Philip Merrill College of Journalism | University of Maryland

Letter from Director Lucinda Fleeson

A Day in the Life of a Fellow

October 2009

      I’d like to share with you a day in a life of a Humphrey Fellow at the University of Maryland. Meet Racheal Nakitare, a senior producer for Kenya Broadcasting Corporation in Kenya, who has a compelling mission to produce documentary segments about rural agricultural communities in Africa.

      On a beautiful fall day on October 1, Racheal attended on campus a workshop on sustainable agriculture, with the UMD College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Then she hopped a Metro to the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in downtown D.C. where she took part in a panel discussion with three journalists who had just returned from Kenya. In the afternoon she made her way to Southwest D.C. for another symposium with visiting Kenyan and U.S. government officials on agriculture: "Stemming Africa's Food Insecurity - The Case of Kenya and the Horn of Africa." By 5 p.m., she was back on campus, to attend a welcome reception for the State Department’s Edward R. Murrow Fellows, Arabic-speaking North Africans here for an intensive week of seminars and field visits.

      Typical for Maryland Humphrey Fellows? Well, not all of our Fellows squeeze in four events in one day. Racheal has the determination and curiosity to scoop up every opportunity she can. She’s studying negotiation and conflict resolution in the School of Public Policy as well as devoting a lot of energy to digital video shooting and editing in a television production class. And on top of that she is studying new media – social networks, use of web pages, photography and sound.

      This year we are welcoming our 17th class of Humphrey Fellows at the Merrill College for Journalism, a group of 14 mid-career professionals – journalists and communication specialists. Over those years we have had a total of 205 Humphrey Fellows, from more than 80 countries.

      Every year we try to fine-tune our curriculum to offer new outings, adventures and educational opportunities. This September, we ventured to Maryland’s rural Eastern Shore for our annual overnight retreat. We engaged a roomy conference center at Jane’s Island State Park in Crisfield where we had a splendid cookout, with steak, salmon, chicken – and a bushel of steamed crabs, harvested that very morning. The next day we traveled via fishing boat across the Chesapeake Bay to tiny Smith’s Island, the soft shell crab capital of the world. Smith Island remains a bucolic natural wonder, where the last of the Bay watermen are holding out against a tide of modernity.

      The retreat offered a look at American life outside the Beltway, as well as a congenial setting to get to know each other.

      At the beginning of each year the Fellows usually go through an anxious period wondering how they will secure a professional affiliation for six weeks of work with an American organization, or how they will find enough professional development activities. That anxiety doesn’t last long. By early October, the Humphrey Fellows have become acclimatized to campus and are seeking out innumerable opportunities in the Washington, D.C. area: briefings, workshops, lectures and symposiums at think-tanks, government agencies, NGOs, embassies, media outlets and more.

      Like Rachael, in a few short weeks they are all off and running, exploring Washington, D.C. and the rest of America. And that’s just what we encourage them to do.

Humphrey Family News

January 2009

      The email news pours in from Cameroon and Cote D’Ivoire, Brazil, Benin, Vietnam and Budapest. Humphrey alumni send holiday greetings with updates of their professional and personal lives.

      “I’m busy like hell nowadays,” writes Faroha Suhrawardy of Bangladesh. We remember Faroha (Class of 2003-2004) as the deceptively gentle radio reporter who kept pushing the envelope of acceptability back home by introducing new technology. Since his fellowship, he has expanded into satellite and national television, now producing twelve programs a month, on education, health and sanitation issues. For the last 16 months he has been in the coastal region as a consultant for community broadcasting, a growing phenomenon in Bangladesh. He was selected as a member of the policy formation committee for community radio in the Ministry of Information and he edited a handbook on community radio.

      Just as exciting for us, one of Bangladesh’s leading private universities is working to establish a journalism center for working journalists. Faroha attended the planning session, bringing to bear his experiences at Maryland’s own Knight Center for Specialized Journalism.

      Others report important milestones as well: Louis Ouezen Oulon (2006-2007) received Burkina Faso's medal of merit --"Chevalier de L'ordre de Merite du Burkina Faso" -- given by the state to those who demonstrate utmost commitment to their work. Ghafoor Liwal of Afghanistan has founded, and directs, a think-tank to foster peace-building. Currently he is organizing a conference in Peshawar between Pakistani and Afghan stakeholders.

      Not all Fellows can report such progress in their countries; in the developing world, media freedom sometimes takes two steps backward for every step forward. Still, journalists and Fellows often find a way to pursue their profession. Abdoulaye Ibbo-Daddy (Big Dad, Niger, 2006-2007) writes: “There have been hard moments when I was about to abandon and behave like all these journalist folks who become PR in big companies. But whenever the idea flashes my mind, I recall the Friday Seminars when we were dealing with the profession and the ethics, and I soon forget.”

      Natalia Abramov (2004-2005) faced frustration in Russia – so she is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Global Journalism in Leipzig, Germany. Others, in private messages, write of difficult reentries back home, or frustrations at the slow rate of change. But somehow, they persevere.

      Holiday wishes often come with photos and descriptions of the new “angels” in Fellows’ lives. Collins Wagumba (Kenya, 2007-2008) had to hear about the birth of his first child, Abe, while he was away on his Fellowship. Now Collins reports that he can’t take his eyes off his son, the little guy is so active, and growing fast. Collins moved to a new public institution, the Multi-Media University of Kenya, where he is a lecturer in media studies.

      Bridgette Fomunyam, of Cameroon (2006-2007), also reports she is working at a new job, having moved from Radio Cameroon to ONUCI-FM, a UN-radio based in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire.

      Saidazim Gaziev of Uzbekistan (2003-2004) is now a full-time senior monitoring journalism with BBC Monitoring, which also involves editing. He and his wife have welcomed a fourth child recently – and their fourth daughter!

      Dragana Brkovic of Montenegro (2005-2006) traveled to Austria, for extensive research at the University of Graz for my literary study about Montenegrin writer Danilo Kis and his book, “The Early Sorrows”. In October, Dragana published another book, a novel, “The Lost Seal,” which has received favorable reviews.

      Iolanda Stoica of Romania (2005-2006) is now in a European Affairs press correspondent in Strasbourg and Switzerland for The Romanian National Radio and Radio Free Europe, based in Moldova.

      Those are small excerpts of all the other news sent by alumni. We’re proud of their accomplishments.

      Thank you Fellows, for your holiday greetings, with your fond memories of your time at the University of Maryland. News from you is a wonderful gift. Reading them one almost thinks there really is a possibility for Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men.

-Lucinda Fleeson