Happy to learn by doing things practically

The training ended well on Wednesday with speeches and a group photo session. After completing the assignments on gas in Mtwara and the challenges to press freedom in Tanzania, the participants also published they final posts on what they thought of the training, was it useful for them, did it fulfil their expectations, and what challenges there were, or other needs for improvement for upcoming training events.

Clement Shari says that the training was good and he was especially happy to learn new skills by doing things practically. Musfata Leu says that the training was very important for him as he got new technical advice on how to write investigate stories by making use of the internet.

Grace Ruhinda explains the last day’s assignment which took almost the whole day to complete. “But in the long run it was successful and most of the participants could come up with a great online investigative story.”

Marko Gideon says that his expectation to learn more advanced search tools was surpassed. Nehemiah Rubondo also says that his expectations were fulfilled, but he adds that the training left him eager to know more about investigative internet journalism. Zulfa Musa says that she is also looking forward to study more.

Canadian journalist Adam Bemma showing a point to
Ramadhani Siwayombe during the training on Tuesday.

Habibu Mawenya was especially happy to learn to link from his blog to the original source – in order to avoid plagiarism. He believes the training was very useful to his students and all the staff at The Arusha East African Training Institute.

Asked to make suggestions on how to improve the training, most participants wished that the training would last some days longer. Others said that more participants could be invited to the training or that this kind of training should be arranged all over Tanzania so that every journalist will benefit.

This time we also experienced some problems with bad computers, slow network and power cuts, which are all still a challenge for most colleagues in Tanzania.

For more comments and reflections, see also the blog posting from the training and interview with Rotlinde Achimpota by Canadian journalist Adam Bemma who assisted us in the class during the training. Many thanks to Adam for joining in with a helping hand!

Many thanks also to Gasirigwa Sengiyumva from MISA Tanzania for facilitating the whole training. Thanks also to Antious Gerazi for the challenging task of providing IT support at the venue. And a special thank to the catering team for the delicious stews and rice and fresh salads at lunch time.

The next internet trainings will be in Swahili language and conducted by Tanzanian trainers. The trainings will take place in June and July in Moshi, Musoma and Sumbawanga.