Saturday 30 April 2016

Mondo activities March-April 2016

The main activity in March was the preparation of the study trip to Ghana. The inicial plan was to include one journalist from the Media4Development project and quite as a last minute thing we got the opportunity to involve two policy makers as well. A student and a teacher were also a part of the group, but they were able to participate thanks to a global education project supported by the MFA.

The journalist who travelled to Ghana – Bianca Mikovitš – is working in the biggest agricultural newspaper in Estonia – Maaleht. Maaleht is a part of Ekspress Grupp and is mostly read in the rural areas in Estonia. The topics vary greatly, but are usually somehow linked to agriculture or rural life in general. We contacted Maaleht in the beginning of the M4D project, but at the time they were in the process of changing the head editor, so we were put on hold so to speak. Bianca was very interested in travelling to Ghana from the beginning and keen on learning about the major topics in the area.

The policy makers involved were Henn Põlluaas – member of the parliament and also a member of the foreign commission of the parliament – and Kaili Terras from the MFA.

The preparation process was quick and busy, as ERR's film crew also decided to travel during the same time, so our team was also assisting them with visas, background info and other prep-work.

The trip itself was quite successful and the participants seemed to be satisfied. After a call with Bianca, Aliine learned some things that will come handy when planning a study trip next time.

You can see some pictures from the study trip here and read Bianca's articles here:

  • Four articles: http://digileht.maaleht.delfi.ee/elu/eestlaste-abikaed-ulatuvad-ghanasse?id=74143505
  • One article: http://maaleht.delfi.ee/news/maaleht/uudised/homses-maalehes-kuidas-henn-polluaas-tegelikult-ghanas-kitse-ostis?id=74296001



In March we also started preparing for the next bulletin (Mondo Arengupoliitika Teataja) that will be printed and distributed in May, aiming for the dates prior to the World Humanitarian Summit. Aliine met with Mati Raidma – a member of the parliament and expert on humanitarian assistance – to discuss the possible articles and stories that would form the core of the new bulletin.


Another preparation that started in March was for Arvamusfestival (Opinion Festival) that will take place in August. Aliine went to the first preparation meeting and also had a chat with ERR's coordinator for Arvamusfestival (Tiit Kimmel) – the panel that will be a part of M4D project will be arranged together with ERR. The panel will focus on media ethics and development.


In April we also posted a public call to look for young journalists who want to take part of the Helsinki training in the end of April. The Facebook post was quite popular and reached 5500 people without an extra boost from our side (our regular reach is around 1000-2000 people). We received 7 applications and chose 4 journalists to take part of the Helsinki training: Piia Puuraid, Anette Parksepp, Madle Timm and Rait Roop.

The Helsinki training was a success (as usual for events arranged by Maiju and VIKES :) ) and the four young journalists from Estonia are really promising journalists with a wide perspective to the world. The first one of the group will already take part of the Palestine study trip in July.


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