Humans of Zambia is a social media platform for tourism and lifestlye information for different parts of Zambia. It will have daily updates from all corners of Zambia, talking about anything and everything – Climate Change, Tourist hotspots, Development Issues, Poor people asking for help, Beautiful random pictures that will portray a realistic image of Zambia by Zambians.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Lusaka
Describe the specific population with whom you will be working.
People use facebook for social and business purposes, and in Zambia, we hope to engage Politicians, students, mothers, fathers….all and sundry, to be part of this online community and contribute and learn from its contents. For instance, people will learn the effects of climate change in Mongu, Western Province, and how people over there are coping. In another post, they can learn about a great holiday destination including prices for a place they would never have considered visiting. Alternatively, the post can talk about a development project in the area that is empowering people's lives.
We are targeting a large community that will promote cooperation and understanding, and will influence philanthropy and a sense of responsibility towards our country, Zambia.
Who else will be on your team to help implement the project?
The idea is to identify at least one person in each of the 10 provinces that will take pictures and collect information that can then be shared on the Humans of Zambia facebook page. The person will require a good camera, and a creative imagination. This is still at planning stages and hasnt started yet, so we shall have to travel and engage the specific people we will need.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
Development News, Climate Change News, Best Agriculture practices, Business Ideas, Tourist spots, Mother and Healthcare, Mining activities and opportunities, New industries/businesses in the area, Local Attractions, Families, Lifestyles, anything and everything positive going on in Zambia today. We shall share all this content on our facebook page with a clear picture to go with it.
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 plan to connect with Government on their development projects, and also with local NGOs for information that needs to be shared. We will engage the locals for the ‘local’ news and updates from all corners of Zambia.
Future Partnerships will include Organizations working around the topic of climate change and Government organs in all the provinces. We shall also identify organisations that are working hard and making Zambia a better place to live in.
How many participants do you think will be trained in your project?
Zambia has 10 provinces. We aspire to train and equip 10 participants for this project to work. We are currently running a media organisation, Xtreme Media, and we will advertise participants when we are ready to roll out the project. The page will market tourist spots, and at a minimal fee, we will ask proprietors to help us sustain the participants.
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
We are a media organization, and so the tools we use everyday are the ones we will use to execute this idea.
DIGITAL CAMERA, INTERNET CONNECTION, JOURNALISM, MARKETING, TOURISM.
This technology is appropriate in that our agents in the provinces will only need a digital camera or a a good mobile phone with an internet connection, and take pictures that will be posted on our Facebook page.
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
We would hold the workshop at our office in Woodlands in Lusaka. We would set up in the boardroom and teach our provincial agents how to use a digital camera, how to upload pictures and write good captions. We will also train them on the art of selling advertising space for online marketing.
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 a media organisation and work with different types of individuals and organisations, providing our media services in a very professional manner. We are hoping to expand by engaging people in all the ten provinces that will help drive this social media innovative idea, and disseminate as much information as possible.
Our long term plans would be to have more people come on board and find new and interesting content every day.
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
We may not find the creative minds needed to capture and caption the information we would want on our page. Also, its sometimes difficult to get information from government agencies that would be interesting to share. We hope to provide a positive platform for people to share ideas, learn new things, and to act to reduce climate change….we do not wish to cross people's paths. Ours is a social service which will help lives and push forward Zambia's development.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
We shall measure the project's impact by
1. The number of advertisers we shall be able to bring on board
2. The number of likes our facebook page will garner
3. The interaction from various stakeholders.
Our work shall center around social media, meaning there are no limits to who will access our page and learn about it.
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2014?
APRIL – MAY 2014 – Identify 10 project participants and train them.
– Purchase necessary gadgets required for the project
JUNE – Roll out project, start daily posting and interactions.
Detail a specific budget of up to $2,500 USD for operating costs.
1. Purchase 10 mobile smart phone for the project participants. This will enable them take pictures and upload them onto The Humans of Zambia website. Our only other costs will be data bundles to ensure our project participants will be able to upload efficiently.
Besides the microgrant funding, what other support can Rising Voices provide for your project to ensure its success?
We would appreciate your sharing our social media page and helping us get more likes, and generally just being associated with Rising Voices will be advantageous for our cause. We would also be happy if you could connect us to business houses that can use our services.
Contact name
Mwape Kapumpa
Organization
Xtreme Media