THE JOY OF MENTORING

Introduction:

The Tanzania Media Foundation’s 2015-2018 strategic plan, centres on Strengthening Media for Accountability, of which two of its basic objectives are concerned with increasing the professional capacity of media organisations and stakeholders as well as the quality and diversity of investigative and public interest journalism products in the media sector.

As part of its commitment to transparency and impartiality, creativity and innovation, quality and learning, TMF has a mentoring programme which gives people the opportunity to share their professional and personal skills and experiences and to grow and develop in the process. It is a relationship based on encouragement, mutual trust, respect and a willingness to learn and share. The overall objective is to link TMF grantees to media experts/specialists so that the latter group can pass on their knowledge, skills and competences to the former group.

It is under this commitment that UNESCO and TMF commissioned me to represent them in mentoring local radio staff to help them increase the professional capacity as well as the quality, quantity and diversity of investigative and public interest journalism products.

Under the mentorship programme, UNESCO/TMF assigned me to mentor on its behalf FIVE community radios. Three in Zanzibar -Mtegani FM, Tumbatu FM Radio in Tumbatu Island and Zenj FM and two in Pemba -Mkoani FM radio in the North, Micheweni FM radio in the South.

It was a learning experience for both the staff at the radio stations and myself. I wrote down some of my experiences to give an overview of the situation on the ground - with a light touch.

Mtegani FM:

I arrive and take off my shoes. By now I have realised that in FM stations you work barefoot. I enter and find all the staff seated on the floor and a lonely chair has been placed there for me. Because I need to create rapport, communicate and engage, I decline the chair and sit on the floor.

The introductions start. There are ten people, each speaking at length and at a pace that makes me want to tell them to edit themselves but dare not as this is bonding stage. When anyone expounds the advantages of sitting on the floor, please consider the age factor and the length of time in doing so because by the time it is my turn to introduce myself, my back is screaming. So I push myself up on my knees but the floor is too hard and am forced to sit down again but instead of stretching my legs as before, I pull them and wrap my arms around my knees and inform who I am and why I am there. My request for questions yields no responses and so I get into Transparency, Accountability and Good Governance. The silence and blank faces do not deter me and I move on to ask what they know about programme making and formats. Again I draw a blank. This means an energizer is needed so I ask them to stand up and I inform them we will be travelling to different destinations with an item. For example, I give Rose letter M. She will say I’m travelling to Malawi and I will be carrying Mangoes, etc.

I ask a staff member to start me off with a letter and he says F. So I say I will travel to Finland and carry Fanta. I point to anotherand I tell him M. He says Mombasa, I say you need to name a country, he says Mogadishu, I say country, he says Morogoro. We are now laughing. So I give him Mali and ask him what he will travel with and he says, ‘aah basi nitachukua Mali zangu nisafiri nazo’. We laugh and we sit.

I go back to producing a magazine. And one informs me, ‘ticha hiyo mbona unatuacha yaani majadiliano, nyimbo na eti sauti za gari au pikipiki yote pamoja, ticha hebu anza tena’. I look at the expectant faces and Haleeeeluya! I get inspired and ask them whether they like Pilau. I get nods and grins. And so I ask what ingredients are needed and the replies come in fast, ‘mchele, maji, viungo, mbatata, saumu, vitunguu maji’. I ask whether we put all these in one go and with heads shaking one informs me that, ‘unaanza kwa kutayarisha mahitaji yako halafu ndo unaanza kupika na kuweka kimoja na kingine hadi vyote, mwisho mchele na unamalizia na maji kwa kipimo.’ Great I say, and that is what a radio magazine is, you choose a topic, you plan how you will do it and what you will put in it one after the other with your script leading the way until you have it all together, enjoyable to your listeners as it was to you in the preparation. And one says it all, ‘kwa hiyo ticha, unaa maana makala yako unaweka vikoromebwezo, yaani unaifanya tamu kama pilau.’

They’ve got, that’s what I’d like to believe. I dare not think whether they’ll do it. 

Mkoani FM:

Arriving at the radio station was a relief after being in a car for an hour and a half. And because the chairman of the radio station’s governing board had heard me during my broadcasting days he had told the staff that I’m a well-known radio personality and they should all be present to welcome me.  What a pleasant surprise. The rest was not.

The introductions over and into Transparancy Accountability and Good Governance and, ‘ticha samahani, hapo juu sana, shuka kidogo’.I think I’m being asked to lower the presentation only to be corrected, ‘hiyooo uwazi, uwajibikaji na utawala bora, hebuu tuelezee tena ni vipii’ I get it, they don’t have a clue. I take as a example their radio station and how it will work better if these three are taken into account and then move to the bigger picture to relate to issues of the provision of health services, education, their environment and gender equality.Then, ‘yaaani tuangalie vitu vinavyofanyika na tutangaze ili watu waandamane kama haviendi sawa’ Not like that but nearly there.  But before I go further, the chair, who is a retired teacher, stands up to explain - try training with the Chair of the governing board asking most of the questions and constantly intervening. I was patient and the fact he was there every day, means no one should ever say I’m impatient.

I ask for the ladies. As I’m about to put on my shoes I’m informed that I will find sandals in the toilet. I’m directed to a door that has a piece of cloth as its handle. Untying the cloth I walk into this dark room and see the sandals just at the door. I put on these blue-brown sandals, the brown denoting the accumulated dust while blue is the original colour. I avoid thinking of who has worn them and hitch my dress and go backwards to a hole. Holes belonged to my village days – I’ve been proved wrong. I manage to position myself and I go down, oooh my knees – cursing is bad and so instead I call out to UNESCO and TMF. I finally slowly stand up with my knees cracking ...oooh!. I go out, latch back the door and head for my water bottle. As I wash my hands I know I won’t drink the water as it will remind me of that place and also make me go there again. Once is enough.

I return to the room and before going in to the next session ask them to stand up for an energizer. I ask them to mention four regions in the mainland. With confusions of the regions and towns we finally get Dodoma, Arusha, Mwanza and Dar es Salaam. So I go showing, head, shoulders, knees and toes and tell them these will correspond with Dodoma, Arusha, Mwanza and Dar es Salaam. I tell them that one of the traits of a good journalist is listening. I get nods and the smiles. I start off with Dar es Salaam and they all put their hands on their head, because I had done so, I tell them they should listen because Dar es Salaam corresponded with their toes. They laugh and I go in the right order and touch my toes and say Dodoma. Few bend some are undecided, none get it right. We laugh and sit for the next session – Investigative Journalism. ‘Ehe ticha, ndio habari za uchokonozi sio?’ asks one

Great! Understanding at the first go - things can only get better. The key is to be Optimistic.

Tumbatu FM:

I walk into the sea to get into the boat.  My height is such that before I even reach the boat I am wet. I mean wet….wet into my body parts. By the time I enter the boat I’m dripping wet. I sit and get out my lemon. I’m allergic to movement while on the sea and I’ve been authoritatively informed that squeezing the lemon and smelling it will keep my food in its place. After thirty nerve wrecking minutes with the lemon stuck to my nose I cross over to the other side. And there again, I get into the sea and get wetter. I put my lemon back for the return journey and sit down to put on my shoes. I head inland and people are looking at me. Surely, I think, they can’t believe I have peed myself,afterall I’m wet up to my waist. I reach the district office and meet my mentees. What a way to introduce oneself, but hey, I am there and so let us begin, at least the dripping had stopped.

We get into class and we get started. We introduce ourselves. But the salt….it is disturbing. It is in areas that should not be having salt and so I get creative. I sit and stand and walk about talking about journalism and their role. But I get no relief. I then ask for the ladies, and in there I find no water. I go out to ask for water and am told there is no water on that day. I was once told if you ignore pain it goes away. I did that and continued with Transparency, Accountability and Good Governance. I then ask them to stand up and so as to shake my body and stop the itching, I ask them to repeat after me, ‘ I have a ball, I put it here, I pepeta’ and I urge them to pepeta. They enjoy that but it has not helped me. I ask them to sit.

I go into Investigative Journalism and there I got into my creativity mode again – walking, sitting and standing. Walking round, I engage and encourage them to be curious, to know what is happening around them and in the world, for example, which great leader has died over the weekend? And I get blank faces, I say, think. And finally someone says, ‘kuna yule babu mwenye madevu kafaaa’  andI ask what is his name and where has that happened and the answer is, ‘aaah hilo sijui lakini wamtaja saana’.  I’m supposed to be patient and as I was thinking how much of that one needs, the electricity takes a break and I’m told, ‘ndio haurudi tena mpaka saa kumi na mbili.’

There is a God. I pack, and then I remember, I have to get into the sea to return.

Tumbatu FM.