The Ibani Language is the mother tongue of the Ibani people found in Bonny and Opobo Communities in Rivers State, Nigeria. The language is Endangered. We proposed to train and equip as many as possible Ibani youths and adults with skills to effectively write the language and teach others using social media. Lets Speak Ibani is our facebook group page doing this for more than a year now, we hope give more tools to our people and engage them more.
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Bonny Island, Rivers State, Nigeria
Describe the specific community with whom you will be working.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
1. A rich content for the speaking(pronunciation) and writing of Ibani videotaped and made downloadable.
2. A more viable use of Ibani on social media
3. short drama clips that will engage, entertain and teach Ibani
4. A viable group of better equipped speakers and writers who would impact on society.
5. content for local radio
6. We can also record anecdotes, proverbs and cultural music for our members.
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.
The Ibani Language Vanguard Group has been created to pursue the Lets Speak Ibani initiative. We have approached linguists from the University of Port Harcourt who have agreed in principle to provide us with the need professional input and global best practices in language revitalization. If we hold this workshop, we can go ahead to hold a larger conference bringing stakeholders to look at a bigger picture towards keeping Ibani alive.
How many participants do you think will be involved in your project?
Based on the interest from our fb group, we think we can train at least 200 participants in a pilot scheme. We can sustain their participation by providing future courses and materials and further enhancing their value by organizing community events where they are trainers training trainers. Local councils in these communities need people with their newly acquired skills and they can become part time employees. Any thing is possible.
Besides the microgrant funding, what other resources and support are you seeking for your project to ensure its success?
Rising voice can the Lest Speak Ibani initiative by supporting the establishment of language centers in both communities and the production of a wider resource for the people. This will require greater capital, time and resources and we don't expect Rising Voices to bear the burden alone. We intend to begin advocacy drives within the communities and friends of the ibani to achieve this and would appreciate your support.
Organization
Ibani Language Vanguard Group
