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Sky News presenter to visit Zambia

Sky News presenter to visit Zambia
By Allan Mulenga
Thu 22 Oct. 2009, 17:00 CAT

UK-based Sky News presenter Lukwesa Burak will on Saturday visit Zambia where she is expected to conduct a series of charitable activities in the country.

In an interview today, Katuba Women’s Association executive director Florence Shakafuswa said Lukwesa, will during her visit launch the UK-based organisation All Stars Kids in the country before officially opening the association’s orphanage in Katuba constituency.

“Most of you know Lukwesa Burak a news caster at Sky News who will be visiting Zambia for the first time since she joined Sky News in 2006. She Lukwesa has been doing some charitable work with All Stars Kids, an NGO based in UK, but has also presence in Zambia,” Florence said. “On Monday in the morning she will visit an organisation called Umwana Kasembe before visiting a mobile school at Fountain of Hope, prisons, Misisi compound ands later on Tuesday travel to the Copperbelt.”

She urged the media organisations in the country to take advantage of Lukwesa’s visit to discuss some of the issues affecting the media fraternity.
“Since it is me who is coordinating her visit, I am also appealing to Journalists to come up with programmes that would help them benefit from Lukwesa’s visit. There are a lot of issues that they Journalists would like to share with her,” said Florence.

Lukwesa was born in Zambia in 1974, and named after her royal tribal family. Her family moved to England when she was aged eight. She joined the Royal Air Force Air Training Corps, but had to leave after injuring her leg during a football match. Lukwesa then pursued a Bachelors degree in Geography and European Studies at the University of Sussex before she was awarded a European Union scholarship to complete a Master of Science degree at the University of Leicester.

After three years in an information technology career, she started her media career as a broadcast assistant for BBC weather, and trained as a broadcast meteorologist during this time. She began broadcasting as a relief forecaster for BBC regions and nations, eventually joining BBC West Midlands as one of their permanent forecast team, before becoming the lunchtime news anchor.

Burak moved to Sky News in 2006. Her main role involves presenting Sky News overnight, with her typical shift starting at 1am and ending at 6am. During this time she presents Sky News On The Hour and then Sky World News from 04:00 – 06:00, which caters for audiences within Europe, Asia and Africa

posted by MrK @ 5:27 PM