DELT teaches art of production in Africa

Equipped with vaccinations, medications and cultural awareness training two members of Memorial’s Distance Education and Learning Technologies (DELT) team landed in Malawi, Africa, in January. Kevin O’Leary, producer/director, and Mark Shallow, production technologist, travelled to Africa on a training mission as part of the Marine Institute’s (MI) $1.5 million Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security project.

The project represents a partnership between the Fisheries and Marine Institute and the Malawi College of Fisheries, the training entity of the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Mines, Natural Resources and Environment.

The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC-UPCD Branch) administers the partnership project with financial support ($1 million) largely contributed by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The collaboration will help the Ministry of Mines, Natural Resources and Environment move closer to achieving its goal of environmental sustainability and resulting positive impact on the population of Malawi’s coastal communities.

In Malawi, fisheries supply about 75 per cent of the nation’s dietary animal protein and employ approximately 250,000 people in catching, processing and marketing. In the past decade, the total catch decreased from 70,000 tons per year to 45,000 tons largely because of over-exploitation and post-harvest loss.

“One of our goals is to work with the Malawi College of Fisheries (MCF) to expand its mandate and its capacity to deliver training in post harvest processing, thus reducing post-harvest losses,” explained Kelly Moret, International Project Officer, MI International.

“To do this involves awareness raising initiatives at all levels including mid-level fisheries officers down to the grassroots community level. Based on preliminary activities in the fishing villages the project team realized that one of the most effective methods for delivering training to large groups would be through video. Through funding provided by the African Development Bank, the Department of Fisheries had purchased two media production vehicles. Although the College had the equipment to broadcast training videos in the field the staff lacked the knowledge and skills to develop and produce training videos relevant to their local context and the villages’ specific training needs. Once we identified the training gaps for the College staff we called on the expertise of Kevin and Mark (DELT) to provide much needed video production and editing training.”

With this knowledge, it was down to business for the two DELT employees almost immediately upon arrival. With a thorough lesson plan prepared they had only two weeks to cover a lot of ground. Mr. O’Leary began the first week teaching his primary skill-set, video production.

“We started off very elementary with the functions of the camera and progressively moved through to program development. In fact, we tasked them with developing their own script for a short program. Quite appropriately they decided to make their college the focus of their task. The end result would be a short promotional video of the College Prospectus”

During the second week Mr. Shallow concentrated on digital editing.

“I began slowly with how to start the software and run a program then moved into capturing and digitizing footage. Then we actually put together the video they shot during the end of week one,” he explained.

“I gave technical advice about how to assemble the video and Kevin helped with the content and creative decisions. On the last day we premiered the video for the whole college. It was very exciting for all involved.”

Both Mr. O’Leary and Mr. Shallow agreed the language barrier caused only minor issues. Although the local language is Chichewa, Mark pointed out College staff spoke English very well and the hands-on aspect really helped with overcoming any barriers.

“It was quite clear whether or not they were grasping the material when we asked them to physically do what we were teaching.”

Mr. O’Leary described the MCF group as very enthusiastic to work with.

“They openly discussed topics, and gave each other positive feedback and assistance. I am confident that they will be able to carry on with the groundwork we have established, and grow from there.”

Mr. O’Leary and Mr. Shallow returned to Newfoundland and Labrador on Feb. 4, 2007. Exhausted and happy to be home, they both said it is something they would definitely do again.

“We have so many things in common,” Mr. O’Leary commented. “It is almost eerie to look at our province’s fishing history and the depletion of our fish stocks, and experience first-hand what the people in Malawi are going through right now,” said Mr. O’Leary.

“Their in-shore, small boat fishery is suffering so the government is building them bigger boats to go farther out on the lake. This path sounds familiar to anyone involved in the Newfoundland fishery. It is gratifying to be able to contribute to an effort to increase awareness and with the goal of ensuring environmental sustainability.”

Project manager Kelly Moret reports the video training was a definite highlight for the project as the College was able to produce a video which can be used not only to highlight the college’s capacity in fisheries extension but also video production. In response to the training Moret stated “Kevin and Mark did an exemplary job in what can only be described as a very challenging work environment.”

She added that she looks forward for future collaborations with DELT “there is incredible talent and expertise contained within the DELT unit, we look forward to future training and production opportunities with the Department.”