A five-day media training workshop for some Religious Sister Communicators from the southern part of Ghana is currently underway at the SMA Provincial House in Accra.
The Training which began on December 19, is aimed at equipping the participants with skills in the field of communication and journalism to be able to communicate the activities of their various congregations across the country.
The Workshop organised by the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious, Ghana (CMSRG) for Sisters in the southern part of Ghana started from Monday, December 19 and would end on Friday, December 23, 2022.
The 13 participants, drawn from various Religious Congregations will be developing their writing skills to tell their own stories on projects and programmes.
They will also be expected to promote strategic visibility of the Conference to its Stakeholders and Funding/Donor Partners while establishing a continuous framework to update their knowledge in media and communication activities.
They will as well learn how to interview, avoid common mistakes, and focus on delivering key messages to a targeted audience while they learn about photography and videography as well as the effective use of Social Media for evangelisation.
The Sisters at the end of the training will assist other members of their Congregations and the CMGRG to understand media planning and prepare effectively in representing the Conference in the Media.
Speaking at the opening on December 19, Executive Secretary of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious, Ghana (CMSRG), Sr. Theodora Adzayawo, SMMC, charged Religious Sisters in Ghana to strive to tell the untold positive stories of their various congregations.
She noted that the Conference saw the need to train sisters in the field of communication and journalism to gain the bases for writing good stories for their various congregations.
The participating congregations are Holy Cross Sisters, Sisters of St. Louis, Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church, Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary, Handmaids of the Divine Redeemer of Accra, Sisters of Infant Jesus, Sisters of Notre Dame de L’Eglise and Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit.
The Participants were taken through Introduction to Journalism/Mass Communication, Basics of News Writing, Structure of News Story (Writing of Leads, quotations, transitions), House Style of Catholic News Agencies, Use Effective Social Media for Evangelisation, Use of audio/video.
Other areas being treated at the ongoing media training are Photography/Videography (How to use phones to take good photos & videos), Facebook Live streaming, Feature Writing, Legal/Ethical issues, Interviewing Skills, Writing of Photo Captions.
The training comes after the Most Rev. Henryk M. Jagodzinski, Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana in October this year stressed on the need for the Catholic Church in Ghana to be more visible in all parts of the country.
Interacting with members of the Conference of Major Superiors during their Bi-annual Meeting at Koforidua on October 12, 2022, the Nuncio said the Church needs to intensify its visibility by publicising their activities that were having positive impacts on Ghanaians.
The facilitators of the training are Mr. Robert Dela Yao Mawuenyagah, Mr. Damian Dieu Donne Avevor and Mr. Ernest Senanu Dovlo of Global NewsWatch Media and Communications.
The Conference of Major Superiors of Religious, Ghana , the organisers of the Media Training, is made up of both men and women leaders of the Catholic Religious Congregations in Ghana. It was established on August 23, 2013 when Rome recognised the group as a body in the church in Ghana. Before then, there were two separate Conferences for women and men.
It is to promote deeper collaboration between the leaders of the congregations in Ghana so that no superior will feel isolated in her/his ministry. Opportunities are therefore given through communication, workshops, and meetings to support the ministry of leadership in the face of current challenges. The Conference convenes twice in the year – March and October.
Presently, the Conference is composed of about seventy (70) members of both men and women religious. The membership of the Conference while expressing the diversity of charisms and cultures promotes the common identity of those who follow Christ in the Apostolic Religious Life to proclaim the Kingdom.
The CMSG has a relationship with the Catholic Bishops Conference of Ghana. Since formation is the key to the growth of religious life, the Conference has taken initiatives in supporting its subsidiary groups/institutions – ICF, NARF, JPIC ARUG, etc. for the promotion and development of formation.
It has a vision to be a vibrant, formidable and prophetic Catholic Missionary body in Ghana collaboratively responding to the signs of the times through sustainable programs towards the positive transformation of society and a mission to effectively strengthen Catholic Religious Institutes in Ghana and to foster their missionary engagements through collaboration with relevant stakeholders towards the integral development of the human person (integral: advocacy, spiritual, education, health and well-being of persons).
It shares Faith, Dedication, Integrity, Collaboration, Transparency and Accountability as its core values.
By Sr. Theodora Adzayawo, Sr. Jennifer A. Aikins, Sr. Michelle Ankrah, Sr. Dorcas Sampson, Sr. Christina Esi Aidoo and Sr. Sylvie Lum Cho
