MALAWI: AMECEA trains ICT Officers
Episcopal Conference of Malawi National and diocesan Information Communication Technology (ICT) officers have undergone a four days training at the Catholic Secretariat in Lilongwe to improve their knowledge on Website development and management for communication and evangelization in the church.
The training was facilitated by the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA), a Catholic Service Organization for the National Episcopal Conferences of the nine countries in Eastern Africa.
The idea originated from the 18th AMECEA Plenary Assembly held in Lilongwe, Malawi in 2014 whereby Bishops of AMECEA resolved to explore the use of new media for the purpose of evangelization
Commenting on the necessity of the training, Bernard Mberere, ICT Coordinator at AMECEA Secretariat said he expects that the training will have a positive impact and improve the Catholic Church online presence in communication and evangelization at diocesan and national level.
“The training will empower the ICT personnel to be able to create or administer their Websites and post information related to their diocese for the purposes of communication and evangelization not only to their conference or diocese but the whole world,” Mberere said.
Speaking for ECM, National Communications Secretary, Rev. Fr. Godino Phokoso said that as the world is going digital and many people are using social media, the Bishops in the country also support and promote the use of the new media in the church hence the welcoming of the training.
“AMECEA Plenary resolved that Conferences and dioceses should engage another gear in the evangelization of the people. The training will help all dioceses in the country in Website development and management as each and every diocese has a Website and we now say in this digital era, a diocese without a website is not visible,” said Fr. Phokoso
Representing the participants of the training, Innocent Nazombe Website administrator andDirector of Tuntufwe Radio station of Karonga diocese said the training was an eye opener as it is introducing participants to theoretical and practical knowledge of how Websites are developed and administered.
“This will help us improve the Websites of our dioceses. We are also living in a global village, what is happening in Karonga has to be shared with the world. Our partners who fund the activities we do need to know what’s happening with the resources they give us and the Website is one of our accountability tool hence this training is very helpful,” he said
The four days training was attended by Communication and ICT officers from all the eight dioceses in the country and staff from ECM communications commission.
By: Stella Zulu, ECM
