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Chonjo means ‘alert’ and ‘ready’ in Kiswahili, which fits our goal at Chonjo.
Our feature articles cover a diverse range of subjects from preserving cultural heritage to eating out, from sanitation to dhow excursions, and from conserving marine life to travel tips. We also have regular columns devoted to history, the arts, fishing and sanitation plus tide tables and moon calendar, a local directory and community notice board. From time to time, Chonjo includes profiles of individuals who have contributed to enhancing the quality of life in the area.
Chonjo magazine was launched in 2006 at the occasion of the Lamu Cultural Festival in November of that year. Chonjo began as Lamu Chonjo, a magazine featuring news and information about Lamu, Kenya, an island community off the north coast of Kenya. In 2009, the focus of the magazine enlarged to encompass the entire north coast reaching as far as Watamu in the south to Lamu in the north and including Malindi. Thus, Lamu Chonjo became simply Chonjo.
Inside Chonjo
Our feature articles cover a diverse range of subjects from preserving cultural heritage to eating out, from sanitation to dhow excursions, and from conserving marine life to travel tips. We also have regular columns devoted to history, the arts, fishing and sanitation plus tide tables and moon calendar, a local directory and community notice board. From time to time, Chonjo includes profiles of individuals who have contributed to enhancing the quality of life in the area.Our Goal
Chonjo’s aim is to encourage a readership of civic-minded individuals who wish the region to develop while preserving our fragile coastal environment. UNESCO’s recognition of Lamu as a World Cultural Heritage Site for its ‘outstanding value to humanity’ is also a reminder of the need to make wise as well as innovative decisions about our social and economic development in order to preserve the cultural identity of the region. We at Chonjo believe that knowledge empowers people.
Who we are
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| Chonjo Community Action Group working on map for issue 1 |
Chonjo was started by a group of civic-minded individuals living in Lamu who understand the need for regular access to information in order to participate in wise decision-making for the development of the area. We believe that information is the key to making responsible decisions in our lives, whether they are decisions concerning business, town planning, education, health and safety, family life or simply leisure activities.
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| Members on Lamu seafront |
We started by starting a community-based organization: Chonjo Community Action Group (CCAG), which launched the magazine and supported its beginnings. Later, Chonjo Publishers, a private company was formed to continue the work begun. Currently, CCAG is assisting a new media project, Kauli ya Lamu, a broadsheet for Lamu written in Kiswahili. Kauli is distributed freely to communities on Lamu Island.
Hadija Bwanaadi Ernst
Managing editor