On the 18th of January 2018, Mobile Journalism Africa was launched. At the time, we were final year students in Moi University. Unknown to us, we’d start a journey of storytelling that’d inspire many in the journalism space beyond the precincts of the campus in Kesses. Five years ago, Mobile Journalism was born. Five years ago, our dream to tell the untold African stories, and to equip more young people with the skill to tell stories was born. A dream deeply rooted in changing how African stories are told. Five years ago, and even more today, we believed Our Stories Are Best Told By Us! Five years ago, when we started, telling stories using the smartphone did not make sense to people. Looking back at where we have come from, we can only be grateful. We are happy because now, more and more people are using the smartphone to tell stories. We are glad because we have continued to impact more communities, journalists, content creators and newsrooms to embrace this new way of storytelling. We laud the Media Council of Kenya for fronting the recognition of the use of the smartphone, by accredited journalists to tell stories. With your support, we have told stories and trained more storytellers who have gone ahead to produce stories that would have been left untold. Solution stories, stories of change makers across the continent. We are proud because together, we are retelling the African narrative, one story at a time! We know this will take time, but we sincerely appreciate all the effort being put in to realize this dream!
Over the five years we have met, trained and inspired a host more young journalists to join the #MoJo movement. We have witnessed what a dream sowed in the right minds can do. Many have attended and benefited from the trainings we have held, from journalism students in universities, to journalists in newsrooms. The stories they have gone on to produce are testament to the immense possibilities that come with venturing in this space.
The borders that were initially just within campus have now expanded to the rest of our beautiful continent, Africa. We keep growing that network through training and collaborations in producing riveting stories of home-grown solutions to the different problems we have in our respective countries. Shining our lenses on solutions stories in our quest to change how our stories are told.
We have friends and partners in different institutions and countries, many who have believed in the dream. Disciples of the mobile journalism gospel who are charting their own paths in this craft, and leading the way in telling untold African stories in their own unique ways.
As we mark our 5th anniversary, we remain committed to the vision we had from the beginning. We remain steadfast in our pursuit to change how Africa’s narratives are told. We are continually reminded that we, alone, cannot achieve this dream and that is why you are a crucial part of this journey. We’ll walk this path together as we plan on intensifying our trainings and building a more connected network of storytellers. We will be honored to share your stories, so keep creating and feel free to share them.
Today, we celebrate everyone who believed in us; our followers, partners, individuals and organizations that we have collaborated with in this journey. We are because you are. We believe we can do more, together. Together, we can change how the stories of our individual countries across Africa are told. You have the power in your hands to do just that and more. Truly, Our Stories Are Best Told By Us, and mobile Journalism will get us to achieving this goal, faster.
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