April- project update

Since Ally has returned from Kenya and to reality, the project has slowed down a bit but it is once again gaining momentum.

At the beginning of February, Ally and Wambua- our GAPS Kenya staff member- visited several of the rural girls boarding schools where the magazine will be distributed. 

Our meetings with the schools firstly offered an introduction to the principal and teachers about the project and we then spoke to the schools 'journalism, media or writing clubs' which, at most schools, consisted of approximatey 30 students all of whom have a strong interest in writing and journalism. Needless to say, they were all very excited about the project proposal,  offered their ideas on what kind of content they'd like to see in the magazine and were also enthusiatic at the idea of producing their own content which could potentially be included in the magazine.

Ally also had a question and answer session with the students regarding studying and working as  a journalist and also a brief introduction to writing news or feature articles. From this, we have decided that for the next component of thee project we'd like to develop a journalism and writing module to be given to the students at these schools as they obviously have a strong interest in this area but lack the resources to develop and hone their craft.

We also had a project launch dinner with the students from KIMC, our editors Belinda and Wambua as well as another of our editors, Kwendo Opanga, who also shared some words of wisdom and inspiration with the students.

At the moment, we're dealing with some issues that have since arisen and we are finalising the content for the first edition which we hope to distribute by mid- May.

Phase 2: Module Training Session

On Tuesday 26th January Ally and Wambua met with the KIMC students for a training session using the resource packs developed by Melbourne University students in November 2009. The team of seven were excited to get started and although everyone was initially quite quiet, the group warmed up to one another and the discussions and brainstorming commenced.

Following initial introductions, we went right into the module material covering our major areas of health, social issues and human rights, business and entrepreneurship and journalism skills. Potential article ideas from these topics were also discussed as well as our new broader focus on other issues such as adolescence health, mental health and career pathways.

We then started brainstorming ideas for magazine titles. Some of these included; 'Girls did you know...', 'Diva' and 'Pretty, Hot, And, Talented GALS' (aka PHAT GALS). These ideas were all great but in the end we decided to use the sheng (kiswahili slang) 'G- Amini' which can be translated to 'believe in yourself.'  We all agreed that this title would be both appealing to young readers and also embody the core idea of the magazine; to empower and encourage young women.

After this, we began brainstorming and discussing articles for the first edition in which the key feature article will focus on a health topic. The content for the first edition so far includes;

• a major feature article on 'adolescence pregnancy' followed be case studies and interviews with young women about their experiences
•  an article on an area of women's reproductive health
•  an article on verbal, sexual and physical harassment
• a profile of Beth, one of our contributors

There is also scope for other articles to be included in this edition and ideas include; the new Kenya constitution that is currently being drafted, an article about studying and an article on highschool strikes.

The meeting concluded with setting the deadline for drafts to be submitted and planning the date of the 'G-Amini' Magazine launch party.

We are all very excited that the project has been successful thus far and look forward to watching it develop and become a reality over the next few months.

Dec/Jan Project Update

Phase 2: Training workshops with KIMC

Since last update, the modules have been completed and on the ground work has kicked off!

In December, Dharnae travelled to Kenya and began consolidating our partnership with the Kenyan media college; Kenya Institute for Mass Communication (KIMC). Following a meeting Beth, one of the senior students, it was decided that 10 female students would participate in the training  workshops and write the first edition of the magazine.

At the moment Ally is in Kenya continuing the ground work. The module workshops are scheduled to be held between 25^th - 31^st January with article writing to commence following this. An editorial team is also being formed consisting of Belinda; a development consultant in Kenya, a lecturer from KIMC, Beth; a student from KIMC, Wambua; a GAPS Kenya representative and Ally; a GAPS Australia representative to overlook the editing phase of the newsletter and select the articles for each edition.

The magazine's distribution has slightly altered since work in Kenya has commenced. To ensure that the magazine is reaching the desired audience and thus having the greatest impact we are initially targeting two rural girls secondary schools. These schools, one of which is Moi Girls Secondary School in Maasailand, have approximately 600 students from 14-20 years of age who come from various parts of Kenya and have sufficient knowledge of both English and Kiswahili. A brief presentation will be given to the secondary school girls prior to the magazine's distribution in order to present the project and establish a more personal rapport with the students and school community. The newsletter will also, as originally planned, be distributed to local NGO's, health centres and orphanages within the Ngong community.

We hope that by altering our initial plan the newsletter will target the desired social groups, allow us to easily receive feedback and potentially create a model that can then be applied to other parts of Kenya for the magazine's expansion.