Mogadishu, 18 December 2019 – Fifteen female journalists from various TV and Radio stations were today awarded certificate of completions on completing an intensive 10-day training course on Digital Media and Storytelling. The training commenced on 23 November and ended on 3 December. The training took place at the Hornconnect training facilities. The participants of the training were happy that they had gained a lot in terms of theoretical and practical lessons on crucial topics like photography, video editing, and storytelling.
The fact attested to by one of the participants, Mulki Haji Ahmed, saying that as a news presenter she never had that opportunity to practice photography and the training has equipped her with practical insights of how to operate one. “During the ten days of the training I have learnt a lot about photography, now I know about different shots like a wide shot, medium shot and the close-up shot. I also learnt how to achieve a good focus on the camera and white balance. I am confident that I have acquired some skill in photography and with more practice, I will succeed in the digital media field,” she noted.
James Ryan Grizzle James Ryan Grizzle, Counselor for Cultural and Educational Affairs and Spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Somalia stated that Somalia is going through a lot of changes and that there is hope for the future. He said Somalia’s story is worth telling. “This year we re-established our embassy in Mogadishu we are not looking at the past but the amazing future that lies ahead for Somalia and the government. Somalia has a great story buried in it and its worth telling. The United States will work for hand in hand with the Somali government and its people to reach their goals. He further challenged the participants who undertook the training to tell Somalia’s story through different channels of communication,” he added.
The trainees were particularly excited by the arts of digital media and storytelling. This was the first kind of training in the field for Somali female journalists. A reporter from Mustaqbal media, Zamzam Mohamed Ali, said that she didn’t have personal expertise in the digital media and storytelling before, but now the training had opened her eyes. “I’ve learnt a lot from this training. I can now shoot videos, edit them and used them with relevant storylines. I’m hopeful I will do a better job than what I was doing before,” Ali said.
Abdirashid Mohamed Siraj, Executive Director, Hornconnect, a media productions firm that also specialized in capacity building of journalists said, “we are celebrating our 10th anniversary in the media industry thus we have the skills and manpower that will benefit journalists. We hope to partner and do more training in the future with SWJ and the U.S. Embassy in Somalia.”
Somali Women Journalists (SWJ) was very happy with the way Hornconnect facilitated the training, and the financial support received from the U.S.Embassy in Somalia that made it successful. Farhiya Kheyre, Chairperson, SWJ said, “I am pleased that this training was successful. I want to thank Hornconnect and the U.S. Embassy for collaborating with us to conduct this training. The participants of this training have benefited a lot, and we hope to do more training in future for the female journalists in Somalia so that they can succeed despite the challenges that exist in the society”.
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