Children's Press Bureau gives voice to voiceless in Zambia

By Pryce Hadley, 16, and Claire Smith, 17, with contributions from Lauren Belpedio, 13; Marty Gray, 11, and Megan Maas, 13.

In 2005, a group of youth advocates in Zambia, Africa pursued a dream to give voice to the millions of children in their country whose opinions had been largely overlooked by society. A year later, they have made their dream a reality.

The Children's Press Bureau is a youth journalism program that was formed by Youth Media, an organization that produces Trendsetters, a magazine by youth for an audience of their peers. Unlike Trendsetters, the CPB aims to make youth views and concerns known to policy makers, leaders and others in charge of child welfare.

"We saw ourselves building a team of child reporters for the first time in Zambia. And today, we have 77 young people under our project in Lusaka and 44 in Mazabuka comprising of both urban and rural children," said Prisca Sikana, the CPB Advocacy Program Manager.

In January 2005 while the CPB was still in the planning stages, staff from CPB visited youth news bureaus in the U.S. to learn best practices. Those bureaus include 8-18 Media, Children's PressLine in New York City and Y-Press in Indianapolis.

The CPB strives to empower the opinion of children by focusing on five major issues: education, civic participation, health, poverty and protection. The young journalists' stories are published in the country's three national newspapers and broadcast on a regional radio station. They've been invited to press conferences, interviewed politicians, and have even attended a conference on Children's Rights in Lima, Peru. Though the CPB has come a long way in a short time, it hasn't been easy.

"It's been pretty hard to make people take the kids seriously in the field," Sikana said. "At first people thought our kids were just playing around with recording equipment. As time went by, people started approaching us telling us of how wonderful it was to be interviewed by our kids because they were organized, professional and mature. It's a great achievement because people do recognize that children can also run a news agency."

Not only have the interviewees been impressed with the progress of CPB, its journalists have as well.

Sixteen-year-old reporter, Malenga Mulendena says CPB has gone beyond her expectations.

"I thought it would be not like a serious press bureau because it would be like children in the press bureau, Mulendena said. "But it's more than that. It's like a real job. We're not treated like children. We come in and work just like any real journalist does."

CPB requires members to work in the office between six and nine hours a week, which can be hard to fit in with busy school schedules and transportation issues.

Jack Lengwe, 16, an administrative editor intern at the Lusaka bureau believes that the program's mission is worth the challenges.

"The basic concept of CPB is that it brings issues that are affecting children to national agenda," Lengwe said. "So we're giving a voice to the voiceless children.

"The CPB, being the first of its kind here in Zambia and most of our neighboring countries, is playing such a spearheading role because we are in the forefront of delivering young peoples' views to the national media. We're contributing to the betterment of children's lives. So I think that's very important."

Of the five major focuses of CPB, Lengwe believes child protection and participation are the most important.

"I believe because children are the future leaders, they have to lead normal and full happy lives," he said. "So they need protection and also participation because in Africa children aren't given that platform to express themselves fully, and all decisions that are taken are usually taken without them involved."

In the past year CPB has produced stories on topics such as health safety in schools, child abduction, child abuse laws, busy mothers, pollution, and school transportation. Two CPB reporters and one editor also attended the World Congress on Children's Rights in Lima, Peru.

Reporter Lovely Kayombo, 17, of the Lusaka bureau, attended the Congress. After he returned from Peru, he spoke at a joint Children's Press Bureau and Child Right's Club press briefing.

"We have the capacity to fight for our rights," he was quoted in an article by the Zambia Daily Mail. "We know what we want, and adults should facilitate. Seventy percent of Zambian children come from poor families. These children do not have access to education and quality health care. As future leaders how do you expect them to become better leaders of tomorrow?"

As CPB members address such topics, they in turn gain valuable experience.

"We are learning a lot of skills in the Press Bureau, and we're getting involved in our country on the things that affect us, like taking responsibility for ourselves and our fellow Zambians. I never watched the news, but right now I'm really interested in reading the papers and watching the news and trying to get what's happening in Zambia," Mulendena said.

Lengwe learns from the people he meets in CPB.

"Every day you get to meet new people, and that presents you with challenges in the sense that you learn from their experiences, they learn from yours, and it's an every day package full of surprises," he said.

Looking to the future, Sikana hopes to expand upon the solid base that the CPB has created and bring it to the next level.

"I am looking forward to a time when CPB will be treated like any other news agency operating worldwide," Sikana said. "The fact that it is run by children doesn't make it less a news agency."

In the past year the CPB has been brought from a dream to a reality and have made children's voices heard in Zambia, but Sikana looks toward the future with even greater goals in mind - a fully functional news agency, known not only across Zambia, but the world at large.