About Us

Principal Investigator: Dr Peter Day – School of arts & Media, University of brighton

Before moving into Academia, I worked and volunteered for a range of community organisations during the 1980s and worked for 3 years in local radio with BBC Radio Sussex. For the past 30 years I have either been studying or teaching in Higher Education. I graduated in 1993 with a 1st Class Honours degree in Library & Information Studies and then went on to gain my PhD in a community informatics study of the Network Society – which comprised a critical comparative study of 14 community telecentres/telecottages in the UK and Scandinavia.

This led to a commission by IBM and the Community Development Foundation (CDF) to research and report, with Kevin Harris from the CDF, on community ICT centres in the UK. Later, the Open Society Foundation commissioned me as a consultant on community technology developments in Hungary. I was Principal Investigator on a People at the Centre of Communication & Information Technologies Programme, research project, entitled Community Network Analysis project, funded by the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC). This project investigated the communications structure and behaviour in a digitally excluded community and its engagement with ICTs when given the opportunity. I have also led on a number of smaller community informatics research projects, e.g. the Community Network Action project funded by the Brighton & Sussex Community Knowledge Exchange programme.

I played a key role in founding 1) the Sussex Community Internet Project; 2) Community Informatics Research Network; 3) Public Sphere Project and more recently; 4) Community Media 4 Kenya (CM4K). The latter being an active learning partnership with community at the centre of the curriculum. CM4K adopts a training the trainer approach which employs participatory learning workshops (PLWs) to consider issues of sustainable community development through community media tools, processes & spaces. These workshops facilitate community engagement through dialogue for knowledge exchange; mutual understanding; skills development & celebration of diversity.

CM4K focuses on participatory communication & development for social change & currently comprises the Universities of Brighton and Rongo; youth & civil society organisations interested in empowering marginalised & disenfranchised communities through knowledge sharing & capacity building. A bottom-up network, CM4K is currently extending its scope and is looking for partners to explore ways in which community/university partnerships might be developed to promote both community-based & community learning through innovative community communications.

Co-investigator: Jerry Agalo – School of Information, Communication and Media Studies, Rongo University

Jerry Agalo was the founding Dean of the School of Information, Communication and Media Studies at Rongo University. He held that post for seven years before standing down to focus on research. Jerry is currently an Associate Professor of Linguistics, Media and Communication in the School of Information, Communication and Media Studies at Rongo University. Previously, he was the Head of Department of Linguistics and Communication at Moi University, Kenya, for five years. Presently, he is a member of the research committee of Rongo University.

His research interests include language and the media, children and the young people in mediated society, media communication in the community.

He is currently collaborating with the University of Brighton, UK. He is a founder member of Community Media 4 Kenya and a Co-Investigator on modern day slavery research projects in Migori County Kenya, a project funded by the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council.

Co-investigator: Isabel Zattu – Kibabi University

My first encounter with Community Media 4 Kenya, was 7 years ago when as I attended a community media workshop in Nairobi together with my colleagues from Rongo university. It was a three-day training that changed my life. My take-home from the workshop was the many ways we can use simple media platforms, that we often ignore, to have a positive impact in our communities.

Shortly afterward a collaboration was formed between Rongo University and the University of

Facilitating a practice-based community media PLW

Brighton a Community Media Partnership project. Through this collaboration, Communications and Journalism students from both Universities worked with local communities groups to create sustainable Community Initiatives that empower and enable the voices of communities to be heard.

I find this to be very fulfilling and backed up with my background in media studies. My perception of media in terms of “mainstream media” changed. My experience with Community Media 4 Kenya has taught me how members of any community can come together and use simple equipment to create content for themselves and by themselves. More so radio is the ultimate platform for marginalized and rural communities to build their capacity and enhance development in their communities.

My main role has been linking the student’s collaborations with the communities, enhancing transformative learning and facilitating Participatory Learning Workshops. My strength is in technical media skills which have been cultivated since 2005 when I started my media journey at a media firm in Eldoret – Media Mashariki. My practical skills contribute to the production and dissemination of a range of community media-related digital stories, using video, audio and photography as platforms to capture and share community stories.

Currently, I am a Senior Media Technician in the department of English, Literature, Journalism, Media, and Communication at Kibabi University. I am also near to completing my Masters and am currently working on a critical investigation of community radio for my thesis.

Co-Investigator:  Enock Mac’Ouma – Rongo University

Mac was one of the original team members on this AKN project and has also collaborated as part of CM4K. Unfortunately. he was unable to stay with the project to completion. A lecturer of Communication in Rongo University, he specializes in communication for social change, communication for development and media studies. His previous experience includes linkages, partnerships and collaborations at local and global levels.

He is a PhD student in the University of New South Wales, Australia. He holds a Master Degree in Communications Studies, Bachelor of Arts degree in Education, Diploma in Education and a Certificate in Research and Evaluation in the NGO Sector.

Currently he is a member of the African Union Scientific, Research and Innovation Council – ASRIC’s working group investigating Africa’s indigenous knowledge to preventing and controlling emerging infectious diseases on the continent. He is a member of the advisory board of the UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies of the Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, Canada.

Mac’s research interests are in the following areas:

  • Development communication and communication for social change;
  • Community radio and community media for development and social change;
  • Communication for transfer of agricultural technologies.

ANDRESS KATHUNZI

I am charged with a great desire to be engaged in a life purpose that is driven by building a development conscious and just global society that works for the best within us all. I am crafting myself a life dedicated to education and sustainable community development initiatives from early on in my career.

I graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Graphics, Communication, and Advertising. I enjoy working with communities through dedicated volunteering service through Community Media for Kenya (CM4K). I also work with students and health workers on the Rongo University Health IT initiative programme. I find contentment in creating awareness by advancing technology and engaging in developmental work in marginalized communities.  

With expertise and specialisms in the practices of the Arts, Humanities, and Developmental Studies I have for the past 4 years been working as a part-time lecturer at Rongo University, where I teach courses on Graphic Communication, Communication for Development, ICT and Development, and Media Production.

I believe all of us should seek to understand human problems and find sustainable solutions and/or alternatives for greater human wellbeing. I am currently, in my second year of a Master of Science in Communication Studies at Rongo University and I envision expanding my deep passion and career in Communication and Development Studies.

Jayne Awuor Owino – community consultant

Jayne joins the team with a wealth of community experience. Among her many roles in the community, Jayne is a community social worker. She has been a driving force in developing and nurturing the relationship between the Universities of Rongo and the Chamgi wadu community within the Community Media 4 Kenya partnership.

Jayne has extensive community network contacts through her involvement in women’s and community health groups. She can often be found as a mediator between community groups and local government policy makers and administrators. She is a founding member and director of the Biwati CBO; she runs an orphanage in Kanyimach; she is a board member at various community education and health organisations. She is the Chairperson of the South Kamagambo Women’s Sacco (a co-operative of many community groups for women in the district).

An excellent communicator, Jayne is an effective community team builder and is well respected within the community for the guidance and counselling services and support she provides.

migori county children’s services

It would be remiss of us not to acknowledge the support and enthusiasm we received from Migori County Children’s Services. We meet with them on 3 seperate occassions before the fieldwork began. In these meetings we outlined the aims of the project and the capacity building nature of our approach to Community Media-Based Participatory Research (CMBPR). Indeed the County Cordinator of Migori County Children’s Services, Mr. John Odinya, even participated in some of the Participatory Learning Workshop (PLW) training with the community representatives. Unfortunately, in the same way that the COVID19 pandemic restricted our research plans, so also did it restrict their capacity to be as actively involved in the project as they desired. This was a great loss to us, especially in terms of providing access and introduction to communities where certain forms of modern slavery is known to be rife -, e.g., early marriage, child labour, trafficking and FGM. We will be forever thankful to Migori County Children’s Services and hope, in a post-pandemic world that we will be able to rekindle the relationship and continue our community media for social action work with them.