The SMA Media Centre, Ndola Zambia, was founded by Fr Tom Casey SMA in 1999. Since then it has served as a vital hub for communication and evangelization by producing religious, catechetical and educational programmes to be used in Zambia and beyond. Here, Fr Tom shares an account of the Centre’s beginning and development over the last twenty-seven years.
My media journey began in 1998 with a year of studies in radio and television production at Kairos Communications, Maynooth, in Ireland. On returning to Zambia the following year, the Bishop of Ndola Diocese, offered me a position with Radio Icengelo. This marked the start of my involvement in media ministry.
From the early days until 2007, I focused on producing radio programs. In addition to homilies, religious topics, material for Lent and Advent, these programs also covered a wide range of subjects, including witchcraft, the plight of widows, the education system, alcoholism, drug abuse, and child abuse. From a Christian perspective, this diverse programming aimed to raise awareness of pressing societal issues and, ultimately, to promote positive change.
A milestone for the Media Centre occurred in 2006 when, in collaboration with the Franciscan Media Centre, a short video was made on the life and work of Fr. Fergus Conlon SMA, who had died in January of that year. This, our first video production, marked the beginning of a new era which recognised the potential and value of using this medium. With the assistance of Irish supporters, equipment was acquired and this facilitated the establishment of a dedicated video production section at the SMA Media Centre.
Initially our main subjects for video productions were NGOs and SMAs involved in project work in Zambia, for example, Father Anthony Kelly’s project for housing widows and orphans in Kitwe. The videos we produced supported fundraising efforts for this and for other important initiatives. Our experience also grew through providing video coverage for events such as graduations at the university in Kalulushi, the 25th anniversary of St. Dominic’s Hospital and various SMA occasions such as Ordinations and celebrations of SMA Foundation Day. A comprehensive video commemorating 50 years of the SMA in Zambia was made, featuring interviews conducted both in Zambia and Ireland, particularly with the founding fathers of the SMA mission in Zambia.
A major project, spread over many years, was the writing, recording and editing of Sunday Homilies for the full three-year Sunday cycle of Church readings – 156 recordings in all. Each sermon was produced in both audio and video versions. This dual-format approach is intended to allow an outreach to as wide and diverse an audience as possible. The videos have been distributed via Facebook, YouTube and Email. The Audio versions have a much wider outreach and, in 2024, were broadcast on 11 local Radio Stations in Zambia. For many years the homilies page on the SMA website (www.sma.ie) has been its most visited page, often achieving thousands of visits each week. Two different homilies are offered on this page – a written homily from Fr. Michael McCabe SMA and the audio recording from SMA Media Centre Ndola. These provide spiritual support and guidance to many people all around the world.Â
The SMA Media Centre, Ndola is also engaged in other areas of work. It has organised and facilitated live conferences (via Zoom) between schools in Zambia and Ireland over the past three years. These gave students in both countries an opportunity to meet, interact and experience one and other’s culture and daily life. These collaborations required substantial preparation and coordination with school authorities in both countries. In Ireland Mr. Paul O’Flynn, who works with the SMA Communications Office, has been invaluable to our efforts, bringing his expertise from years of service with Ireland’s national media outlet, RTE.
In a conscious effort to educate new communicators and media personnel the SMA Media Centre has since 1999, trained over 200 students in radio and TV production.  Among these are students from the SMA formation house in Kabwe. The Photo above shows Ernest Katema, Henry Kangwa and Jonathan Chibwe who attended an intensive course on audio and video production.  While doing this, they produced a short audio documentary and also a video about life as an SMA student. This experience and training will help to prepare them to be better communicators and, therefore, better missionaries, able to use modern means of communication effectively.  The training of these students is also essential for the continued operation of the Media Centre. Hopefully some of them will, as missionaries, be actively engaged in media ministry and future managers of the SMA Media Centre.
First published as an article in the African Missionary Newsletter, No 47, Spring-Summer 2026.Â