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PROFILES FROM SOME JOURNALISTS

Mr. Boniface is journalist working for Radio Kwizera, he finds his carrier very interesting and likes the job. According to him, the interesting part in working as a journalist at Radio Kwizera is the absence of boundaries in duties concerning radio production; He finds himself doing news writing, news gathering, producing radio programs, and editing programs like "Ukulima na Ufugaji, and presenting Music program called "Rumba taratibu"- a kind of Clasical Congolese Music. Apart from these duties, he also broadcasts news caster in Kiswahili. "Very inresting" he says.

Working in such diversity as a journalist unlike in other radio stations where one might not have such a fountain of previledges, RK prepares one to work in any radio station anywhere in the world.

The station lists among its policy issues the concerns for the poor and the marginalised; issues on women, and the youth. The station also concerns itself with cultural creativity, interreligious dialogue, and staff development. It provides training to enhance broadcasting skills.

Among the staff of Radio Kwizera are Burundians and Congolese refugees who live in the camps and have special permits to join the station. This is the only example of direct participation by the community. Everyone at the station is an announcer, a script writer and a reporter.

The station also has people working as "stringers", providing news from the local community and from refugee camps. The station has made the right choice to balance information, education and entertainment. For example, it has used soap operas to deal with important issues such as AIDS. The station remains popular among both the refugees and the local population.

My name is Zawadi Mchulezi Bashemela. It was 1st October 2007 when I joined RK as my first appointment after my studies at St. Augustine University in Mwanza - Tanzania.

It is now two years since I started working as a journalist with Radio Kwizera. I am Tanzanian by nationality from Muleba District Kagera region. My family lives at Bukoba town at the shores of Lake Victoria.

I am a producer of Afya ya Jamii program, and I am also the Team Leader of RK Kasulu Office located in Kasulu district Kigoma region.

In my program, I like to educate my listeners on how they can keep good health and protect themselves against diseases. In this program, I often invite different practitioners to talk on issues concerning health, and through such discussions I bet that listeners learn how to deal with matters patterning preventive cure.

One challenge I face while producing this program is the lack of adequate response from some listerners and sometimes the practitioners themselves fear expressing crucial issues when asked to discuss certain controversal health matters.

Otherwise, in the RK family, I enjoy the interaction between co-workers and the cooperation in work. Thus, for better performance, I suggest having more facilities and more cooperation between co-workers. This could be through seminars and meetings so as to recall ourselves of our profession.

For areas where RK signals are possible, just tune to RK everyday, and you can learn many things that you could never thought about. Finally, let us work together for to make our project better.