Isinya Citizen Voices takes off

By Bob Aston 

Free Citizen Journalism training has just been concluded at Isinya Maarifa Centre under the sponsorship of Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN). The exercise that begun on 25^th November 2013 drew over thirteen aspiring Citizen Journalists from Kajiado County.

Participants being taken through the services provided by ALIN

Citizen Journalism training was launched by ALIN in 2011.This initiative was aimed at promoting community Journalism by training young people in basic journalism skills such as News Writing, creative writing, Feature writing, interviewing, photojournalism, online journalism and Media Laws and Ethics.

“The training has given me basic Journalism skills which I will apply from January when I join University to study Journalism. I will ensure that I write a lot of articles to improve on my writing skills,” said Levis Selian.

The training is in line with ALIN’s strategic plan, known as ALIN 3 which sees ALIN becoming more directly involved in engaging the end users of its information in order to ensure that the information delivered through its Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania-based Maarifa Centres help end users to improve their livelihoods.

Participants writing their stories

The training has been anchored on ALIN’s core business of using ICT’s to improve the livelihoods of arid lands communities through the use of modern information and communication technologies.

“I look forward to enlightening the community on issues and events happening in Kajiado County,” said Kelvin Salaton.

The major motive behind ALIN’s approach in this kind of initiative was to create a responsible localized means of civic expression and social action amongst the communities, through the voices of their own reporters.

“I will sensitize farmers through my articles on modern farming techniques,” said Ruth Kikanga.

The training will enable the reporters to be able to look at news from different angles and in addition give them a deeper understanding of what is going on in the outside world.

Participants during the training session

Isinya Citizen Voices will be an advocacy and lobby blog that allows members of Isinya and the larger Kajiado County to voice the concerns that would otherwise be ignored by mainstream media. It will attempt to boost development and livelihoods of the residents by highlighting issues affecting the community.

ALIN has already formed a blog dubbed ‘Isinya Citizen Voices’ which gives the local communities a platform where they can share their own stories. It will also give them an opportunity to be part of a global community of men and women who are passionate about development news.

ALIN has so far conducted Citizen Journalism training in all its seven Maarifa Centres in Kenya.

Man nurses donkey injuries in Isinya

By Zaina Mwende

A young man is nursing serious injuries after he received several kicks from a donkey while drunk.The incident which happened on 26^th November 2013 took place in Olturoto village, Isinya District, Kajiado County.

The man commonly known as Kamau was rushed to Isinya District Hospital for treatment by well wishers. One of the eye witnesses said that the man was seen staggering to his house in the evening when he came across the donkey.

 “He saw the donkey along the way and kicked it.It seems like this infuriated the donkey which kicked him continuously. He fell to the ground but the donkey was on him again,” said an eye witness.

Screams from the man attracted the attention of the residents who came to his rescue. The residents allege that the man is known as an excessive drunkard. He is usually seen drinking illicit brews.

 According to the clinical officer in-charge, the man had suffered serious injuries but is now in stable condition.

“The patient has head and limb injuries. He is responding well to medication,” said the doctor.

The Area chief Mr. Stephen Ntirika, is advising youths to avoid drinking illegal brews but they should instead engage in meaningful activities that the government has put in place.

Eradicating illiteracy in Isinya District

By Simon Saitoti and Geoffrey Rumbe

Education has been an area of concern to most people of Isinya. High illiteracy in the area has led to slow economic growth. The government and Non-Governmental organizations in the area are currently reversing this trend.

Computer students at Isinya Maarifa Centre

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and Society for International Development (SID) report on exploring Kenya’s inequality released this month, some 31% of Kajiado County residents have no formal education. A total of 42% of Kajiado County residents have a primary level of education only while only 28% of Kajiado County residents have a secondary level of education or above.

Drastic campaigns carried out by both government and non governmental organizations have been sited in the area all in the quest to eradicate the so called enemy of development “illiteracy”. These organizations have devotedly supported in community awareness while others support pupils and students further their studies in addition to other services.

Organizations like Compassion International uses a holistic three- phase approach in Isinya. This includes Child survival programme, Child sponsorship programme, and Leadership development programme.

Isinya Multipurpose Development Training Institute has been instrumental in eradicating illiteracy among elderly people in Isinya. They have enabled many elderly people who never got an opportunity to study acquire both Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).

All these services are mostly for the purpose of excelling past education barriers in the community.

Opportunity for Training on Citizen Journalism Course

By Bob Aston

Do you have a passion for writing? Do you want to make a difference in your community? Then this opportunity is for you!!!

Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN), through Isinya Maarifa Centre (Isinya Maarifa Centre is along the Nairobi-Namanga highway and is hosted by the Masaai Rural Training Center) is inviting interested candidates for a Citizen Journalism training opportunity. 

The short writing course is aimed at training local reporters around Isinya on highlighting community local issues, development initiatives, farmer innovations and making their voices heard on issues affecting them through the Internet and other appropriate info dissemination channels. 

Requirements

1.      Passion to write articles.

2.      Form four leaver with at least a C (PLAIN ) in English and Kiswahili.

3.      ICT compliant. However, interested candidates with no ICT skills will be trained on the same skills.

4.      Must be willing to do voluntary writing for communities after the training.

Trainees at Isinya Maarifa Centre

If you are interested, please write an application letter or visit Isinya Maarifa Centre for registration. You can also contact the Field Officer, Monica Naisula on this number; 0725 638 817 or send an email to isinyamaarifa@alin.net expressing your interest before 23^rd November  2013.

Selection of the 15 trainees will be done of 1^st come basis. Selected participants will be informed accordingly. 

ALIN will meet all the training expenses and will award a certificate of participation to successful candidates after assessing their articles contributed over a period of three months.

How it works

By Bob Aston

ALIN invites people around Isinya Maarifa Centre and beyond on voluntary basis to learn basic article writing, photography and videography as approaches to telling stories to the world audience.

ALIN will provide a platform for the Citizen reporters to post their stories. The platform includes access to computers at Isinya Maarifa Centre and use of Isinya Citizen Voices (ICV) which has been developed for Citizen Journalism purposes.

The CReporters are then trained on use of Internet resources including, blogging, uploading and downloading content.

Everything that's posted on ALIN CJB must be vetted by a team of moderators who reviews the posted content and pulls material that is flagged by the community as in violation of CReporters guidelines. Depending on sensitivity of the story, the moderators will vet and undertake fact-checking and verifying the details of a story.

About us

By Bob Aston

This is a citizen journalism blog sponsored by Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN), an international non-governmental developmental organization. It is located in the heart of the community surrounding Isinya Maarifa Centre.

Some of the services provided by Isinya Maarifa Centre

Citizen Journalism Reporting (CJR) is an invitation for you to be part of ALIN BLOG's coverage of the stories you care about and an opportunity to be a part of a global community of men and women who are as passionate about development news as you are.

At ALIN we believe that looking at the news from different angles gives us a deeper understanding of what's going on. We also know that the world is an amazing place filled with interesting people doing fascinating things that don't always make the news. 

That's why CJR is full of tools to help you tell your stories using various approaches and discuss the issues that are important in Kajiado County. 

Together, ALIN can paint a more complete picture of the news and events happening in Kajiado County. We'd love for you to join us. Jump on in, tell your story and see how it connects with someone on the other side of the world.