[Imc-africa] Kenya IMC/Maseno University Radio Project meeting minutes

Wed Oct 18 13:11:25 UTC 2006

it looks to me like things are full steam ahead. but
as Chris pointed out i still need to have some
concrete commitments. i need to talk or communicate
with someone who can give me the conditions of the
collaborations so that I can have something concrete
to tell the university collaboration and linkages
department. i must admit i am still pretty much
ignorant. I am still waiting for communication from
John Bwakali.  

Judith

--- siyade gemechisa <siyade at prometheusradio.org>
wrote:

> Greetings from Philadelphia!  So we're all looped
> in, below (and attached)
> are the minutes from our most recent conference call
> for the radio project
> during the WSF.
> Thanks,
> siyade
> 
> 
> October 13, 2007
> Minutes to conference call (Sphinx, Hannah, Siyade,
> Andy, Petri, Chris):
> 
> Siyade—Asks for clarification about Maseno radio
> project and IMC
> convergence radio station.  How many radio stations
> are we talking about?
> —Sphinx—indymedia Kenya is trying to find some space
> for the convergence
> radio station at the WSF space in Nairobi. The
> Maseno project is directly
> related to the WSF. The situation in Kenya is that
> indymedia is a young
> organization and as yet there is a  social space in
> Nairobi that could be
> set up with the radio station for the WSF and then
> maintain the station. 
> Maseno represents a school that could house the
> station and not worry
> about paying rent and also ideally would have
> students who will support
> indymedia ideas about access and can network with
> the indymedia Kenya
> people in Nairobi and elsewhere.  It could happen
> that the radio group
> could get lost within the school structure and it
> will be important for
> the indymedia Kenya people to continue to be
> involved and networked with
> the students.
> —Chris—Clarification about the buildings and
> locations that Maseno might
> use for the radio equipment.  One possible space
> would be on the main
> campus in Maseno which is 25 km from Kisumu, up on
> top of a hill, very
> near Lake Victoria.  The Communications Dept also
> may be moving some of
> its equipment and classes to a tall building (8-10
> stories) in Kisumu, the
> 3rd largest city in Kenya that sits on Lake
> Victoria.  The radio equipment
> might be located in either of those places.  If it
> was at the building in
> Kisumu it would be probably easier for residents of
> Kisumu to access it.
> Of course any decisions about location would be up
> to the department and
> the student club.
> —Sphinx—We need to continue with discussions with
> Maseno folks about what
> indymedia is about. The internet can be awkward for
> communicating between
> Maseno and indymedia folks in Nairobi and more face
> to face communications
> will support clearer understandings. It was good
> that Judith and Jon were
> able to meet and talk recently in Nairobi. It's
> important that if the
> equipment ends up in Maseno that people get access
> to it, that other
> content get on the air, and that the organization is
> horizontally
> structured. Regarding a set up that would involve a
> station in
> Kisumu/Maseno and another in Nairobi...perhaps there
> could be relays
> between stations in Maseno and Nairobi so they could
> share programs.
> —Hannah—More clarification please around how many
> stations, etc.
> —Sphinx—Describes how indymedia Berlin works with a
> mobile station, and
> wonders whether relays could function in Kenya if
> there were 2
> stations—one in Maseno and one in Nairobi.
> —Chris—estimates distance between Kisumu and Nairobi
> to be around 200
> miles [check this]
> —Andy—If there is more than one studio (one in
> Nairobi, one in
> Kisumu/Maseno, how will content be sent?  200 miles
> is too far for the
> stations we are building, and relays won't provide
> the solution.
> —Hannah—more clarification needed---what would be
> the bare bones
> situation?
> —Chris—Clarifies that internet service even for the
> Communications Dept at
> Maseno was a problem--faculty had computers but not
> necessarily internet
> access. Unlikely that the internet could be used to
> reliably transfer
> files from Nairobi to Maseno, at least at this time.
> —Sphinx—What about a linux box that's used in some
> places as a repeater? 
> If money could be raised for 2 stations would there
> be a way to share
> content?
> —Andy— A 100 watt station would only reach part of
> Kisumu or part of
> Nairobi, and it could not transmit from one city to
> the other. In fact
> within each of these places we need to think about
> where the
> transmitter(s) will be located.
> —Sphinx— The one in Kisumu/Maseno will be located on
> campus (or in Kisumu)
> and be primarily focused on/by the students. As for
> the location of one in
> Nairobi, we haven't heard back from Oloo about
> whether the WSF will be
> giving us space or not. Jon  (Bwakali)  says the
> fall back position is the
> guest lodge that will definitely have internet
> access and can house
> people.
> —Siyade—Clarification...we thought that there would
> be only 1 station (at
> the WSF) and then after the WSF ends, the station
> would be moved to
> Maseno.  $3000 won't be enough for 2 stations.
> —Sphinx—I'm trying to look at how to maximize the
> efforts in Kenya. If
> there was enough money there could be 2 stations.
> —Hannah—We have some questions about being in the
> same building as the
> WSF. We want to be clear about what Prometheus can
> do and can't do:
> Throughout the next months and when we arrive in
> Kenya, Prometheus Radio
> Project's primary involvement with the Maseno
> University Radio Project
> will be in the form of technical support. Our
> primary responsibility will
> be to donate our technician time and our attendance
> at the event, to help
> with logistics of the two station builds, and to
> help wherever possible
> with questions around licensing. We leave it to the
> local communities to
> find the final answers to that question, but we can
> likely help with
> research from this end.  If there is a space
> available for the IMC,
> Prometheus would be interested in holding small
> workshops, but our primary
> responsibility will be to working with volunteers
> who want to understand
> the technology and build it into a working radio
> station!  The best
> scenrio is to have a space that's seperate from the
> rest of the chaotic
> conference.
> —Sphinx—Another thing that the people in
> Kenya—either the indymedia people
> or the people at Maseno—need to do is research the
> licensing.
> —Chris—I found current information on an
> international radio site managed
> by Robert Horvitz that may be helpful, and covers
> other countries as well
> as Kenya:
> www.openspectrum.info.  I will also send this
> information to Judith and to
> the imc-Africa list.
> —Siyade—What about transportation of equipment,
> Prometheus people, and
> others from indymedia Kenya or WSF attendees from
> Nairobi to Kisumu?
> —Chris—It seemed to me that many people took the bus
> from Kisumu to
> Nairobi and it took half a day.  Difficult to
> estimate the actual distance
> because the roads were not always good. It's also
> possible to fly (2
> airlines, 2-3 flights/day, probably in the range of
> $100+).
> —Sphinx—I'm not envisioning a formal relationship
> between indymedia Kenya
> and the school, rather the critical relationship
> will be between indymedia
> Kenya and the active students.  Radio is a sensible
> alternative in Africa,
> a setting where there is not so much access to the
> internet. We will try
> to raise money from indymedia to cover
> transportation from Nairobi to
> Maseno.  I'll be there at the beginning of January
> to help facilitate
> 
=== message truncated ===>
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> 

Judith Miguda-Attyang
Dept. of Communication and Media Tech.
P.o Box 333
MAseno, Kenya

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