Hello Africa,
Happy New Year from all of us at Mobile Journalism Africa.
We are also honored to inform you that Mobile Journalism Africa turns 4 today.
We are grateful for all the support, and the belief that you have had for and in us respectively. For everyone who has let us into their lives, allowed us to tell their stories—through their eyes—to the world, we are eternally thankful. Your stories continue to inspire other people across Africa and the world at large. We wish to thank those who have trusted us to train them in this craft of smartphone storytelling and mobile journalism. May you continue growing in the craft; keeping the torch aflame, to inspire more to tell stories across Africa. To all our prized partners and supporters, friends and everyone who has held our hands in any way, we are short of words to express our appreciation. Join us in this common quest to change how Africa’s narrative is told. Welcome aboard this sailing towards an Africa whose stories are told by Africans themselves.
We remain true to our vision: to equip young storytellers in Africa with skills they can utilize to tell stories using their smartphones. Our mission, since the launch on the 18th of January 2018, has been to be the leaders in storytelling in Kenya and Africa, through mobile journalism by empowering people to tell their own stories with the simplicity of their mobile phones while upholding high standards of professionalism. We are committed to working even harder towards realizing our vision and mission this year and beyond, but we cannot do that without you.
We acknowledge the challenges that 2021 posed to all of us, that notwithstanding, we are grateful that we have all made it here. We were able to run a series of activities throughout 2021. We managed to train young people: content creators, journalists and other creatives from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania on mobile journalism and smartphone storytelling in general. We partnered with different institutions in the film and media space: institutions of higher learning, to further encourage and inspire young film makers, and storytellers to produce more authentic African films, stories on mobile.
Over the four-year period that we have been in existence, we have managed to reach 2000 individuals in training: university students, content creators, journalists within Kenya, the East African region and from across Africa. We have also been able to tell the stories of young change makers from across the continent and at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, stories of resilience and acts of kindness, and local solutions that different individuals were creating to cushion their communities from the effects of the global pandemic. We have also had the rare opportunity of working with partners from across the globe, from home here in Kenya to influencing the creation of Salone Messenger, a Mobile Journalism outfit in Sierra Leone, to partnering with other MoJos in Ghana, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, South Africa, Sudan and Uganda. We purpose to grow this network of like-minded individuals and organizations further this year.
As we start the new year, we purpose to continue in our pursuit of changing how Africa’s narrative is told. We wish to carry you along as we [re]tell Africa. We hope to conduct more mobile journalism training across our African borders, to equip more young people with skills on how to tell stories, one story at a time. We will not tire in sharing opportunities, holding the hands of up and coming storytellers, and in spreading the MoJo gospel. We strongly believe that Our Stories Are Best Told By Us and as such, we hope to work together, as Africans, and tell the untold stories from our different countries. There’s a lot more good happening in our continent, many innovative solutions that are home grown, many inspiring stories to be told. Let’s go out and tell them and bring an end to the stereotypes the world has of Africa.
It’s a happy 4th anniversary for us, and our story goes on for you are all part of it.
Join our growing network, where we share MoJo stories, and connect with other MoJos from across the continent and the globe, share MoJo resources and opportunities on our discord channel. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
