The partnership between the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) at the United States Department of State and Professor Yusuf Kalyango's Institute has lead to fifteen (15) successfully administered YALI Connect Camps and follow-up activities, which uses a human-centered design approach to mentorship and leadership development. YALI Connect Camp is a program facilitated by ECA and implemented by Dr. Kalyango's Institute for alumni of the Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWF) and select community members they mentor. Out of the four (4) already implemented Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWF-2014,MWF-2015,MWF-2016 & MWF-2017) programs, Dr. Kalyango has been able to successfully conduct fifteen (15) YALI Connect Camps across Eastern, Southern, Central and West Africa.
It's from these fifteen (15) YALI Connect Camps that Dr. Kalyango decided to initiate a YALI Connect Camp Alumni Outreach Workshop that required all the Connect Camp alumni both mentors and mentees, to submit a proposal highlighting what they have accomplished since they completed the Connect Camp. In the proposal they were to provide a brief bio of their personal achievements (promotions, recognitions, grants received as well as contributions to their communities in Africa. Ohio University then selected a committee that included two reviewers from Africa, two reviewers, and some representatives from ECA’s Collaboratory to vote on all entries and select up to three winning reports. The three winners would become the “Medallion Connect Camp Presenters” to share their success stories.
On Sunday 4th March, 2018 all participants and the medallion presenters had arrived at Radisson Blu Hotel in Addis Ababa through the support of Dr. Yusuf Kalyango Jr. - Professor & Director Institute for International Journalism and who is also the Director & Administrator of YALI Connect Camps' Alumni Outreach Engagement Workshop assisted by Mr. Elias Hailemariam from Ethiopia as the workshop coordinator. Ms. Li ping Lo from Department of Cultural Affairs , U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa officially welcomed everyone to Ethiopia and to the Workshop. The group then had a blast doing team building activities and having a delicious dinner for the remainder of the day.

On Monday, the workshop officially kicked off with Opening remarks from Mr. David Kennedy of Public Affairs Office from U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa who was really excited to see the Workshop become a reality. He also got the opportunity to listen to what each and every participant was doing to change lives in their respective communities during the introductions and he was very happy and excited. Later, Dr. Yusuf Kalyango then took the group through Reflections and Expectations of the YALI Connect Camp Outreach Workshop where he explicitly indicated how important the workshop was to both State Department and Ohio University to help shape and build on the goals of our MWF engagement activities to begin on September 2018. He also took us through an intensive Strategic communication, Development of Goals and Leadership session where he vastly shared his personal and very motivating story as a young boy born and raised by peasant farmers in Uganda, growing up working hard abroad and particularly in the United States, then becoming a very successful scholar climbing academic ladders to a full Professor and a Director of an Institution with many consultation programs in various universities and organizations/government bodies across the world. He shared his writings (books) and publications to participants deeply narrating how self-love for community and family, hard work, teamwork, and determination leads to success..
The next day, a Joint session of Caucus Moderators gave a summary of what transpired on Monday at different caucus then the floor was taken by Ange Imanishimwe of Rwanda to facilitate on personal & Organizational Development who gave an explicit presentation and a wonderful approach on environmental conservation towards tourism attraction.
Mr. Troy Fitrell, Deputy Chief of Mission from U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa expressed his happiness and joy after hearing what all the participants are doing in their respective communities. He was also briefed by each moderator who gave a summary of what transpired on Monday and what would take place as the day unfolds at their respective caucuses. Mr. Troy gave a very motivating closing remarks before issuing certificates of completion to all the participants and posing for a group photo with the entire team. Some other topics discussed were the Bond connecting Social Entrepreneurship and Community development and personal experiences and best practices.
YALI Connect Camp Alumni Outreach was a success and was an amazing way to catch up with past participants and see first hand the great things they are doing in their communities.


HIGHLIGHTS FROM YALI CONNECT CAMP 15 IN ETHIOPIA

We started off the week with songs, laughs, and tears of joy during our first introductions at the YALI Connect Camp 15. Participants have arrived from eleven different countries. Pairs are representing Burundi, Guinea Bissau, Uganda, D.R. Congo, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal, Ghana, Zambia and Rwanda. This diversity made for hilarious introductions as everybody first attempted pronouncing each others names. These participants have come ready and eager to challenge themselves as well as each other as they learn and utilized the tools for leadership development. Innovation for sustainable social change, How to reach success with what I have, Open-mindedness and respect for diversity, Working with others with different ideas, capacity building for youth, building mentorship skills, and how to inspire are just a few of the goals that the participants have outlined that they want to work on.
Day two started off with identifying issues that people see in their communities at home. Next, they divided into teams by which issues they wanted to address. The groups imagined what their communities would be like if these challenges did not exist. Instead of focusing on what is wrong, they focused on what works well in their communities and how these strengths may help them to achieve their goals. Asset-based development encourages leaders to look inside their community for help, rather than outside. By focusing on what they have, they can mobilize resources without too much additional cost.
 
Thursday the participants were back to work in the classroom practicing convergent thinking to solidify their ideas and approaches to solve their community issues. Each group has created a theory of change, or conscious multi-part strategy for reaching their goals. The participants also practiced pitching their ideas to acquire the type of resources they would need. Throughout this ideation phase, participants have been thinking about all of the assets already available within each member of their community. Every community is rich in resources and capital other than money alone. This type of thinking and strategizing is the real tool that participants can take home with them to teach to others.
 
By Friday this cohort felted empowered and better able to have a positive influence their social or political systems at home. After one last morning session, the participants got ready for our graduation ceremony.  After an inspiring ceremony, we had a fun-filled and delicious dinner to close out the week. Thank you to all who have helped to make this Connect Camp 15 such an incredible success. We look forward to hearing about the incredible work our YALI Fellows will be doing in the future!
 
See our Connect Camp 15 Photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/47974335@N06/albums/72157665258773768

YALI CONNECT CAMPS IN NAMIBIA PRODUCE INNOVATIVE PROJECT PROPOSALS
By Kate Hiller

The third Connect Camp is comprised of seven Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWF) Alumni and their mentees from Botswana, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia. The purpose of the Connect Camps is to invest in the next generation of African leaders through intensive executive leadership training, networking and skills building in order to prepare them to create social change in their respective communities by achieving the following goals:

1. Give up to 160 young African leaders the opportunity to collaborate, learn, and network with U.S. and African resource experts and with each other during the eight YALI Connect Camps; to develop innovation strategies that build on their professional skills, engage in hands-on experience with low-bandwidth technologies, conduct community outreach, and build their capacity through mentoring, networking, and using strategic civic leadership for social change.
2. Use a stimulating canvas model of leadership to develop skills in entrepreneurship and creating social change by engaging in five-days of facilitated interactive sub-group workshops, and fostering mentorship relationships between the Mandela Washington Fellow alumni and their chosen mentees for the Camp.
3. Demonstrate some community-oriented enterprises using applied technology that supports innovation and collaboration in community development and entrepreneurship, civic leadership, and public management.
4. Develop leadership skills among delegates through mentoring relationships, between themselves, as well as with American and African facilitators.
5. Provide participants with opportunities for face-to-face networking and to facilitate a collaborative, innovative project or projects that further YALI goals.

Unlike the YALI-MWF training programs, which take place at about 20 universities across the United States, the Connect Camps are being conducted as follow-on training workshops in four sub regions of sub-Saharan Africa. The first two camps were conducted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in March, and the fifth and sixth camps will be in Cote d'Ivoire later this year.

From May 3-9, the third cohort of mentors and mentees invited to Namibia worked together to develop new social ventures using a comprehensive, iterative, one-page modeling tool based on the original "Lean Launch" business model canvas, and recrafted by camp facilitators as the "Venture Model Canvas." Camp participants used the poster-sized modeling tool to identify and hone their proposed new ventures value proposition for identified beneficiaries, to decide how the value was to be delivered and what was required for delivery. Participants also enumerated the fiscal, social and environmental costs, and benefits associated with the proposed venture.

The proposed ventures modeled during the camp encompassed a wide range of southern African start-ups:

• "My Hostel, My Home, My Responsibility," a Namibia-based youth boarding school vandalism reduction program led by youth councils and geared toward reeducation and reintegration of vandals,
• "The Green Machine," a mobile, youth-consciousness-raising program in a wheeled truck, traveling to Ethiopian primary schools with a program of competitive fun and education, all centered on recycling and greening the environment,
• A university-based young women's engagement and empowerment entity working simultaneously in Swaziland, Namibia and Botswana,
• A non-partisan Zambian consultancy focused on educating and engaging the electorate in the democratic process (initial emphasis on youth), and
• A Botswanan youth employment service bringing together unemployed youth, educational institutions, and employers in an effort to improve needed skill sets to fill existing jobs in the modern workplace.

The participants practiced and presented pitches for the ventures to hypothetical new venture partners and funders. The audience for the final pitches included US Embassy representatives, an external evaluator, and local educators.

In addition to working with the Venture Model Canvas, participants also learned about community mapping through two representatives from the Humanitarian Open Street Map Team, Mikel Maron and Benson Wilder, visited Natures Way, a natural health clinic set up by a MWF, and a textile factory. A facilitator representing the Open Learning Exchange (OLE) from Ghana, West Africa, Kofi Essien, also presented to the group via Skype about his work with low-bandwidth technology in the education sector. Educators from Ohio University, Faith Knutsen and Judy Millesen, spent five days of the training with the participants facilitating on various topics including innovation and leadership for social change and much more.

The young professionals and future leaders have forged friendships across borders that will keep them together for years to come.

The Institute for International Journalism introduces and congratulates the first group of Mandela Washington Fellows alumni and their mentees for becoming the very first cohort to participate in YALI Connect Camps. YALI stands for the Young African Leaders Initiative. The first two week-long Connect Camps take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from March 8th to 20th, 2015. The Connect Camps are funded through a U.S. Government grant from the Collaboratory, in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), at the United States Department of State. Partnering with the Collaboratory, Ohio Universitys Institute for International Journalism in the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism will implement eight camps in Eastern, Southern, Central and West Africa. Participants in the first two Camps are from Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania and Uganda.

The overarching goal of this Connect Camp is to reconnect YALI alumni in their home regions with mentees, to bring into the conversation to engage in deliberative discussions and to work on a group-driven project. Just like their mentors, mentees are expected to share their experience at the Connect Camps. The mentees experience and professional occupations come in many forms. Here are some examples of the exceptional leadership of some of the mentees who have been selected to participate in the first two Connect Camps:

• Joyce Shikuku, a professional counselor working with Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), is also the founder of Mentor Me, which is a program aimed at empowering the youth from different backgrounds, both HIV positive and negative, to become good leaders. As part of her work, she facilitates trainings to empower female sex workers (FSWs), and gays to discuss safe sexual practices with the aim of preventing HIV infection and reduce the prevalence rate in Kilifi County.
  


• Allen Kimbelwa is Founder and Chairperson, Tanzania Young Leaders Empowering Vijana (TYLEV), an organization that advocates providing empowerment to local youths. The main goal of TYLEV is to ensure that critical youths issues including engagements in economic and social responsibilities are addressed. To achieve this goal, Allen works with disadvantaged youths including street children, school drop outs, unemployed youths, and the young people involved in drugs and alcohol by empowering them and providing training in areas including leadership, health, planning, social entrepreneurship and confidence so that young people understand their talents and potentials in furthering these areas.


• Mural Nyangaga is an actress and a model with Amazon Theatrix Ensemble, where she has been taking part in community outreaches, creating awareness on issues of HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, health and governance. She also volunteers to train under privileged teenage girls on modeling skills, to develop their self-esteem, and to make them understand their bodies, and to help them get access to basic education and stay in school. Mural is currently working to develop Smart Siz project, a girls club under Young County Change Makers. This project will support more under privileged girls from informal settlements in Kisumu by empowering them on life skills, core business skills, entrepreneurship, behavior change and health.


• Neema S. Gamasa is IT Director at RE/MAX and holds a computer science degree from the Institute of Finance Management in Dar es Salam. Neema developed a Student Information System for Eckenforde University Tanga (www.etuadams.com) and is currently finalizing the same system for the University of Bagamoyo. The system saves time, reduces cost and paper work since every important function is automated such as registration, examination and results provision. Neema also trains and supports the agents and the brokers (Realtors) using the platform developed (iConnect supported by Gryphtech company) for the Real Estate activities and manages the regions system and website (www.remax.co.tz) for its daily performance. The amazing family and friends she is having motivate her to live life spontaneously and ride along the IT career path with confidence and self-ambitious towards the attitude she has with Information Technology.


• Mustafa Sharif has been working on, organizing and leading various youth development programs and activities for more than five years. He has been a member of the organizing committee for Global Entrepreneurship Week since 2012, and has also worked as a focal person in the Centers for Youth Dialogue project. Mustafa has been working with various youth organizations on a voluntary basis to share his experiences and expertise on issues like entrepreneurship, youth participation and community development and in decision making processes.


• Zion William has been a social activist since 2008 and has worked with several non-profit organizations that work to provide support to underprivileged individuals with Education Sponsorships, empower youth and advocate for children’s rights, especially for marginalized children. Zion has also volunteered with various organizations that send volunteers to Tanzania to work directly with local organizations such as hospitals, schools, orphanages, conservation areas and more. Currently, Zion is an assistant manager for Karibu Africa Tanzania Volunteer adventure. She is the co-founder of “Fahari ya Msichana” (A girls Pride), which works to provide sanitary pads to girls in public schools that cannot afford them. The girls would otherwise have to stay home during the menstruation period. She is also the founder of “Sewing Seeds of Change” project, which works to support local women in villages to setup sewing projects as a source of income to support their families.


• Lydia Owomugisha works at Xclusive Cuttings (U) Ltd as the MPS Coordinator. Her main task is to ensure that daily farm activities are operated in such a way that encourages sustainable production. In this position, Lydia sensitizes workers on environmental and social aspects at the company and advocates for the improvement of workers lives. Earlier, she interned with Wagagai Limited that focused on developing horticultural enterprises that exposed her to and gave her an understanding of greenhouse production and management of horticultural crops.


• Kakyo Sylivia has had multiple years experience working with personal development and womens empowerment. She is currently working on a program for defending women against domestic violence who are suffering in silence and educating the men to end violence in families.


• Cressida Mwamboma is an artist and business woman. She creates art drawings advocating for various issues such as gender-based issues, and is currently working on a book that portrays gender-related issues in the workplace. She interned at the International Labour Organization (Dar es Salaam Country Office) where she had an opportunity to showcase her artwork for Orange Day, which is a day dedicated to end gender based violence.


• Paul Benjamin John works at Tanzania Airports Authority (Julius Nyerere International Airport Station) as Senior Electrical Technician. He has worked in the electrical engineering field for seven years, and his responsibilities at TAAinclude maintenance of airport facilities such as transformers, generators, medium and high voltage switch gears, airfield ground lights, and remote control system of airfield ground lighting. He is working on installation of a TV satellite dish, laying high voltage underground cable installation and designing standalone solar panels.


• Lillian Secelela is the current chapter head for Africa 2.0 in Tanzania, sits on the board for GEW Tanzania, is part of the community of Global Shapers for the Dar hub, and a member of Smart29er and #LetsReadTanzania. She also is a host of a popular weekly youth-business radio show. Lillian also finds time to hold various speaking engagements to youth organizations, schools, and universities in her spare time in order to show youths that they have to be the change they want to see.

The Institute for International Journalism in the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University is scheduled to conduct two YALI Connect Camps in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in March. YALI stands for the Young African Leaders Initiative. The Connect Camps are funded through a U.S. Government grant from the Collaboratory, in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), at the United States Department of State. Partnering with the Collaboratory, Ohio University will implement the camps in Eastern, Southern, Central and West Africa in 2015. 

From March 8-20, the Mandela Washington Fellows (MWF) will be training as mentors and working with mentees. The overarching goal of this years Connect Camps is reconnecting with YALI alumni in their home regions who will bring their mentees into the conversation to engage in deliberative discussions and work on a group-driven project. The MWF alumni, who are from Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania and Uganda, will be sharing their expertise and experience with their mentees and the facilitators during the Connect Camps. 

This experience comes in many forms. Here are some examples of the exceptional leadership of the some of the 20 MWF alumni who have been selected to participate in the first two Connect Camps:

• Brian Mogaka, Director of Social Work for Blue Cross Kenya, has been working in community development for more than five years. At Blue Cross Kenya, some of his duties include rehabilitating and reintegrating street children, transferring life skills to more than 100 children whose parents abuse alcohol and other drugs, and also starting AA groups for drug addicts. He is also the founder of Young Change Makers CBO where he uses football as a tool to empower children and youth living in informal settlements through health education, violence prevention, and life skills building. 
• Ramadhani Ndiga, Founder and Director of Where Talent Lives, an organization advocating at both local and policy level for the implementation of existing policies on sexual reproductive health & rights (SRHR) of young people in Kenya, uses innovative approaches and skills including taekwondo to increase awareness and educate the most at risk populations on HIVprevalence, trends, and prevention measures. 
• Vandana Boolell, a business development executive at Temple Group, which is a multidisciplinary firm focusing primarily on legal, financial and professional training services in Mauritius, focuses on creating and developing business opportunities for the firm and has assisted with the establishment of a number of strategic domestic as well as cross-border partnerships leading to positive impact for the business. 
• Fatoumata Sylla, Director General in the Executive Office of the President of the Republic of Seychelles, has also worked for the Department of Youth serving as the Senior Policy Analyst and later as the Director General of Youth Affairs. In this capacity, she made recommendations to the government on issues related to youth development, implemented youth programs in line with national policies, and fostered relationships with international youth bodies. 
• Chikulupi Kasaka, a lawyer working with the Parliament of Tanzania, analyzes bills and laws, drafts private members motions, and prepares the schedule of amendments. As part of her work with the youth led NGO Tanzania Youth Vision Association (TYVA), she advocates for youth engagement in the ongoing new constitutional making process. 
• Hon. Joshua Nassari has worked for various grassroots non-governmental organizations targeting peasants, youth, and orphans. He previously worked at the American-supported Foundation for Tomorrow, which offered scholarships to orphans and abandoned kids. Currently, Hon. Nassari is the youngest Tanzania Member of Parliament (MP) representing Arumeru East constituency in the National Assembly and also a deputy shadow minister for education and vocational training. 
• Rose Peter Funja, the Dean of the College of Science at the University of Bagamoyo, lectures on courses in ICT. Prior to academia, Rose worked with Huawei Technologies International as a Senior Product Manager. She is experienced with wireless telecommunication technologies and pioneered projects in various countries and regions including China and east and South Africa. Rose has been actively involved in Rotaract and served as the Club President when she was a student at the University of Dare Salaam and until 2005. 
• Mohamed Sauko has five years of experience working in the field of engineering. He currently works with Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA) as a Senior Engineer (Electrical and Electro- Mechanical) where his responsibilities include supervising projects to ensure that applicable standards and regulations are implemented and projects are executed, overseeing the maintenance of airports facilities, preparing strategic plans for projects, and providing advice on major rehabilitation works whenever foreseen. 
• Nancy Mwaisaka, a Program Assistant with the International Labour Organization office for Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, focuses on planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Decent Work Country Programs. Nancy is also a poet and co-founder of La Poetista, which is a group of young artists and arts lovers committed to grow the art of poetry and other art forms in the Tanzanian community. In addition, she is a coordinator for Daughters of Destiny, which focuses on women and girls empowerment and a founding member of Friends of Children with Cancer, a non-profit organization that supports children with cancer in Tanzania.
• Abella Bateyunga, the Governance Officer at BBC Media Action Tanzania, is responsible for designing and implementing a civic education training program for Tanzanian media to equip them with knowledge, skills, and resources that enable them to report objectively on the countrys political events while promoting a constructive conversation between citizens, leaders, politicians, and the electorate. 
• Amnah Ibuni is a co-founder of Sure Steps Nursery School, which is a community-based nursery school. She has been a longstanding and active member of the Zanzibar Youth Forum, and is the Principal Secretary for the Youth Parliament in Zanzibar and possesses skills in event management, advocacy, peer mentoring, and awareness programming. 
• Hashim Pondeza is a Zanzibari scholar with a regional focus on sub-Saharan African countries, with specific expertise in the politics of Zanzibar and Tanzania. He has previously worked with Save the Children International as a Child Labor Technical Advisor to the Child Labor Unit of the Zanzibars Ministry of Labor, Economic Empowerment and Cooperatives. He has also taught child protection courses at the Zanzibar University and previously worked as a Senior Research Officer for the Zanzibar Institute for Research and Public Policy. Currently Hashim is an Advisor for ILPI in Zanzibar, working across Tanzania with local governments, CSOs and other international development partners on efforts to strengthen democracy and good governance in Tanzania. 
• Immaculate Katushabe has over three years of experience in greenhouse production and management. She is skilled in plant protection, gene bank management, breeding, selection and seed processing of chrysanthemum. Currently, she works with Xclusive Cuttings U Ltd and volunteers as the Crop Production Advisor with a women farmers group in the Bupai, Wakiso district. 
• Lucy Athieno has more than three years of experience working with youth, with a special emphasis on girls and women. As part of this work, she has created Eco-pads, which are environmentally friendly, cost effective, and comfortable sanitary kits for women and girls to ensure increased retention of girls in school. She also serves as the Project Coordinator of Kadama Widows Association, an organization that supports families living and affected by HIV/AIDS to enjoy longer and productive lives. 
• John Ilima has a passion for working with underprivileged children and youth and co-founded and currently serves as a volunteer Executive Director of Integrated Response, a nonprofit entity that works to advance the interests of disadvantaged children and youth in Katakwi district through increasing access to meaningful education and training.

By Kate Hiller

The Study of the US Institute (SUSI) on Journalism and Media has called Athens, Ohio its home base for the last five years. Offered in the summer, this program brings 18 scholars from 18 different countries to the United States to experience journalism, media and culture. From visiting media outlets in Atlanta, Georgia the District of Columbia and San Francisco, to seeing a unique sector of American culture by visiting the Amish in Holmes County, Ohio, last summer’s SUSI scholars had a full schedule of travel and experiences – not to mention lectures and workshops designed to share journalistic practices and perspectives cross-culturally.

An annual federal grant from the US Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs totaling more than $280,000 makes it all possible. For the SUSI Journalism and Media program, this cost covers all travel, study tours, lodging, meals and incidentals and entertainment for the scholars, and allows a “book allowance” of several hundred dollars so that scholars can take educational material back to their countries.  

Not every school is handed this grant, however. The Institute for International Journalism (IIJ) at Ohio University applied for the opportunity to host scholars and organize the program. Once received, if everything ran smoothly the first year, the IIJ has renewed the grant for two three-year cycles, Associate Professor, Mary Rogus said. After the first three years, OU reapplied and received the grant again, which was automatically allotted to the school for three years. 

There are a total of nine different SUSI programs, which according to the State Department’s website, “promote a better understanding of the people, institutions, and culture of the United States among foreign students, teachers, and scholars.”

Rogus has been the Academic Director for the SUSI Journalism and Media program since Ohio University originally received the prestigious ECA grant five years ago. Her job entails putting together programming for the scholars, including everything that happens on OU’s campus, setting up trips to Cleveland and Amish country, and traveling with the scholars while they are stateside.

“The goal is to kind of build a global community of scholars,” she said. “That’s really what it’s all about, to expose them to America but also to share on a global scale knowledge and understanding. These people (are) educators, people who are going to be influencing the next generations in their countries.”

And build a global community it does. 

“There are two very beneficial aspects to the SUSI experience,” Radu Meza, a 2014 SUSI scholar from Romania, said in an email. “The first would be the opportunity to visit US media institutions (both big and small) and the other is the wonderful experience of meeting with journalism educators from all over the world, establishing connections that may lead to future collaborations.”

After the SUSI program, Meza spent some time teaching in a graduate summer school in France through a partnership with his university, Paris 8 University, Westminster University and Pompeu Fabra University. 

“Both in the lectures that I taught in the international graduate summer school in France and also in some of my courses which I’m teaching this semester, I’ve incorporated some of the content from the SUSI program,” he said. “More specifically, other than my direct experience with US media institutions, I’ve added some more information about the US media system (as delivered by prof. Mary Rogus) and also about media economics (as delivered by prof. Hugh Martin).”

Other SUSI scholars have also been utilizing their experiences in the program back home.

Aruna Lokuliyana, a 2014 scholar from Sri Lanka, has used some of the cultural experiences to describe and compare cultural similarities in the United States with those in Sri Lanka.

“(The) SUSI program has created a great environment to share and develop our mutual experiences related to our own country media and academic experiences with each other, and it was a very rare opportunity to me,” he said.

Though the semester started almost immediately after Lorna Chacón-Martínez’s return to Costa Rica, where she is currently teaching two courses and doing research for a new documentary. 

She also coordinated with the US Embassy to arrange for her students to participate in two press conferences for the embassy.

“I was honored to be selected,” Seyf Mohamed, a scholar from Tunisia, said. “Now I have friends from around the globe with whom I am currently getting in touch on a regular basis working on various projects. Also, having new friends and meeting distinguished people was highly important to me as a scholar and a media practitioner.”

Since last summer’s program, Med has been working on a new curriculum to be taught next semester and a research article.

Lionel Brossi, a professor at the University of Chile, has been using his experiences and connections from the 2014 SUSI program a lot since returning to his country. 

“I have modified the syllabus of my course of Intercultural Communication,” he wrote in an email. “Thanks to my research collaborator Dr. Yea Wen Chen, I could access to new bibliography and the syllabus of her course, from which I took some great ideas to implement.” 

Among the handful of SUSI scholars from last summer who responded to email requests for information, a common idea was that, outside of lectures, the cultural tours were some of the best experiences for the scholars. 

Surprisingly, though some of the bigger stops on the trip were also mentioned, the most talked about visit wasn’t to the District of Columbia or San Francisco, but to Holmes County, OH.

“What I find most interesting is to watch the scholars in Amish country,” Rogus said. “It’s so different from any of their impressions about America and Americans. It’s just this wonderful, pleasant surprise. I don’t know if it’s just that it’s totally not what they expect to find in America, but it’s just something that they really like and appreciate.” 

Though media and cultural exposure and experiences were very important to the scholars, personal interactions and networking were equally, if not more, important for last year’s scholars. 

“The most beneficial part of the program was meeting the faculties from OU and I hope the academic communication will continue in the future,” Shashwati Goswami, a scholar from India, said. “And the next best was to meet the other scholars from various parts of the world which enriched my knowledge of their socio-economic situation as well as the situation of media in their countries. The experience would not have been possible without SUSI.” 

By Kelly Fisher

The E.W. Scripps School of Journalism’s Institute for International Journalism has embarked on a new international training project to provide guidance, consultation and tools to the young and emerging African leaders in sponsored by Citizen Exchanges-Professional Fellows Division in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.
The IIJ’s new international engagement is the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) training called the Connect Camps. According to YALI, approximately one third Africans are between ages 10 and 24, and around 60 percent of Africa's total population is below age 35.

The U.S. President, Barack Obama, established YALI in 2010 “to support young African leaders as they spur growth and prosperity, strengthen democratic governance, and enhance peace and security across Africa,” according to the ECA’s YALI community sites.“Specifically, the Connect Camps will integrate collaboration, technology and innovation techniques in participatory, in-person workshops on business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership, and public management,” according to the ECA’s executive summary of the grant.

The new initiative would administer the Connect Camps in Africa from 2014 to 2016, unlike other YALI projects which take place in universities across the United States. The camps will train 160 “young entrepreneurs, leaders (and) professionals in the areas of innovation, entrepreneurship and governance” in four countries for one week each Connect Camp.

The grant award of $485,000 is for the administration of sub-regional Connect Camps in sub-Saharan Africa. Director of the IIJ, Dr. Yusuf Kalyango will lead a group of resource experts in the areas of business administration, entrepreneurship, or strategic communication and leadership to travel to the four African countries (in East, Central, Southern, and West Southern Africa) for approximately two week each in 2015 for two Connect Camps. No specific dates have been set for the program at this time, though the ECA anticipates that the first engagement will be completed by March 2016. The specific plans for the IIJ’s program activities remain in the works.

By Kate Hiller

From the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, to the Westergas Terras restaurant and bar in Amsterdam, to viewing parties at Easton Town Center in Columbus, the 2014 FIFA World Cup was covered and experienced by bobcats around the globe. Through a partnership between the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), the Institute for International Journalism in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, seven undergraduate students from Ohio University (OU) were able to do more than just watch the games: they had the opportunity to travel around Brazil experiencing and covering the World Cup firsthand.

OU students Katy Andersen, Katie Foglia, Devin Ellis, Kevin Noonan, Marisa Salopek, Brieanna Charlebois and Carl Fonticella were selected to work with the USSF press, as well as with journalists from well-known publications such as Sports Illustrated and The Washington Post.

“They treated us like we were one of them, we werent just the interns,” Carl Fonticella, a sophomore studying photojournalism, said about the media professionals that the group worked with. “It was really cool to get to know (people) with that much experience.”
Katy Andersen, a junior studying broadcast journalism, was the groups video intern. Though neither she nor Fonticella, who were both focused on visual journalism, had FIFA credentials and thus werent on the field during the matches in Brazil, there was plenty of work to be done at practice, during press conferences, and around So Paulo. The pair was able to shoot a friendly match between the United States and Turkey in New Jersey before leaving the country, as well as team practices in Brazil.

While in South America, students had the opportunity to attend Fan Fests, which junior strategic communication major Brie Charlebois explained were a way to bring the atmosphere of a match outside the stadium to people who werent able to obtain tickets.
“(Soccer) culture is obviously growing in America, but its definitely not what it is in other countries,” she said. “People are in to it, but were about multitasking now and there are too many sports going on, whereas in certain countries, during that time and always, soccer is the only thing that really matters.”

Charlebois worked under David Applegate, USSF Media Manager, as a PR assistant. In addition to writing stories for the USSF, all trip participants were required to contribute to www.scrippssoccer.org, a website put together for the JSchools coverage of the World Cup from both Brazil and from another group of students working with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in Europe.
“I got a mix of journalism and public relations,” Charlebois said. “It was interesting to actually be a part of something so huge but also be a part of that image. I got to know what it was actually like to work for a federation rather than just doing PR for things around campus.”

She also had the opportunity to attend two live matches in Brazil – USAvs. Portugal and the USA vs. Belgium. During the Portugal game, she was able to sit in the family and friends section, which she said was more relaxed than the American Outlaw section, which is where die-hard fans crowd in to cheer on the US team. Though there was not an American Outlaw section at the Belgium game, the area where Charlebois sat sort of morphed into one when people started up the usual cheers.

“(Sitting with the families), I analyzed and watched intensely,” she said. “We were put in a section over from the family members (for the Belgium game) and that section became the American Outlaw section, starting the chants. It was crazy but a lot of fun.”
From media experience and networking to attending one of the worlds largest sporting events, the partnership that was forged after a year and a half of negotiations was a success for all bobcats involved. For Fonticella, this experience was even a deciding factor in his career.

“My life is heading toward sports photography,” Fonticella said. “This internship helped me decide if I wanted to be a sports photographer or if I was just going to be a traditional photojournalist.”

Tips and tricks picked up in Brazil were not left behind when Andersen went through customs.

“I had only filmed sports a handful of times before this trip so I had to quickly learn the tricks to it,” she said. “We produced lots of fun, energetic videos – Im more used to producing videos that you see on traditional news. So now I can incorporate more fun shots into my news stories at home.”

By Kelly Fisher

Member-scholars of the Worlds of Journalism Study traveled from the United States, Qatar, Albania and El Salvador, and other countries, to attend the research group’s convention.

The convention, which took place March 27-29 in Thessaloniki, Greece, aimed to address the question, “Journalism in Transition: Crisis or Opportunity?,” which is a topic selected by the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA).
According to the Worlds of Journalism Study’s (WJS) official website, the organization “is an academically driven project that was founded to regularly assess the state of journalism throughout the world.

“The Study’s primary objective is to help journalism researchers, practitioners, media managers and policy makers better understand world views and changes that are taking place in the professional orientations of journalists, the conditions and limitations under which they operate, as well as the social functions of journalism in a changing world.”

Topics of the conference included methodological problems in survey research, exploring epistemology and news practice, violence against journalists in the Central American region and more.

Dr. Arnold De Beer of South Africa and Dr. Yusuf Kalyango, director of the Institute for International Journalism (IIJ) at Ohio University, was among the African scholars who talked about cross-national survey in a developing context.

More than 80 countries participated in the study, bringing in data from all over the world. Dr. Thomas Hanitzsch, chair of the Worlds of Journalism Study, said the Study’s data are expected to be published in mid-2015 and expects the book to be on shelves approximately two years later.

By Kelly Fisher

German journalist Johannes Boie is taking a break from reporting with one of Germany’s leading national daily newspapers, Süddeutsche Zeitung in Munich, to Athens in one of his stops, to give lectures in several journalism classes, meet with international professors and visit some regional media institutions.

Boie arrives in Athens on Sunday, April 20 and departs Friday, April 25. During his time in the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism, he will talk about Convergence in Multimedia Reporting in Germany in Dr. Hans Meyer, Dr. Aimee Edmondson and Dr. Bernhard Debatin’s classes, among others.

He covers the impact of digital technology on society, politics and the economy and has assisted in creating digital versions of Süddeutsche Zeitung for iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows 8. 

When he returns to Germany, Boie plans to research monitoring programs of U.S. intelligence agencies and the effects of digitalization of the American media and society.

In 2010, Boie was named one of the top 30 journalists under 30 by Medium Magazin.

“We sent our first fellow to Ohio University last fall, Simon Kruse, [of Moscow], and he had a fantastic time,” Caroline Martinet, coordinator for the Transatlantic Media Network at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, said in an email.

The Transatlantic Media Network at the Center for Strategic & International Studies holds the Transatlantic Media Fellowship program, which allows an individual journalist to spend up to three months in another country for a visiting fellowship. The program is funded by the Marcus Wallenberg Foundation for Advanced Education in International Industrial Entrepreneurship.

“Fellows operate with complete editorial independence and are entirely free to draw their own conclusions about America and Americans on the basis of their travels and experiences,” the website states. “The program covers all costs of the fellowships, which are usually awarded to journalists with little previous direct experience in the United States.”

Aside from guest lectures, Boie will have the opportunity to travel to Columbus for a day to tour the Columbus Dispatch newsroom and a local TV station.

On Wednesday, April 23, he will provide interviews with The Post and at WOUB on government surveillance and privacy issues, and attend a journalism awards banquet in Baker Center Ballroom.

By Kelly Fisher

Students from the schools of the Scripps College of Communication interviewed for an opportunity of a life-time to intern with the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The World Cup is one of the largest sporting events in the world.

The interviews were conducted by a USSF executive, director of communications, Mr. Neil Buethe, at the Schoonover Center of Communication in Athens, Ohio, assisted by the director of the Institute for International Journalism, Dr. Yusuf Kalyango, in the E.W. School of Journalism.

Kalyango said students will be selected within “a couple days” after the interviews take place.

Ten students will be selected for the internship, which begins June 7 and ends on July 3, 2014. Winners will be announced by April 16, 2014.

Students will have the opportunity to explore Brazil by traveling to Manaus, Natal, or Recife to cover the games in which the U.S. National Team will be playing, and they will perform some journalistic and strategic communication work under the supervision of the USSF.