Cambodia: There are many ways to communicate together and with the world, but the thing is to communicate in the right way. Misinformation is miscommunication. Today, World Association for Christian Communities (WACC) is gathering the secular communicators to explore global experience with the world.

A delegate from Ecuador addresses a question to Joanne Sandler, Deputy Executive Director – Program, UNIFEM.

Cape Town: “We are free today because you supported us. Our victory is your victory. Our freedom in many ways is your freedom."

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu

World Association of Christian Communication opened its 2008 Congress today with dancing, drumming, and celebration. 300 delegates from over 70 countries gathered to hear stories, share experiences, and deepen their communication skills and knowledge throughout the five-day event.

India Folk media like theatre, fair and festivals, folk songs and folk dances are deeply rooted in the socio cultural mores of the society. Through observation and interviews , the attitude of a person can be presented but through folk songs the real motives and spontaneous expression of the people can be shaped.

I conducted a study in a remote village of India, to present portrayal of women by collecting and analyzing folk songs with special reference to sex discrimination patterns within the family. Interviews with women showed a clear picture of women in contrast to men.

Argentina: Media creates our reality, which today is filled with all kinds of conflicts; human, technological, etc. Being a Christian social communicator in the face of such a large media sphere is not easy, and is even harder when one is young.

The World Christian Student Federation (WSCF) is aware of this, and this is why we encourage alternative means of communication. "Communicating peace is communication for change." One of the most important challenges for Christians is to encourage and train communities on this path.

For five days, global communicators, academics, politicians, peace advocates among others, will attend WACC’s Congress to exchange ideas about communication and peace. How can we nurture, grow and share peace? What does Communicating Peace mean? For me, it's pointless to preach about Peace when it's absent from our hearts.

African journalists will obviously anticipate fruitful exchanges and wonderful memories from the Congress. Certainly, they will leave the Congress fully convinced, this world can be changed. It only needs a strong social conscience.
 

Even as we talk peace, the Congress will be time for reunion for some people and connecting with new colleagues. Catching up! For others, it will be the first time to meet, to lay foundation for building viable communities, in the spirit of peace. It will be a Congress full of memories, sun blasted memories that we will carry in our hearts and minds for along time!.

Munyaradzi Makoni is a Zimbabwean journalist now based in South Africa.

India: Today, we are living in an age of tension, conflict, information explosion and much else besides. Information these days is being managed, packaged and then communicated. As a consequence, it dwindles into disinformation and misinformation. Rarely does it qualify as information fr peace.

Mahatama Gandhi’s message regarding peace was simple, though difficult to drive home his point. Once someone asked Gandhi,” what is the way to peace?” He quickly answered “Peace is the Way”. What Gandhi meant was that a peace is the end; the means must also be peaceful.

Men have to learn that violence breeds violence. That is why, Gandhi in his own time and we in contemporary times have to learn the lesson that terror, violence, bloodshed or means like that can never bring us a jot nearer to peace. We welcome the theme of WACC 2008 Congress. i.e. “communication is Peace” and hope it will communicate the message of peace to the whole world.

Santosh Kumar Tripathi

Nigeria: Journalists For Christ (JFC), the organization for Christian journalists and allied professionals in Nigeria, organized a seminar ahead of WACC's global Congress to draw attention to the issues slated for the Congress which will be held in Cape Town South Africa, 6-10 October.

Speaking at the International Press Centre (IPC) in Lagos where the pre-WACC Congress seminar was held, Saturday 20 September, Ogba-Ikeja, National coordinator of JFC and Lekan Otufodunrin, Editor of the Sunday Nation newspaper, briefed participating journalists about the global body, its aims and objectives and the need for membership drive in Nigeria.