Michael Samuel
Endola
Volunteers and committee members from Endola and Okongo multi-purpose community centres (MPCCs) recently received training on the use of modern audio-visual equipment such as video and still cameras, public address systems as well as projector kits and article writing.
The skilling took place at constituency offices in Okongo and Endola.
The two-week training was offered by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) as part of the ministry’s responsibility to provide technical support to all MPCCs across the country towards helping them become self-sustainable.
The aim was to equip volunteers as well as committee members with the same skills and knowledge applied by regional MICT staff members in ensuring a well-informed nation through television and print media news from their respective constituencies.
“These centres have video cameras they can use to capture television news, still cameras they can use for still images and we also trained them on how to write news articles for both print and television news. If they have the equipment, why not equip them with the necessary skills? They can help us as a ministry to cover the region at areas our staff cannot reach because of limited resources and clash of events of the same importance,” said Meschtride Mathias-Shiningayamwe, MICT Ohangwena regional head.
Mathias-Shiningayamwe added that this training will also benefit regional development through continuous reporting on capital projects and government activities in the region. Moreover, Okongo and Endola constituency councillors can use these volunteers to their advantage in ensuring that their constituencies are properly represented through media coverage.
These MPCCs generate money through hiring out PA systems, printers and copy-making machines, and doing laminations, ID photo capturing and printing.
* Michael Samuel is an information officer at the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology based in the Ohangwena Region.