IN 2011 Kenya passed a law that decriminalizes and prohibits female genital mutilation. However despite the law, the inhumane practice is still rampant in Kajiado especially among the Masai community, simply because an uncircumcised woman is looked down upon and ostracized. The project will identify and train young girls and the youth (young morans) in general on micro reporting and how they can use the digital platform and social media to blog and share their stories on these issues in an effort to advocate and eradicate female genital mutilation
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
kajiado
Describe the specific population with whom you will be working.
Kajiado community is poorly represented in online and communication platforms. The project will work with young girls and morans in the area and train them to advocate, highlight, report and create awareness on issues of FGM before, during and after the incidences. The project will target school going girls who are generally the victims of FGM and are often forced to drop out of school as a result to undergo the cut and get married thereafter.Young morans will also be targeted to create and raise awareness especially through songs that will be recorded and shared in social media platforms, where the global community will know of this abuse of human right and what action is or should be taken.
Who else will be on your team to help implement the project?
Sidi Sarro : sidisarro.wordpress.com ; https://facebook.com/sidi.sarro ;https://twitter.com/sidisarro16
Peter Omolo : https://www.facebook.com/peter.omolo
http://twitter.com/peteromolo
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
The youth will be trained on micro reporting to use sms to report on possible and prospective FGM cases. They will also be taught on how to produce, document and share their stories, feature documentaries and news content on social media on issues surrounding FGM and child marriages. At the end of the training they will be able to:
1: Tell their stories and issues affecting them in social media, facebook, twitter, blogs, tumblr and you tube
2: They will be able to utilize social media to highlight and advocate for issues that are relevant to them and affect them in their community
3: They will be able to train their peers and create awareness on citizen journalism, FGM and social media platforms
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.
The youths are already part of our project that promotes alternative rites of passage in the area. The youths are already actively involved in raising awareness on the dangers of FGM and they are keen to learn more and share with their peers. With this funding they will be able to make a greater impact in the community and help more girls from being circumcised, school drop out and possible early/ child marriage and teen pregnancies which follows circumcision
How many participants do you think will be trained in your project?
The project will train 30 girls, 15 Morans, 10 elders and 5 women in total the project shall train 60 participants
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
As a journalist and citizen journalist trainer, I have been using, training and am experienced in using social media platforms and blogging.
The project will teach participants how to micro report blog,tweet and facebook. It will also train them on identifying stories and news, production, editing reporting submitting features, stories and human rights abuse.
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
The trainings will be conducted in local schools compound where we shall have access of electricity thus enabling us to use laptops and projectors in the trainings
To conduct the workshop, we will need good Internet connection therefore we shall use USB modems to provide internet to the participants.
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 can say I have a very cordial and working relationship and I have been doing community activities with different target groups and engaging with the youth, women and elders
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
The challenges that I anticipate include the time schedule of the training and the knowledge level of the participants because not every one of them comes from the same knowledge background.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
The success of the project will be gauged by the number of people trained a dn reached by the participants and the impact the project will achieve in reducing the cases of FGM and school drop outs in the area
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2014?
the project timeline will be during the school term May – August,September-November so we can reach school going girls and students.The activities to be implemented include trainings on dangers of FGM, social media & citizen journalism, advocacy
Detail a specific budget of up to $2,500 USD for operating costs.
information and educative materials : $200
internet access, smart phones and airtime for trainees/participants : $ 1,500
Workshop costs/facilities(refreshment, preparation etc): $900
Coordinators’ expenses: $500
Besides the microgrant funding, what other support can Rising Voices provide for your project to ensure its success?
consultation, advice and mentorship
Contact name
Sidi Sarro
Organization
Sanitay Health Education Program
