Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Bongodox on Education Tour


Newsletter Week 31, August 2012.

Bongo Dox and the BDT and Kumbe partnership
Catherine Gathoni and Mathias Haase from Denmark arrived safely in Tukuyu, Mbeya in August. They will be assisting Kumbe throughout the education tour, which started 6 August 2012 and planned to end in October 2012. While Catherine is contributing with her experience from the Danish organisation Salaam Film & Dialog, Mathias is contributing with his knowledge with acoustic engineering and other practical matters.

Catherine and Mathias report that the co-operation between BDT and Kumbe is living to the spirit of a genuine partnership. Matters are discussed in an open forum between the members, and final decisions on how to put different solutions into practice are made by the board members of Kumbe.

Bongo Dox - education tour:
At the end of August, Kumbe will have visited 12 villages. The first three visits took place last week. Kumbe has shown their documentaries and discussed matters related to HIV and environmental issues in Mbambo, Masoko and Katembo villages. The music and dancing by the group Kisamakibo is used as an attraction tool, and once darkness has arrived, the documentaries are shown. Bongo Dox is yet to visit following villages, Mbeye one, Kopologwe, Ibililo, Mboyo, Simike, Ikama and Kibisi. In September, when the secondary school students are back from summer holidays, Kumbe will start the second part of the education tour.

The villagers are generally happy to see Bongo Dox. First and foremost, they are happy that an enjoyable event is taking place in their village - having them at the centre of attention. Secondly, they are happy to be given a chance to be heard about local problems and concerns. In fact some, when interviewed, use the opportunity to speak to the mass about proper behaviour related to environment and HIV/AIDS.

The chairman of each village is responsible for organising the gathering of the people, and each has received a letter informing on the date and timing of the event. However, the number and variety of people at the different events depends on location. With most youth, children and men participating at the events, it seems that many women are busy with housework. However in Masoko more women participated in the event than in Mbambo. The proportion of women participating will be observed throughout the education tour.

Progress:
Bongo Dox encountered some infantile challenges related to technicalities and layout of the scenery at the first viewing in Mbambo. However, as Kumbe is dedicated to progress. Evaluations are held after each viewing and solutions implemented accordingly in a professional manner. Solutions to the challenges in Mbambo were discussed the following day at a group meeting and successfully implemented at the second viewing in Masoko. Now that the technique is in place, the focus has shifted to improving presentation skills, questioning technique and project evaluation methods.

As the tour progress - there are more newsletters to come. For now, get a taste of The Education Tour by viewing the pictures taken in Mbambo and Masoko.