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As we arrived at the MTN dinner for the opening of Highway Africa at the new Nelson Mandela stadium in Port Elizabeth, I was so excited about the opportunity to hear more about the 2010 FIFA world cup. Being a fan of soccer, I would not wish for more than the gift of a Vuvuzela, a South African plastic trumpet given to us by MTN to personify the first FIFA world cup on African soil.

My story is that of hundred of delegates of non governmental organisations and civil society coming from many African countries who had their first experience with the Digital Citizen Indaba and Highway Africa, making them aware of the importance of new media, networking and advocacy.

Overall I was touched by the warm welcome and greater hospitality from the organisers who allowed us to tour around Port Elizabeth, especially the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium. While this action may be taken for granted by residents of this country, for me, attending in behalf of a youth organisation from Tanzania, I can assure you that this is a dream of thousands of young boys and girls in my country.

It is sad that a World Cup organised in Africa may not be attended by many Africans, especially young ones, because of lack of information and means.
In Tanzania, information about the FIFA 2010 World Cup is not widely spread by the media. At the same time youth are interested in sport and have DSTV Supersports programs in order to watch the English Premier League.

Who is to blame? The technology is there but it seems for me people in Africa still need to think about the amazing opportunities associated with next year’s World Cup.

Speaking at the MTN dinner, the CEO of the 2010 Organising Committee, Dany Jordaan, emphasised the need for journalists attending Highway Africa to be ambassadors of this African first world class soccer event. He said, “take ownership as Africans to tell what you have seen here…do not be quiet when hostile overseas press media are talking of a plan B.”
 
He made a great speech at the right time. However, for myself and other members of the Citizen Journalism programme, it was the first time to hear about the countdown and especially the volunteer programme applications process. I am sure that if the youth in Tanzania had been informed in time about such an opportunity, they would have applied in huge numbers.

I have been working as communication officer for the Tanzanian Youth Coalition (TYC) for quite a while, and such an event is among the tools and means we are always looking for in order to give the youth a once-in-a-life-time experience, hoping to turn them out of crime, prostitution, drugs and inactivity.

There is no doubt that for some of them, it would take the opportunity to be in South Africa volunteering for the World Cup to realise that nothing is impossible in life, and that they should always keep hoping. As Jordaan said, “It took a hundred years for a FIFA world cup to be organised in Africa.”

Taking over after the Digital Citizens’ Indaba, Highway 2009 was both a celebration and an interrogation of journalism and Media, on how they are telling the story of FIFA 2010.

Overall, the conference was very fruitful to me as I learned how to empower youth and communities with the use of ICTs. As elsewhere in Africa, the youth in Tanzania are exposed to new media via cellular phones. Though Internet penetration is still weak compared to countries like South Africa and Uganda, cell phone applications can have great impact. I was amazed to learn about similar technologies utilised in rural Uganda and for HIV/AIDS advocacy and treatment.

I have no doubt that working together would help African countries with less advanced technology to use adequate means in order to tell Africans, and the youth especially, about 2010 possibilities. Africans need to take ownership and attend what needs to become the best FIFA world cup ever.

I praise the CJA for the opportunity given to us to attend this year’s conference. My interaction with peers from other organisations has raised in me curiosity about social media and cell phone applications -- free tools that I should use in my work.

Though my first encounter with the Vuvuzela was not successful as I failed to produce a sound during our two-hour drive back to Grahamstown, I am happy that I have brought it back home to Tanzania and will keep trying to blow this instrument which personifies this coming World Cup more than anything else. The experience was amazing and I will use what I have learnt to inform the youth and participate in the CJA programme.