Making Waves: COMMUNITY MEDIA NETWORK
Stories of Participatory Communication
for Social Change
TITLE: Kenya Community Media Network (KCOMNET)
COUNTRY: Kenya
FOCUS: Networking, communication and Participation
PLACE: Thika, Eldoret, Ugunja, Kisii, Meru, Kiambu, Muranga, Kibwezi, Homabay and Nairobi.
BENEFICIARIES: A dozen grassroots organisations
PARTNERS: EcoNews Africa
FUNDING: Friedrich Ebert Sttiftung, Panos Institute, Ford Foundation, Conservation Development Fund (CDF-USA)
MEDIA: Training, print, radio
Nkirote (the girl's name) is still in school and hoping to come home for holidays. Kimaita, Nkirote's father is very keen on his daughter becoming a "mwari" (a stage between a girl and a woman). He goes around the village telling his friends about the impending "ceremony" because he does not want his daughter to continue being a "mukenye" (an uncircumcised girl).
Come the holiday and Nkirote comes home oblivious of the plans her father has for her. Her mum has no say in this matter but obviously supports her husband. A neighbour, Mugambi is a teacher and currently spearheading a campaign where girls go through a mock ceremony (where they are not cut) and are actually taken into seclusion and taught the importance and responsibilities of being a woman which results in a woman being respected by the community and vice versa.
Nkirote learns of her fate when people start visiting her home. Men are happy drinking "kathoroko" (local brew) and start singing circumcision songs as they are already in a festive mood. The women offer her words of encouragement and advise her not to fear for soon she will become one of them, a "grown up". Nkirote runs away and takes refuge at Mugambi's house where she confides in him of the "ceremony". Mugambi leaves her in his house and goes to Kimaita's house (Nkirote's father) where he addresses the guests on the dangers of female circumcision and gives them an alternative, which is the mock ceremony. He gives the example of his own daughter who went through the same mock circumcision ceremony. After a lot of arguments and explanations, the villagers agree that the ceremony should actually go ahead but there should be no physical cutting.They understand the dangers associated with cutting in this modern world.
They agree to go on with their celebrations, where Nkirote goes through the mock ceremony. Nkirote's parents also agree and she undergoes the ceremony, learns the values and get the education intended from this ceremony. An added value is that she has not been harmed by the cut.
Written by Jenifer Njiru of the Mutindwa Theatrix.
KCOMNET favours development-oriented, horizontal communication structures, which are owned and run by communities, as opposed to top-down communication structures. Community media reinforces the values of solidarity and participation, which are important elements in the development process. There is a clear potential for community media to promote people's participation in public affairs and discourse. Development involves the exploration of the natural environment by people. This must be done in a manner that takes care of earth and culture. People must be knowledgeable about their history, the needs of their community, and the constraints that limit the achievement of their aspirations.
Community media structures would fulfill the above by strengthening and empowering communities to become aware of new possibilities and options to address such needs and aspirations through the process of media interaction.
Over a dozen community groups have joined KCOMNET. These are a few:
- Five Centuries (Nairobi) is a group involved in civic education and using drama to convey knowledge on the Constitution.
- Kairi Young Star (Thika) is a group of entertainers from the Kikuyo community, who produce songs with social messages.
- Eldo Theatre Group (Eldoret) is the only theatre group performing in the Rift Valley and uses dance and songs to promote nutrition and AIDS prevention, among other topics.
- Ugunja Resource Centre (Ugunja) is a network of smaller groups involved in drama on STDs and AIDS and a library for youth.
- Puppetry Family Health (Homabay) addresses young people with issues of early pregnancy and STDs through string puppets. Dreams of Africa (Nairobi) is another theatre group using street children as actors.
- Igonga Mirror Tech (Kisii) group composes songs during performances to build stories that relate immediately to the audience.
- Mutindwa Theatrix (Meru)has tackled through drama the issue of female circumcision, educating audiences to perform a symbolic ceremony instead.
- Mumbi Theatric (Muranga) uses vernacular poetry, drama and songs to entertain and educate on health issues.
- Mangelete Community Project (Kibwezi) started as a women's communication resource centre and later became a pilot community radio project.
- Talking Calabash (Nairobi) is a music group using African instruments and composing songs on social issues.
- Slums Information Resource Centre (Nairobi) has a network of reporters and produces a community newsletter; they document their activity on video.
KCOMNET plans to increase group membership by the end of the year 20 as well as to conduct training at the District level using member groups as focal points.
The network is also embarking on greater advocacy for setting up community radio and television in Kenya, as well as networking with other stakeholders to push for a comprehensive overhaul of the current legal regime governing the media in Kenya.
A community-based medium is distinct from the mainstream media:
- It is not commercially motivated, and it is not state owned.
- It is participatory and action oriented, its main mission is community empowerment.
- It is free of outside interference from the state, as well as political and commercial sectors.
- It is funded by both the public and private sectors, as worked out by the communities involved.
Because community media enable marginalised communities to speak about issues that concern them at the local level, links are created between development, democracy and community media.
The Kenya Community Media Network (KCOMNET) was established in November 1996 during a subregional Community Media Workshop for Eastern and Southern Africa in Nairobi. The crucial role community media play in development was recognised, and participants from Kenya were in agreement that it was important to carry the process forward. Networking was identified as useful for harnessing and supporting efforts towards developing concrete programmes. Initially, the project was part of the larger institutional framework of EcoNews Africa which provided legal cover, office space, communications expenses and a secretariat.
KCOMNET's main contribution is facilitating networking of small community-based groups that were dispersed over the various provinces of Kenya. These groups had little or no support and lived very much in isolation. The network has contributed to facilitate exchanges among groups, and the training provided has strengthened internal organisation, as well as enhanced technical skills to improve performances at the community level. Training includes modules that enhance skills in a member's area of specialisation, as well as providing new skills aimed towards para-commercialisation and other sustainability measures. Consequently modules have been covered in group dynamics, community participatory production techniques, entrepreneurship and marketing techniques, and introduction into social communication campaigns, etc.
The groups have also had to identify their problems and how they perceive them being solved. They have been instrumental in identifying their training needs and are conscious of the changing environment. They are more confident in articulating their issues. Some are now capable of handling the Provincial Administration and can carry out their activities without being harassed by the administrative police. Most are currently involved in social campaigns on the different issues affecting their various communities. In a nutshell, they now realise that they are a kind of "communication channel" that is available to majority or grassroots people.
It is also important to mention that the network is now arecognised institution, capable of influencing policy-makers on decisions concerning the communication policies of Kenya. It's within this lobbying that the position paper "A Regulatory Framework for Community Broadcasting in Kenya" was presented to the government Task Force on Media Law in 1996. Later a Bill on Community Broadcasting was presented to the Attorney General and to parliamentarians for approval.
KCOMNET has prioritised its work along two crucial areas:a) Training and capacity building and b) lobbying for an overall regulatory framework for community broadcasting.
Training takes the form of workshops. KCOMNET core group members teach basic communication skills to members of the community communication groups. A needs assessment is taken and all the subjects identified are then used to help form a curriculum of courses already undertaken and those to be pursued. The workshops also help to formulate the course objectives.
The groups that are part of KCOMNET use a variety of methods and media to achieve their objectives: street theatre, songs, poetry, live music, puppets, radio listening groups and community newsletters are among the tools used more often.
The Network also organises an annual festival where all groups meet to exchange and share their experiences.
The concept of community media is not yet well understood by policy makers and communities of Kenya. KCOMNET believes that communities must be clearly defined especially given the political overtones that "tribes" have come to be associated with. In reality, there are different perceptions of "community", and it is important to have a common understanding of the term community, which usually refers to a geographical entity. A different notion of community relates to a group of people with common interests.
Volunteerism in community media and how long this should continue is an issue facing the Network. All the members of the KCOMNET core team including the coordinator are people who work for other organisations and therefore their availability to perform tasks at the agreed time is not always assured. The challenge is to have permanent staff to implement the Network's decisions at the national level.
Communication between the secretariat and the groups is not always prompt. This is because most groups do not have access to a telephone and have to rely on the postal services, which are not always efficient. Reporting back by some of the groups to the secretariat at times becomes problematic. Usually the process is slow and this hinders some activities being carried out on time and, as a result, these groups are unable to beat the deadline.
"Another challenge is to change the attitude of the society, so that community media can be given the place it deserves as opposed to treating the sector as just entertainers. This is especially relevant to community theatre where there is a tendency of treating the groups involved in theatre as clowns", says KCOMNET coordinator Grace Githaiga.
Information for this chapter was obtained in a meeting with KCOMNET coordinator Grace Githaiga in Nairobi, in March 2000, and further e-mail exchanges.
Community Media News Bulletin a newsletter that reached Issue No.6 in December 1999, has been another source of valuable information.
Also, EcoNews Africa Web site.
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