’s a relatively small organisation operating out of Kigali, Rwanda, but they produce some fine analytical work and are looking to expand in the not-too-distant future.
My job is to train the Rwandans who work here in journalism techniques, which is no easy task given that I only left Cardiff Journalism School six months ago.
The tutors who awarded me my fairly average marks at Cardiff would be spluttering into their milky tea if they knew I’d been entrusted with teaching journalistic techniques, and I can’t really blame them. But let them splutter all they like, because we’re actually making some real progress here.
At first I worried it would seem highly patronising to give classes to people who are older and more experienced than me, simply on the basis that I work for a British daily newspaper.
But three days into it and we’re rolling along at a rate of knots, discussing proper editing procedure, structuring of articles and interview techniques, amongst other things.
At the moment, the Rwandan contingent in the office numbers just four: Faustin, James, Fidel and Asimwe. All of them go about their work with enthusiasm and no shortage of raw talent and they seem more than willing to let a 23-year-old upstart like me make suggestions.
This afternoon i’ll be introducing them to blogging, so watch this space for links to their new sites.
In the meantime, check out the GLCSS newsletter to see some of their work.
posted by Rob Davies at 11:17 AM
2 Comments:
It must be really interesting. Have never done nay journalism at all, and trying to create newspapers, or are they "re-learning" after a period of shutdown due to everything they've been through?
Most have studied journalism at one time or another, and many of them have not 'been through' the genocide, as they were born in Uganda and returned to Rwanda with their families after 1994.
In some ways it seems a bit patronising to be 'teaching' people who have already worked as journalists. But the reality is that the standard of reporting here is not particularly high, so any advice i can humbly offer tends to go a lot further than it would back home.
They're great lads too, really willing and very friendly. Just wish i could stay longer.
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