Combining family life with professional training: a nanny in Bangui for Ornella’s son

At the Maigaro radio station in Bouar, twelve journalists from the six radio stations that benefit from the project attended to learn how to produce radio shows addressing subjects associated with the upgrading of State services in Central Africa: the redeployment of the administration, feedback from the judicial authorities, the role of stakeholders and neighbourhood leaders in early recovery, etc. As a mother to a baby boy who is just a few months old, Ornella Gbasso, a young journalist at the Zoukpana radio station in Berberati, thought she would have to miss out on this meeting.

However, CFI teamed up with ARC to put the necessary measures in place to enable her to complete the training: a means of transport suitable for her and her child, flexible schedules for certain modules, recruitment of an on-site nanny to look after the baby during workshops, etc.

As a result, Ornella was able to build upon her skills in the production of shows focusing on priority topics for local populations. She is now one of Zoukpana's most dynamic journalists and she regularly produces shows looking at priority issues; the most noteworthy of these is a show entitled Petits métiers [Small Trades].

The initiative is part of the media component of the Recovery and Stabilisation in CAR pilot project, funded by the Fonds fiduciaire Bêkou [Bêkou Trust Fund] with co-financing from the European Union, and run by Expertise France in partnership with Avocats sans frontières Belgique (ASF) and CFI.