The project will engage indigenous Mbororo women in Akeh Village in the North West Region of Cameroon to voice out the local challenges their community is experiencing due to the adverse effects of climate change using citizen outreach media. We hope to attract actions both locally and internationally to support their adaptation efforts. We intend to offer capacity building on the use of audio recorders, camcorders and other ICT tools for the women to develop their own stories. Their stories will be shared through the Community Radio and online to support their community advocacy efforts.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Akeh Village
Describe the specific population with whom you will be working.
We have working with this women group through their grassroots organization called Akeh Fulani Mbororo Women/Farmer Grazer Common Initiative Group (AFMWFG-CIG) whose mission is promoting adaptive livestock production and farming activities amongst the indigenous Mbororo women for socioeconomic empowerment in the face of local challenges related to scarce natural resources and climate change. We have organized an Action Planning Workshop with them in the past in which strategies to solve their problems locally were identified. They are little known online and have never benefited from any initiative. Through our efforts we started making them known through a web site for indigenous tribes called indigy.org. Their level of computer literacy is amongst the lowest in the country.
Who else will be on your team to help implement the project?
We are going to work directly with the community through our organization called the Society for the Promotion of Initiatives in Sustainable Development and Welfare (SOPISDEW). We are recruiting citizen media volunteers from the university of Bamenda to work with us. We will also engage other computer literate women from our community to volunteer in the project.There is a community member who is a broadcaster for the Community Radio in the indigenous language and doubles as the leader of their community development platform called the Akeh Mbororo Community Development Association (AMCODA). ICT volunteers include Kengah Walters Bayoh (https://www.facebook.com/kengah.bayol) and Kengah Emile N (https://www.facebook.com/vankemilo)
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
Our vision is to develop community made advocacy messages for citizen media, therefore we will focus our training on how the women can record and present information relevant to the problems of climate change and local indigenous communities. The output will be short audio and video messages, plus pictures presenting the local problems and adaptation solutions that can be working in the resilient zones.
What technologies and digital tools do you plan to use in the trainings?
Describe the connections that you or your organization have already established or plan to establish that will contribute to the success of the project.
We have organized an Action Planning Workshop with them in the past in which strategies to solve their problems locally were identified. Through our efforts we started making them known through a web site for indigenous tribes called indigy.org. We even facilitated the creation of a community development platform for all the community members called the Akeh Mbororo Community Development Association (AMCODA). The community trusts our efforts and we are effectively engaged in a partnership to support and accompany them in their development efforts.
How many participants do you think will be trained in your project?
50 women will be trained in the project. They will be engaged through their already existing grassroots organization. Through our efforts, they are holding meetings on weekly bases. When we started work with the women, their membership stood at 22, but now it stands at 50. Young educated women with a secondary school attendance profile now constitute part of the indigenous women's grassroots organization we are working with.
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
We will use digital cameras, audio and voice recorders, laptops, internet connection USB Modems and the Community Radio during our training. Our organization has volunteers in professional schools who are ready to work with us. We will also depend on the production services of the community radio and the Oku Community Multipurpose Telecentre to implement the project. The radio staff have training in many media programs especially field reporting. The community radio has a wider coverage. The laptops and the other equipment are portable so our actions can also be demonstrated in the local village community. The community has mobile telephone network coverage so the internet connection USB Modems will be suitable for online activities in the village.
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
We will use the Oku Community Multipurpose Telecentre for the training. The centre has 15 desktop computers connected to the internet via Dial-Up and USB modems. The average connection speed is 350 MBPS. There is space for each person to have access to a single computer. We also have 10 laptops that can support more trainees. Therefore we can train 25 persons during a single session.
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?
We are partners of the community. We are the most appropriate to work with them because we understand their language and can translate the contents. We are equally located within a common administrative unit. With our past work having a positive impact, we intend to offer follow-up services and retraining to the members whenever they have difficulties. In reality, we are their sustainability plan of action.
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
The major problem is that of the local language. Though basically we understand their language, part of our team will be their community member who is a radio broadcaster. He will help present the training in a more easy and understandable way. Another problem will be mobility. The community is enclave. We will trek to reach them for the planning meeting. We can use hired bikes for their timely relocation to the training facility. Another fear could be the non use of electronics by a good number of the women. In this light other women who are not from the community will be engaged as volunteers to work and accompany them in the training.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
We will conduct a practical assessment of participants after the training. We will also ask set up a project committee to monitor the quality of the training and report to us. Through interactive radio programs we will be able to judge the impacts of the training. The judgement will be done after the broadcasts. We will also publish the developed materials online for the wider community to download, watch or listen and comment through social networks we will create for this purpose. We will also monitor the project through the level of support for the issues being redressed through funding and networks created.
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2014?
July 2014-Local administrative contacts and lunching of the project, acquisition of project materials and equipment, Planning Meeting with stakeholders and project team.
August 2014-Setting up of training facility, Training of first 25 indigenous women, engagement of trainees in field activities, online sharing of project activities and results
September 2014-Training of last 25 indigenous women, evaluation of media produced by first set of trained women, engagement of second set of trainees in field activities,online sharing of project
October 2014-Evaluation of activities from second set of trainees, online sharing of project results, First general combined evaluation of activities
November 2014-January 2015- Field collection and on air and online sharing of citizen media
February 2015- July 2015-Refresher and follow-up, final report to sponsor
Detail a specific budget of up to $2,500 USD for operating costs.
25 Flash drives and memory cards-$250
4 Digital Cameras-$500
4 Voice recorders-$300
Production-$100
Internet access-$150
Workshop costs-$500
Travel-$200
Coordination expenses-$100
Besides the microgrant funding, what other support can Rising Voices provide for your project to ensure its success?
We will be happy to be linked to networks that will help further promote the aspirations of these indigenous women community. We will also like to receive recommendations that will permit us get more support for projects that have wider impact on the community.
Contact name
Tah Kennette Konsum
Organization
The Society for the promotion of Initiatives in Sustainable Development and Welfare (SOPISDEW) Cameroon