In search of unique health stories

A few strands of white hair jut from the center of William Inganga’s head. Showing intention of colonizing his head in an unpredictable pattern there are a little more near his forehead and on the left side of his head but none at the back.

Perhaps the premature signs of aging are a result of multi-tasking at the Kenya News Agency (KNA). Often he goes on assignments where he has to do the camera work, edit and produce print, radio and TV stories alone.

But journalism was not his first choice. His uncle who was a left handed pilot in the air force was going to help him become an air force pilot.. But his father would have none of that. He contemplated pursuing medicine but when he missed the university cut off mark he settled on journalism.

At the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication he took up film production and studied making motion pictures. In 1998 he was hired by KNA but their motion picture division died immediately after.

His big break came when he was asked to move to Nakuru to replace a camera man who was leaving the agency.“I finally got noticed,” he says. “I could do features on health and the environment and was no longer covering press conferences called by cabinet ministers.”
One of his most memorable stories was about HIV in prisons. It took him six months to get access and to find an HIV positive warden who was ready to tell his story. To date he is the only journalists who can enter any prison at anytime, anywhere in Kenya.

William is a 2012 Internews Health Broadcast Fellow. He hopes the fellowship will enable him to do long-form unique documentaries about health.