The project I'm proposing is simple. I would like to train up to 30 youth citizen journalists at a youth friendly NGO (asked not to be identified). I would like to train them 3 important things (1) blogging, Wikipedia, social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter (2) how to utilize them in a way that is relevant to their lives (3) how they can train their peers how to use them as well.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Phnom Penh
Describe the specific community with whom you will be working.
They are youth people from 18 years to 25 years old who live in provinces. The youth organization has networks with youths from all over Cambodia, and they have been trying hard to establish provincial citizen journalism networks, but they were not successful in doing so. I would like to work with young people because I believe that they are hungry to learn new knowledge and are in favour of social justice and change in their communities and society.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
My vision of the content the active youths will produce are: oral history of their parents going through the Khmer Rouge regime (documented in their blog), how to report through social networking and blogging pictures of their communities’ issues such as poverty, climate change and other problems, and last but not least, their goals in life as Cambodian youths, what do they hope for? I would like to help them produce texts, pictures and if possible, videos.
What technologies and digital tools do you plan to use in the trainings?
Describe the connections that you or your organization have already established that will contribute to the success of the project.
I have conducted a training workshop with (an active youth organization) youths on blogging, and have been in contact with the organization way before that. My impression of their hunger for knowledge has stayed with me till now. I cannot forget how they want to learn more and share it with their peers. The youth organization has shown strong support for me to get this funding in order to conduct this very much needed citizen journalism project. I have connections to various communities in Cambodia: tech and social.
How many participants do you think will be involved in your project?
30 active youths who will then be taught how to train other youths in their communities (training of the trainers). The youth organization will be able to provide 30 youths they deem active socially and make sure that the youth participants will be involved and then teach on what they know to their peers.
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
I've been giving training on blogging for years. What I and my partner in training would like to bring to the project is: blog training skills, Wikipedia and social media expertise. Blog will touch on Wordpress. Wikipedia will be about editing and submitting entries in Khmer and English. Social media will be about Facebook and Twitter and how to utilize Twitter.
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
The workshops will be conducted within the organization's compound. At least 20 laptops will be used. To conduct the workshop, we need good Internet connection (wifi) together with USB modems to provide to the participants. As I trained some members there before, I've observed that the organization's wifi cannot accommodate up to 30 laptops/computers.
What is your current relationship with the community with whom you plan to work? What makes you the most appropriate individual or organization to implement this project?
They're one of the most active youth organizations that do incredible work to engage youths in different activities. I have trained a lot of youths before, and I can definitely say that youths from their organization are curious to learn and passionate to share.
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
There won't be any security concerns related to this. The specific challenges that I will face will be just about the schedule between me and the trainees, the concern with facilities like laptops & internet speed. What's more is the knowledge level of the participants because not every one of them comes from the same knowledge background.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
I want to reach out to them and train them so that they will be able to train other members of their organization or their peers in the city/provinces. So more or less, this sort of training is also called “training of the trainers”.
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2013?
The best time to implement this is after April, because its the New Year month in Cambodia. People will take a break from work and study.
The workshops will be conducted on half days of 2 Saturdays and 2 Sundays.
Detail a specific budget of up to $4,000 USD for operating costs.
Internet Access: $500 (increased speed)
Travel of at least 15 participants from provinces: $1,000
Workshop costs/facilities(refreshment, preparation ect): $800
Coordinators’ expenses: $1,000
Besides the microgrant funding, what other resources and support are you seeking for your project to ensure its success?
Consultation and advice
Contact name
Kounila Keo
Organization
Kounila