Rising voice is a rare Initiative that recognizes the growing participation gap in digital media and journalism. It’s goal to bring new voices from new communities and languages to the ‘Conversational web’ aligns with women laboureres’ fundamental objectives are: to empower women laboureres socio – economically underprivileged women laboureres living In Matharai, Usilampatti villages as Dinamalar Journalists who will write and disseminate unrecognized and authentic community narratives In global media.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Madurai, Tamilnadu state, India
Describe the specific population with whom you will be working.
Women labourers’ realities will benefit the target community – women living in village (Farming women, construction workers, pickle make workers, mill workers, adolescents girls, landless laourers, small and marginal farmers women) by mobilizing them to think and write about their personal and community stories, Issues, and histories, as on Integral vibrant part of the socio – cultural fabric of rural India and publish them to blogs accessible to the globe. This programme and practice will foster dignity within communities often viewed as powerless, illiterate and culturally impoverished
Who else will be on your team to help implement the project?
The target audience of women labourers will range from activists, educators, enthusiasts, travelers, researchers, social scientists media persons, and most Importantly, living of rural villages. A crucial component to women labourer is to raise blog consciousness and web literacy among rural villages In Usilampatti, Matharai, Madurai District, Tamilnadu. Therefore, communities that are usually ‘ left behind in digital development will be fostered as contributors and readers through creating women labours blogs in their villages computer station provided by EDUCATR. Women labourers will have a new post at least once a week (after every workshop). The language of the blog will be Tamil, women labour will translate Its Tamil content Into English blog for English readers.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
The various women labourers living India are mis presented and sensationalized. Through women labourers Diaries, rural women will voice local stories through personal perspectives disrupting stereotypically representations of such workers content of women laboureres will include:
Women labourers’ news (Status, working pattern, wages, welfare, festivals, elections, torture)
Local histories (Stories, family condition sites of local Importance evolution of local business, migration, etc)
Individual portraits (Personal narrative, Interviews, etc.)
Women labourers concern (writings on women's health, education, employment)
Works of community literature and Art (Poems, short stories, drawings)
Women labourers report content is radical perspective to mainstream news and journalism on rural
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.
Content will be generated by women (age 15 – 45) living in two villages. Each village will have a women labourer’s blog. Ten youth authors from each village will be facilitated through the writing and blogging process through a series of Dinamalar journalism workshops. These workshops will take place on a weekly basis for 2 hours in a 6 month period in each village. The workshops will include components on narrative wiring, photojournalism, and web literacy. For women who are lacking reading writing literacy they will participate as authors through audio recordings, photography and other non-literate artistic medium. The target audience of women labourers will range from activists, educators, enthusiasts, travelers, researchers and social scientists media persons living of rural villages.
How many participants do you think will be trained in your project?
Women labour blogs will promote dialogue between village authors and diverse readers around the world. Interactive comments and on – line Interaction with others will be a crucial aspect of women labour. We will encourage Interactive participation primarily among underprivileged women through starting women labour In tow different villages simultaneously through concurrent pilot blogs, women authors will be able to read and engage In conversation with authors from the other villages exchanging perspective on similar Issues, concerns, stories. Furthermore, women labour will encourage participation among a wider range of audience through publishing and circulating women labour posts among activists across India and the global south who are working on Issues of women labour development.
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
Each village will by equip with one desktop computer, Internet connection, a digital camera, an audio recorder, and other basic tools needed to set up computer / blogging station.
EDUCATR has the expertise to teach the skills of social research, narrative writing and artistic self-expression to underprivileged women. It also has strong experience in teaching women to create Independent publications.
EDUCATR's theoretical grounding in literature, art education, critical pedagogy and human rights strengthens Its capacity to implement women labour with proficiency at all levels.
EDUCATR will need technical expertise and support in teaching young girls computer and blog literacy. It will particularly need support in the technicalities of vernacular blogging.
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
2 computers windows 7 with intel@ Core 17 ™ 3 GHZ
1 Computer Windows XP Media Center Version 2002 with Service Pack 2 Intel® Core I3 (TM) 3GHZ
1 Computer Media Center Version 2002 with Service Pack 2 Intel® Core (TM) 2Duo CPU E7500 2.93GHZ
6 Computer Windows XP with Service Pack 2 Intel® Dual Core Processor 2.98 GHZ
Totally 10 computers with BSNL Brandband un limited internet connection speed 100 mbps with ADSL modem available and also have the copier machine, HP Laser jet printer and Epson colour printer with scanner.
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?
EDUCATR Is the most effective organization for successfully facilitating women labour because it is devoted to building voices among underprivileged women in slums. We are working with underprivileged women facilitating wring workshop, empowering women to identify their personal realities and expressing them through the written word. Women we work with we are writing about, the history and culture of their community as poets and writers, and EDUCATR Is circulating these writings in diverse flows of communicating including publications, exhibitions, and performances. EDUCATR next step to mobilize women labour voices through Dinamalar Journalism and take their vices to the blogspere, facilitating grassroots participation in global media.
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
EDUCATR Educators have identified and established close relationship with experts working on computer literacy among underprivileged communities. Through our relationships with experts we are prepared to consult for best practices in web education. Most rural communities are not connected to the blogsphere. We force questions posed from the rural community around the value of blogging in women / adolescent girls lives who are dealing with larger concerns of poverty and development. EDUCATR Trust educators will engage with larger rural community through the hosting women labourers. EDUCATR's will also explain to the larger rural community the concrete empowerment and Transformation blogging can bring to women, as well as the larger rural community as an alternative development programme.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
EDUCATR educators and other village residents to measure youth author's growth as writers, bloggers, and community researchers. Women participants will be evaluated in several ways. Each participant will post their work on a blog, which will become a performance – based assessment of the participant’s ability to interpret villager’s life and write their perspectives. Youth author's progress in the areas of social research, Journalistic writing, and blogging will be examined for through the quality of blog posts. EDUCATR educators will also Interview select group of participants to solicit feedback about their engagement with various parts of the programme. Evaluate their experiences of witnessing any change of development among youth authors over the project period.
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2014?
May 2014
• Appoint Project Coordinator and Assistant Coordinator
• Identifying women SHG's in these communities.
• Work on curriculum for workshops
June 2014
• Curriculum for Empowerment of women labour
• Work on developing evaluation procedure
July 2014
• curriculum with Women SHG's In the selected villages
• Start setting a computer centers in the villages
August 2014 To February 2015
• Workshops on writing, photo – documentation, web literacy and blogging
• Blog is up and running with regular posts by women In two villages
• Evaluate Impact of project on women participants, SHGs, community and blogsphere.
• Empowerment of women labourer in terms of viability, flexibility and further funding.
March to April 2015
• Field visits and mentoring of Dinamalar journalists. Submit report to Rising Voices
Detail a specific budget of up to $2,500 USD for operating costs.
Description of Expenses Units/Months Unit Amount Amount in USD $
Computers 2 units 333 666
Internet Costs 2 connections 166.5 333
Digital Camera 2 units / site 166.5 333
Audio Recorders 2 units / site 33 66
Technical Consultancy – – 166
Transport 9 months 8.33 75
General Stationary / Supplies 2 units 41.5 83
Computer Station Furniture 2 units 83 166
Software and Hardware Components
(Vernacular software, USB cords, pins, 2 units 66.5 133
mouse pads, ups, etc.)
Contingency – – 166
Total Cost of the Project 2187
NGO & People Contribution 187
Grant Requested 2000
Besides the microgrant funding, what other support can Rising Voices provide for your project to ensure its success?
Rising Voice can provide support in circulating and publishing Empowerment Women Labour Realities blogs in the blog sphere. Rising voices global reach can connect EDUCATR Educators with other Dinamalar Journalisms, researchers and teachers doing similar work around blog mobilization. Also, rising voices can support Empowerment of Women labour WLR trough implementing systematic evaluation protocol, which will help EDUCATR monitor WLR's progress. Furthermore, rising voices can offer technical expertise in vernacular blogging.
Contact name
R. Velmurugan, Managing Trustee
Organization
Education, Communication and Development Trust (EDUCATR)
