The data Fundi projects aims to provide Web 2.0 training to presenters from four community radio stations based in Zambia's Southern Province. The purpose of the training is to create a provincial network of presenters who will build a blogtalk radio station online, where their programs will be aired. They will also be introduced to blogging. This will give a voice to residents in those communities, who are usually ignored. Apart from state owned ZNBC, the Zambian Law does not allow radio stations to broadcast nation wide. Using this online platform, that law can not prevent a wider audience.
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Monze, Mazabuka, Choma and Livingstone
Describe the specific population with whom you will be working.
Who else will be on your team to help implement the project?
Zambian Bloggers Network members – http://zambiabloggers.blogspot.com/
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
Social issues with a bias towards health, governance and culture.
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 do not have any connections currently but working towards partnering with the Press Club of Livingstone, whose membership includes those in rural Southern Province
How many participants do you think will be trained in your project?
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
As organizer, I have formal training in Web 2.0 and I am a full time blogger and new media reporter with vast experience.
I will be working with members of the Zambian Bloggers Network, whose members, each have unique expertise such as satire bloggers, photo bloggers, cartoonists, etc.
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
Due to geographical challenges, the trainees will be trained from their radio stations using USB modems to connect to the internet.
Four presenters per radio station, therefore four computers will be made available for the training.
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?
I am currently the Publicity Secretary of the Zambia Media Women Association and work a lot with presenters from Southern Province, where I am based.
Long term dream is to expand the project to community members and the short term goal is to grow the network on social media platforms.
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
One of the biggest challenges will be online connectivity. Zambia has one of the slowest internet connections in the world, especially in remote places like Southern Province.
The other challenge will be security related. The government may try to stop this project as they don't allow national wide broadcasting.
For the first challenge, there is nothing much to be done but for the second, we will seek legal protection as Zambia has no jurisdiction over the internet.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
The project will be reviewed every fortnight and its success will be judged by the size of the audience it will attract online.
It will also be judged based on the performance of the trainees.
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2014?
60 days starting June 2, 2014 to August 2, 2014. Activities will include four two day training, setting up of the blog talk radio online and a month long boot camp aimed at building presenter's online presence.
Detail a specific budget of up to $2,500 USD for operating costs.
Four two day training – $800
Travel- $300
Internet access -$200
Coordinator expenses – $200
Equipment hire – $500
Besides the microgrant funding, what other support can Rising Voices provide for your project to ensure its success?
Twitter URL
1 comment
Interesting project.