ComDev09 students are now finishing up their final thesis projects ready for submission on Monday. A ComDev thesis often involves original field research and enables students to apply theory in practice. This is exactly what ComDev08 alumnus Rosalind Yarde did when she conducted her field research for her final masters thesis with Mkombozi, an NGO in Moshi, northern Tanzania that supports children living on the street. The field work for Rosalind’s thesis was a pilot study that explored how a participatory approach to radio production might become a vehicle for social change. Rosalind worked with a group of young people to make a one-off radio programme. The programme presented issues that were important to the young producers from their own perspective. The positive response to the show form the participants, the Mkombozi project and even local authorities was an indication of how successful the ‘experiment’ had been but Rosalind did not initially anticipate taking the project further than the pilot stage. However soon after she completed her thesis Rosalind was approached by Mkombozi and asked if would be interested in developing her pilot study into regular programming for a Youth Radio Network initiated by UNICEF Dar es Salaam.
The 15 children that Rosalind is working with have now produced 9 editions of their radio programme and in this piece for the ComDev Blog she describes the rewarding experience of moving from pilot study to continuing project and how satisfying it is to see the research she did for her masters thesis validated as as theory is proved in practice.
{ 0 comments }
