[Imc-africa] Fwd: Kenya/WSF Conference Call Notes

[Jay]

Hi imc-africa,

Here are notes from the conference call between members of the Prometheus 
Radio Project, Chris from Antioch, Sphinx and, briefly, yours truly.

Jay

>Conference Call 9/29/06
>Re: convergence LPFM radio station at WSF Nairobi in January 07
>People present:  Sphinx, Petri, Hannah, Siyade, Jay, Chris
>
>—Chris: Are these conference calls free for people in Africa? If not
>is it possible to explore options for conferencing that they could
>afford?
>—Sphinx:  Possibly Skype [at end of call, Siyade said she will research this].
>—Hannah:  So this call is for brainstorming, with attention to
>logistics and funding.
>—Chris:  Has emailed Judith about her wanting to contribute any
>information to this call and was not able to check email before this
>call to see if she sent us anything. My sense is that she has not been
>able to get any agreement from the administration.  Also another
>Maseno Communications professor Charles Juma has joined the IMC Africa
>list and wants to become involved.
>—Siyade: Someone from Prometheus should subscribe to the imc-africa
>list. [Sphinx will put all Prometheus people on the list (Hannah,
>Siyade, Petri)].
>—Hannah: Could Sphinx give us an update on what's been discussed on
>the imc-africa list?
>—Sphinx:  Jon from indymedia Kenya will coordinate for the convergence
>radio station.  He has a meeting with Grace and Oloo. Jon is trying to
>see if WSF can provide space for the station within its main area.
>Additionally, he has identified a guest house not far away that could
>be used to house people and for some work.  Someone else is working on
>fundraising for tickets.
>Jay:  Recommends working on securing both spaces since the WSF may not
>make final decisions on allocation of space for awhile yet and there
>needs to be some space secured.
>—Sphinx:  CT Butler (from Food Not Bombs), who is involved with
>consensus training, is interested in doing training at the WSF.
>—Hannah:  Has there been a discussion on the imc-africa list about the
>kinds of workshops planned or desired?  Prometheus needs to receive
>this information as it develops.  Also if there is any information
>about the logistics of the proposed guest house please forward to
>Prometheus.
>—Chris:  Has anyone reported on the legal requirements for LPFM
>transmission in Kenya?
>—Sphinx:  I asked Judith and Charles to research this information but
>they have not gotten back to me yet.  Also two other people have been
>asked.  Another person has volunteered to be a Swahili translator and
>he too was asked to help with this.
>—Hannah:  AMARC global may have some of those documents.
>—Petri:  I will try to get that information up on the computer now.
>Ordinarily we'd have support from AMARC Africa but it (AMARC Africa)
>recently closed.  Petri will be at the upcoming AMARC conference in
>Jordan and will try to establish contacts with folks currently working
>in Africa.
>—Sphinx and others:  Brief discussion of the kinds of quarrels and
>issues that have come up to cause splintering and loss of cohesion at
>AMARC Africa.
>—Sphinx:  A few people have written to the imc-africa list stating
>that they want to come to Nairobi and need transportation support.
>—Jay:  Also there's been enthusiasm expressed that there would be LPFM
>radio at the WSF Nairobi..
>—Sphinx:  A woman in Germany (Daphne?) offered to gather equipment to
>donate to the event in Nairobi.
>—Hannah:  She should get in touch with Prometheus ASAP about equipment.
>—Jay:  The parts list provided by Prometheus was great.  And we still
>are in budget (about $5000). We haven't started fundraising for that
>yet as we're waiting for some numbers from Jon in Kenya.
>—Hannah:  What's happening with conversations between Petri and Chris
>vis a vis Antioch?
>—Chris The new president at Antioch College, was the head
>of the Ford Foundation in Cairo before coming to Antioch. Petri and
>Chris are trying to set up a conversation with him that would lay the
>groundwork for a future project but more specifically in the short
>term support travel expenses for WSF Nairobi.
>—Petri:  Prometheus gets numerous requests for international work.
>Petri has spoken with some people at the Ford Foundation about
>possible funding for a future project that would involve students,
>possibly from Antioch, that would work with Prometheus on such projects.
>—Sphinx: The equipment list that Petri sent is great.  There was some
>discussion on the imc-africa list and questions about specifically
>what kinds of equipment are needed from local vendors.
>—Petri:  Mainly hardware type items--like plumbing pipe and wood, rope
>and wire to put up the antenna, some audio gear like a CD
>player...because it's good for people to become familiar with things
>that can be obtained locally rather than it seeming like everything is
>coming from elsewhere.
>—Sphinx:  There's been discussion about making the radio station ready
>to broadcast at the beginning of the conference, so starting work on
>it at least a week before the conference begins.  Sphinx would try to
>get to Nairobi about 1 month before the conference opens.
>—Petri:  It certainly makes sense.  We have some commitments at
>Prometheus just before the WSF Nairobi, and so that work will affect
>who would be going and when.  Maybe 2 people from Prometheus would go,
>one for pre-work and another later.
>—Hannah:  The limitations of the staff at Prometheus are real. We
>might want to think about others who could be helpful, such as Erez
>Gudes who has worked in Africa before.
>—Sphinx:  We'd like to start with the radio station on January 13. On
>the issue of location, we want to get Maseno on board.  And we need to
>figure out what to do if Maseno doesn't come on board.
>—Chris:  When I was in Kisumu I was in contact with some other groups
>who were connected to  Fransciscans who has been involved with
>community radio in the past. Their current work (with micro-financing,
>HIV education) seems impressive. I would contact them if it turned out
>that Maseno could not get involved.  However, I would want to be
>certain about Maseno's plans before contacting these other folks.
>—Sphinx:  What was the situation like for Petri at the WSF in Caracas?
>—Petri:  There were already existing community radio stations in
>Caracas so what I did was training rather than event radio.  One thing
>to consider is whether to purchase a transmitter there or bring it.
>It would require that someone be there 2-4 days before putting up the
>transmitter, to navigate markets, purchase items. There needs to be a
>few people on hand to help with the basic set up--they could be
>skilled or unskilled. We'd need full access to the place where the
>center could be, and we'd need to be able to basic construction
>work--like sawing, etc.--and permission to use the roof or a high
>place.  We'd need to be certain that communications were working.
>—Chris:  Would it be helpful to make a list of basic tools you'd
>need--like you mentioned a saw?
>—Petri:  We would bring the specialized tools, but often I've bought
>tools locally, like a hand drill.
>—Siyade: Are we leaning toward a school or other not-for-profit to
>host the station?  We've identified some grants but they must be
>non-governmental.
>—Sphinx:  Explains that they ideally want the situation to model
>horizontal organizing.  There's an indymedia group reforming in Kenya,
>Oloo is involved with the WSF and the radio station is now an
>additional focus for him, and we still want to involve Maseno faculty
>and students and the school's premises can be used.
>—Siyade:  The IREX Fund (please correct) grants up to $10,000 to media
>projects in Africa.
>—Sphinx:  Regarding fundraising...Fabian is planning on going to a
>German company that supported transportation for the conference in
>Dakar.  A deadline on asking people to submit requests for
>transportation support is October 1.  If we knew in advance who
>Prometheus was sending we could add then to that proposal (this German
>company wants names and affiliations of people they support).
>—Petri:  You can put 2 names down from Prometheus--Hannah and
>Siyade--and we'll know later who exactly will go.
>—Hannah:  This is the most concrete conversation we've had, good.
>—Jay:  Has to leave the call.
>—Chris: (to Jay) Are you planning of going to Nairobi?
>—Jay:  Not sure yet; won't know for certain for awhile.
>—Chris:  What doyou think is the latest we can wait to hear about
>Maseno before needing to begin making other contacts?
>—Sphinx:  Reviews his communications with Judith and
>Charles...Sphinx's recommendation is that they not rely on support
>from the administration but rather set up a club,or work with students
>to set up a club at the school.  This student club could then receive
>the equipment from the WSF and make it available to students and
>others at the school.  We need to know this information probably
>within the next 10-15 days. It's important that this was of working
>with student clubs is understood as a way of facilitating broader
>access to this equipment.  It's not about any political agenda but
>rather that interested people will be able to pursue access and
>training in community radio through this club, ideally with the
>support of interested students and faculty.
>—Hannah:  In our messaging at Prometheus, we don't put forth any ideas
>about content except that we support participatory democracy through
>the use of this equipment.   OK, now what are the tasks that we've all
>agreed to take on?
>—Hannah:  Looking into getting people from Maseno and other parts of
>Africa on the phone through Skype, or another service, and read
>through the archived imc- Africa list.
>—Sphinx:  Will sign Prometheus people onto the imc-africa list
>—Chris:  Will write up notes to this meeting and continue working on
>contact between Steve Lawry at Antioch and Petri.
>—Siyade:  Will talk to Jay, look into legal requirements in east
>Africa, talk to people like Erez who might be interested in going to
>Nairobi.
>—Sphinx:  It looks like this is a good time to talk...so next phone
>call in two weeks on Friday early afternoon.
>END
>notes taken by Chris
>
>