First graduation celebrations

The Community Media 4 Kenya (CM4K) research, student and staff exchange programme with Rongo University started three years ago under the leadership of Dr Peter Day, Senior Lecturer in media in the University of Brighton’s College of Arts and Humanities, and Professor Jerry Agalo, Dean of Rongo’s School of Information Communication and Media Studies.

The programme, based on community media and communications, provides material support in the form of books and media equipment from the University of Brighton to Rongo University and for community media/capacity building workshops in the community.

Students from the University of Brighton’s BA(Hons) Media Studies course finance the support with fund raising activities including bake sales, quiz nights, sponsored activities, student gigs and an annual winter raffle.

Some of the first cohort of graduating media students at Rongo engaging in community media training

Dr Peter Day

For the past three years students and staff from both institutions have visited each other’s country and engaged in community media research and learning activities.

Dr Day has been developing the partnership by running intensive community media modules at Rongo, supervising a PhD thesis on the Mediation of Intra-tribal violence and performing as an external examiner for an MSc Information Systems thesis at Rongo University, which recently was awarded its university charter.

Others who have benefited from the collaboration in the Rongo area include small-scale farmers, youth entrepreneurs and local gold miners who have been trained on how to use community media to create awareness about their activities and to expand market demands for their products.

Dr Day said: “CM4K seeks to encourage the engagement of community citizens with academic students in learning partnerships for the common good.”