The
Church exists to communicate the Good News of salvation to all peoples of our time and places; in doing so, she acts in accordance with the command of her Lord who told his disciples: 'go and teach all nations' (Mt.
28:19). It is therefore our duty to promote 'the best use of the media (in our Region) in order to spread the message of salvation and to communicate to our peoples the Good News of the love of God revealed in Jesus
Christ' (cf. Ecclesia in Africa, 125).The mission of the IMBISA Social Communications Department is to keep the Region in touch, to help break the political, economic and social boundaries, and help our
local Churches to share their joys, hardships and pastoral concerns. Training is therefore a key-concern, providing media towards the voiceless and the poor and helping the Small Christian Communities to build
themselves, to be organized and reflect in communion about their daily life.
From the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa we read: "Training in the use of the mass media, as vehicle
of Evangelisation, is a necessity for the preacher of the Gospel, who must master the media style of communications… Christians who are professional Communicators have a special role to play. To do their work with
Christian principles, they need to be properly trained…"(124).
So, mindful of the importance of media… in the evangelizing Mission of the Church and the scarcity of both personnel and finances, the two
regions IMBISA and AMECEA thought it wise to join forces in the training of personnel who will work in the field of media at the National and Diocesan level. Therefore the two Regions organised and implemented the
following Courses:
Three- Months Training Course in Pastoral Communication & Social Action 1999:
From 18th January - 18th April 1999 IMBISA & AMECEA had their first Three Month
Training Course in Pastoral Communication and Social Action, at IMBISA Center in Harare, Zimbabwe. The Course was attended by 18 participants from the following countries: Kenya,1, Lesotho,1, Namibia, 2 Tanzania, 4
Uganda, 2 Zambia, 6 and Zimbabwe, 2 (5 from IMBISA and 13 from AMECEA).
The Course Content was as follows:
Pastoral Communication, Theology of Communication, Church and Public
Relations, Social Teaching of the Church, Practical Journalism, Electronic Media, Media Ethics, Human Rights and Media, Media & Democracy in Africa, Administration and Management in Media, New Technologies,
Information Flow and News Agencies, Participatory Communication for Development and Church documents on Social Communication.
Namibia Training Course (1999):
From May 14th - 16th 1999,
the Regional Office facilitated a workshop for Catholic Media Workers in Windhoek, Namibia, in which they provided theoretical and practical input to 40 participants from all over Namibia.
Two Weeks Radio Broadcasting Training Course in Portuguese (1999):
From 14th -24th June, 1999 the Department held a Training Session on Radio Broadcasting for African Portuguese Speaking Countries, in
Harare. The Course was funded by UNDA-World and was attended by 10 participants from Angola and Mozambique.
The Course Content was as follows:
Ethics in Journalism, Code of conduct
for Journalists, the Mission of the Radio-A Christian View, Journalism in Africa-background and Mission, Media Laws in Mozambique and Angola, Christian Radios: objectives and areas of interest, Radio Programming and
Production, New Technologies and Radio Broadcasting, Organisation and management of a Radio Station (Structures and Functions), Genres in Journalism: Interviews, Comments, Debates, Panel Discussions, News Reporting etc.
The participants found the Course enriching and they expressed the need for Courses in Portuguese and for a longer period.
Three- Months Training Course in Pastoral Communication & Social Action (2001):
The IMBISA/AMECEA Second Three-Months Training Course in Communications commenced on the 15th of January and ended on
Easter Sunday the 15th of April 2001. The Course attracted 21 Participants from the two Regions. There were 8 Countries represented, namely: Ethiopia (1), Lesotho (1), Namibia (2), Sudan (3), Tanzania (2), Uganda (2),
Zambia (4) and Zimbabwe (6). The main objective of the Course was to provide basic foundations in Social and Pastoral Communication Skills, Theological criteria and guidelines for socio-economic and pastoral planning,
suitable for the two Regions in their response to their pastoral needs, through communications.
The Three-Months Training Courses were co-funded by our Partners who are STICHTING PORTICUS, MISSIO
MUNICH, MISEREOR and our BISHOPS. We are very grateful to them all for making our dream come true.
Six Weeks Radio Broadcasting Training Course in Portuguese (2001):
From the 4th
June - 12th July Department held a Six Week Training Course on Radio Broadcasting for the IMBISA Portuguese Speaking countries, however we got a request to accept one from Guiné-Bissau. The Course was attended by 21
participants: 9 from Angola, 11 from Mozambique and 1 from Guiné-Bissau
In the past three years the Department has managed to give basic Training to 31 participants from the Portuguese Speaking IMBISA and
14 from the English speaking IMBISA, not forgetting the 40 who were trained in Namibia and the 25 from AMECEA Region. TOTAL TRAINED: 110 (IMBISA 85, AMECEA 25).
The next Three-Months training Course will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, at the beginning of 2002.
