13th June, 2008
The Katine: It starts with a village website which tracks lives in one of the poorest regions of the world was last night awarded a UK award for use of new media in international development.
The website, developed by the Guardian, tracks a three-year development project with the AMREF and Barclays to improve the lives of the 25,000 people in Katine sub-county in Uganda. The project is being co funded through Guardian readers’ donations and Barclays has donated £1.5 million over the life of the project to match reader donations. FARM-Africa is supporting AMREF to meet the project’s goals.
The website allows readers to see where their donations go, how aid works, and how lives are changed and is bringing a uniquely transparent view to how development works. AMREF Uganda Director, Joshua Kyallo who oversees the project said: “The web offers a new opportunity for the world to see the needs and initiatives of communities in Africa. The Guardian’s site can track the daily lives of rural communities – their livelihoods, prospects, health and remoteness from government services. It allows their voices to be heard."
| One World jurors said the Katine website did: "a brilliant job of bringing ordinary people from a small African village into global conversations". |
The site is groundbreaking in itself as it also analyses the success of the work AMREF is doing in conjunction with 66 communities to improve access to safe water, health care, education, income genertating opprtunities and governance. Ultimately the work and coverage will provide a model which the partners hope can be scaled up and replicated elsewhere. AMREF’s Joshua Kyallo said: “The Guardian website is also tracking the successes and challenges of the our work with the community - whether boreholes are maintained, school results improve, malaria rates drop. The web is clearly going to help us spread good development practice to the rest of Africa.”
AMREF had another success with the feature length documentary film 'War/Dance', filmed in Ugnada, winning the International Premiere Award. The film, which was produced by THINKFilm and Shine Global, tells the story of three children from Patongo Displacement Camp in northern Uganda. Dominic, Rose and Nancy are members of a school music group who get a chance to compete in Uganda’s national music festival. Although each of them has a heart-breaking story to tell about the effects of the 20-year conflict in northern Uganda, the documentary captures their magical and courageous journey to one of the most exciting events in their lives.
The documentary also features interviews with the country director for AMREF in Uganda, Joshua Kyallo. AMREF has been working to promote health in the northern Uganda districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader, which have experienced insurgency for the last 20 years, forcing over two million people to flee their homes and settle in crowded camps for Internally Displaced Persons.
Visit the site at http://www.guardian.co.uk/katine.