Afronline – The Voice Of Africa

Today we meet Menya Media, a Burundese NGO – whose name means, “You know that…” in the local language – that works in a nation tormented by an armed conflict that has already caused 200,000 deaths.

Who: Menya Media

Where: Burundi

What: Communication for development

Nine years. A long time for most, but in those years the Burundese NGO has managed to become central to the communication field in its nations as well as being the only media troupe that has completed a documentary on war in Burundi over the past twenty years.

Sybille Cishahayo, project coordinator and vice-president of the NGO, explains the difficulties of a life that succeeded in escaping the troubles of the Bujumbura blocks. A miracle. “A lot of optimism and determination are needed,” she says with a modest tone.

She let us understand the huge efforts that Cishahayo has to make to “put culture to the service of development in a country where far from being considered a resource, it is instead seen as a sector without any economic potential”.

Why is there so much indifference?

What a question! We are among the poorest countries in the world, where people in the morning barely know if they will have food to eat during the day and where jobs are still a mirage, most of all for the youth. Among them, nobody hopes to find a job in the communication or the social field. Our experience is a strange adventure in such a country.

How did it see the light?

Originally, we were six, two from Belgium and a small group of young people convinced that the time to do something for peace had come. War and misery were the only certainties of our generation. An alternative way needed to be given, and this we thought could be done by feeding hope. Our first project was a campaign against HIV/AIDS through the production of a Burundese group’s CD.

Thanks to the Belgian cooperation, we have created a little recording studio. It might seem like nothing, but in Burundi artists were forced to record their albums outside the country. At that time I was the singer of a rap group that was quite successful in Burundi. Belgians asked us to join the record, through which we have organized numerous concerts in the whole country. That was the moment when I understood the incredible power of music, and, on a broader scale, that of culture.

What does that mean concretely?

Hate doesn’t want to open spaces for dialogue. There are areas where we are welcomed suspiciously. I remember the day when rebels wanted to interrupt our performance threatening us of death. But people did not care about them and asked us to continue singing. And there is the economic aspect too: a concert needs the efforts of people paid to do it. On a small scale I have understood that culture can generate money and jobs. That is why I am proud of our story.

What are the main activities of Menya Media?

We have four departments that work together: the department of audio and video production that has been launched in Burundi; the department of campaigns to sensitize the community; the department for cultural promotion with the help of numerous artists both during the production phase and in the distribution phase among local networks; and finally, our commitment in the creation of job places for young people.

How do you finance your activities?

Firstly, through the organization of cultural events that allows our project to give temporary jobs as operators, animators and assemblers to our youth.

We have tried to develop our action in the private sector with the production of some AD spots but this sector in Burundi is quite closed. We are considering also using foreign funds like the ones allocated by the European Union, but of course for a little NGO like us, it is not easy to have access to these funds. Brussels tends to finance projects that have a regional dimension, and this is not easy in Burundi, which is a francophone country surrounded by Anglophone nations. Working with people that speak only English is difficult for us. We have tried to start a project with francophone partners from the Democratic Republic of Congo, but the situation is still so precarious that collaborations are impossible. What needs to be said is that we are isolated and this causes many difficulties.

Go to the photogallery on Menya Media’s new film

By Joshua Massarenti – Afronline.org