By Nafisatu Olayinka Deen
Freetown/Illinois, 17th April 2026- Students from Fourah Bay College (FBC), University of Sierra Leone, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have jointly won Gold Distinction in the Multimedia Category at the 2026 Festival of Visual and Interactive Media, organized by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC).
The award recognized their collaborative documentary project on period poverty, produced under the initiative Illinois Partnership for African Women’s Health Narratives. The film spotlighted Uman Tok, a Sierra Leonean women-led nonprofit tackling menstrual health challenges.
The project, completed in Sierra Leone last year, brought together past and current students from FBC’s Department of Journalism and Media Studies and Illinois’ Journalism Department. Through film, podcasts, and digital storytelling, the team captured powerful narratives while also sharing cultural exchanges, friendships, and everyday experiences.
Among the awardees are Amadu Lamrana Bah, Stella Fredricka Bangura, Elena Cleary, Nafisatu Olayinka Deen, Nathan Gonzalez, Richelle Gunawan, Adama Nuhu Jalloh, Alpha Janneh, Aminata Kamara, Kelfala Kargbo, Maggie Knutte, Rose-Lyn Koroma, Faith Lee, Nour Longi Piper Pascarella, Sam Rink, Stephanie Wayda, and Hanna Aba Yankson.
Special congratulations were extended to Amadu Lamrana Bah, Nafisatu Olayinka Deen, Kelfala Kargbo, and Alpha Janneh of Truth Media, along with Aminata Kamara of SLIK TV, for their outstanding contributions.
The recognition highlights the growing impact of cross-border collaborations in journalism education, while amplifying Sierra Leone’s role in global conversations on health, dignity, and women’s empowerment.
