The project seeks to equipp student activists with relevant blogging skills which would enable them to share their experiences as the vanguard of student rights. Many student activists in Zimbabwe have experienced police brutality while some have been expelled from pursuing their studies and these experiences have left many hopeless and disoriented. Through I stories they will express their anger and frustrations as a healing process and move on.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Harare
Describe the specific community with whom you will be working.
The project targets Student activists who have been enrolled at State run tertiary institutions because these usually have a peasantry or poor background. Due to their underprevileged background most activists have been used by politicians to incite violance for no gain and resultantly have been expelled from pursuing their studies. As they get expelled both political parties and their families often disown them and they have nowhere to turn to.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
The student activists will be trained in blogging and they would in turn form a Healing Cafe of the affected whereby they would share their experiences and use ICTs to help other students in similar situations to unlearn their unbearable past experiences as they seek to riseup again against all the dejection and helplessness. ‘I’ stories shall be written and photography shall be used to unlearn and rebuild one`s life.
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.
Strategic partnership shall be established with experts in Blogging who will train the selected affected student activists. ICT expects shall also be consulted to strengthen the students` capacity to utilise all other ICT packages. Pratnership shall also be sought with the Book Cafe, where students would meet and narrate their experiences before an audience. UNICEF shall be engaged to help the affected to enrol back and pursue their studies.
How many participants do you think will be involved in your project?
20 affected student activists shall be trained and shall form a group which would periodically meet to strengthen each other in unlearning their experiences and be able to move on. These trained youth shall also be responsible for reaching out to other affected student activists through various ICTs paltforms and form a critical mass of student activists who will help each other to heal. Beyond the training a healing cafe shall help to keep going
Besides the microgrant funding, what other resources and support are you seeking for your project to ensure its success?
Besides the funding Rising Voices can provide technical support in the usage of ICTs for peacebuilding as the proposed project is a part of our broader national healing process. Rising Voices can also provide platforms for linkages with other various student or peacebuilding groups across the globe as a way of experience sharing and broadening our solidarity and advocacy base for the respect of student rights and sanctity of human life.
Contact name
Douglas Tigere
Organization
Student Christian Movement of Zimbabwe