Searching for facts and moving forwards

Zanzibar is hot, but an active group of journalists is sitting inside in the computer lab at State University of Zanzibar. These people are very fast to pick up, and also very fluent in trying to move forwards by themselves, trying different options and finding their way.

Now, since yesterday morning, we have basically been searching for information from the web, starting from very easy small assignments about names of capitals and presidents, and moving forward to more complicated background stories.

I underlined that it’s important to think before going to search from the web. What exactly is it that you are searching for, some fact or background or context? Do you know where to find it or should you use a search engine to find it more randomly? And also, is the internet necessarily the best way to find the information you are seeking, or should you rather just call someone or go out to the streets or go to ask your grandmother?

For a good briefing of Day 3, please visit the blog of Zaituni Makwali from Chuchu FM. She says it all, in a casual style, and the story is short enough.

If you read Kiswahili, see the report of Ali Othman, secretary of Zanzibar Press Club and correspondent of Tanzania mainland newspaper Changamoto.

The last topic of the day was to search for background information about the Kenyan Green Belt Movement. You know, the rural women’s tree-planting movement headed by Wangari Maathai, Nobel peace laureate in 2004.

Read more in the posting of Mohammed Othman, Zanzibar Leo, or in Kiswahili, see the stories of Mozza Saleh Alli from Zenj FM or Ali Mbarouk, journalist and information officer from Pemba. You’ll also see pictures of the smiling face of Wangari Maathai.