We have reached the end of the training phase of Studio Edirisa. We began the blog exactly five months ago and prepared the first podcast a week ago. When we restart in September, Studio Edirisa will need to be different and better - and you can help us achieve that.

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In 2002, British American Tobacco Uganda (BATU), in conjunction with one of the most popular night clubs in Uganda, Club Silk, organised the Rave and Soul street jam that had droves of teenagers puffing away to Benson and Hedges cigarettes. This was disturbing though considering that the youth below 18 years are not allowed in Ugandan night clubs.

Such has been the tobacco companies negative marketing drives in Africa. When they mix entertainment with their promotions, the youth are the ones who fall for it. What, with some free prizes given for the one who buys the most packets. In The Guardian the highly criticised Bannatyne attack on tobacco gives a sneak peek on this.

Written by Arthur Baranga

Time Magazine this week summarises the eight leadership lessons of Nelson Mandela - a textbook material for any young African who aspires to something greater. This article about the 90-year-old icon shows us how to (1) inspire others by hiding our fear, (2) take big risks and get others on board, (3) gently lead others in the desired direction, (4) understand and appreciate our enemies, (5) keep rivals in our circle of influence, (6) smile, (7) accept complexity and be practical, (8) quit on time.

Our pilot podcast is ready for your ears! If you would like to hear how Studio Edirisa feels as a radio show, click on this link and get the 5 MB file. We have cut the music down and compressed as much as we possibly could to make the download easier for you.

For more on the topics discussed, please click on the images below:

We regret to announce that all the announcements in the pilot (music in Dar es Salaam, Kampala film, writers in Mombasa) are made up…

We politely ask you for some comments - click on the “Comments” below. Do you like the format, the approach? (Please do not focus on the technical quality, we are yet to buy better equipment.) Thank you!

We asked some young people on the streets of Kabale what they would expect from a partner… There is more to this (click here) »

‘What on mars is going on?’ This might be the thoughts of the Martians as NASA explorer drills its way down through the surface. For many years now NASA has put in huge amounts of money in quest of exploring Mars, the planet in our solar system most similar to the earth.   On the 19th of June their newest rover, ‘Phoenix Lander’, announced the discovery of ice water.

‘What on earth are you people doing?,’ some critics of such missions are asking. After all, could the money not be spent in a way more useful than sending it to outer space? For social projects, maybe? To help fight diseases and poverty, for example?

But maybe the critics are missing the bigger picture. Maybe the exploration of extraterrestrial life and living conditions will matter, not to one man, but to mankind… one day that is.

So while we keep discussing and the rovers keep drilling, the Martians out there will probably keep wondering who is intruding into their world.

Written by Angelika Manhart
Illustration by Aljosa Ferk

Do not miss the current issue of the National Geographic Magazine! It has a dramatic story about the seven mountain gorillas killed in Eastern Congo a year ago. In short: it reportedly wasn’t about rebels, it was about illegal charcoal trade. The gorillas were shot to harm a ranger who wanted to protect the forests.

We have not checked on our Obama for a while, so how could we possibly miss the new black-versus-black episode?

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Nowadays, is the most used search engine on the web. Do you want to know why experts think it is so successful? The New York Times posted an analysis on that topic.

Land in Kabale is getting so scarce that we have decided to use our roads to plant potatoes. Our pilot project: the road to Lake Bunyonyi!

Seriously, whoever is in charge of this should be fired. Some days ago they “repaired” the entire road - with soil, not murram. It looked and felt wonderful during the dry week. But yesterday the rains made a total mess. By night three cars got stuck in the middle of the hill and only 4WD cars could make it.

Today it’s sunny again, it has all dried up, but the issue has not gone away. One of the roads critical for Uganda’s tourism (and therefore money inflow) has been a disaster for years.