Girum Chala tells us how British Council’s radio training opened the door to a career in journalism.
Girum has always loved stories. Inspired by tales from the priests at his local church in Ethiopia, as a child he dreamed of becoming a journalist and telling great stories of his own.
He studied English at university in the hopes of pursuing a career as an international correspondent. But a lack of opportunities and media experience led him into a career as an English teacher instead.
Then he heard about our Learn English Audio Programme. It supported English teachers to use radio to plan their lessons and improve classroom activities. Girum was chosen to host and produce a radio show for the programme and given training in using audio equipment.
It was the first time in my life that I heard my own voice. I said: ‘Look, man! I used to want to be a journalist, and now the British Council is helping me walk the talk.’ The show ran for a year on two radio stations in Ethiopia, giving him the skills he needed to apply for other journalism opportunities.
‘I was much more confident looking for a job in local or international media after that,’ he says. Girum was soon hired by a local media house, before moving on to his current role as an international correspondent at China Global TV Network (CGTN).
In his career he has written and reported on some of the biggest news stories across Africa. But Girum isn’t done telling stories yet. He now plans to launch his own news channel, the Global Television Network of Africa, to tell the story of Africa the way it is meant to be told. ‘There is no media house that represents the continent internationally, so Africa doesn’t have a voice in the global arena. It is misrepresented and misunderstood,’ Girum explains.
Our Impact Stories is a curated collection of individual stories showcasing the impact of British Council programmes across Arts and Culture, English and Schools Education, Higher Education, Non-Formal Education, and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) across Sub-Saharan Africa. From fashion entrepreneurs in Ethiopia and Kenya to educators in Rwanda, animators in Nigeria, and heritage preservationists in Zimbabwe, the book captures the breadth and depth of what our programmes make possible when ability meets opportunity.
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