Twenty Catholic Sisters from ten Women Religious Congregations in Ghana have been oriented on the Significance of Developing Media and Communication Skills in a webinar as part of a project initiative to equip Sisters to tell their stories as they spread the Gospel of Christ.
The project being the brain child of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious, Ghana with financial support from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, a U.S.A charitable foundation established in 1944 by the hotel entrepreneur is to train Sisters to acquire the requisite skills to project their mission in this contemporary era.
The Project is being implemented on behalf of the CMSR-GH by the  Sisters of Mother of the Church (SMMC) with Sr. Cecilia Afari, SMMC the Project Coordinator.
The March 6, 2024 webinar organised as part of a Media and Communications Project training saw the participation Catholic women Religious Sisters from the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus (HHCJ), Daughters of the Most Holy Trinity (FST), Society of the Infant Jesus (SIJ), Sisters of St Louis (SSL), Handmaids of the Divine Redeemer (HDR), Sisters of the Incarnate Word (SVI), Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary (MSHR), Notre Dame de l’Eglise (NDE), Sisters of Mary Immaculate (SMI) and Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church (SMMC).
Briefing the Sister participants about the project at the webinar, Sr. Afari stated that “This project is the brain child of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious, Ghana with an objective to train 20 women religious in communication and to register a network of women communicators in Ghana.”
She explicitly enumerated the objectives as training of 20 Sister Communicators in news reporting, acquiring documentary film making equipment and registration of communication network for Sister Communicators in Ghana.
She encouraged Sister Participants to put in their best to make the training sessions successful so that the funding agency, would appreciate the support given to the Sisters.
The Sister participants were very much appreciative of the initiative and thanked the facilitators for their input.
The 18-months project is expected to be completed by *February, 2025* . The training agency is the Global NewsWatch Media and Communications, Ghana.
Orienting the Sister Communicators, Mr. Benjamin Alpha Aidoo, a Communications Professional with a particular forte in Communication Strategy and Media Relations Influence, highlighted the need to explore the traditional and digital media by using social media as a tool to enhance visibility in their Evangelisation drive.
One key thing he emphasised was the skill one needs to develop when it comes to preparation for interviews and the tact involved in answering difficult questions which are of key interests to the general public.
On her part, Mrs. Esohe Olajide, Esq, a Lawyer with great passion for Communication also took the Sisters through effective communication as a key component of getting into the media space.
She was fascinated about the interest of the Sisters to venture into media relations but reiterated “social media is a powerful tool to explore but abide by the rules of the media, handle and avoid any abuse of others as you do your work”.
The virtual meeting was moderated by Mr. Robert Dela Mawuenyegah, Executive Director of Global NewsWatch Media and Communications with Rev. Fr. Kwame Gbortsu, SMA, who helped the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church to develop the project concept note and Mr. Damian Avevor, Supervising Editor of Newswatchgh.com, an online news portal of Global NewsWatch Media and Communications participating.
By Sr. Gifty Anastasia Blewu, SMMC//Newswatcgh.com
