We are from Allen, South Dakota a small town of approx. 1200 people located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of South Dakota. Our aim is to establish a community garden project in which we will empower our local tribal members to grow their own fresh produce and eventually establish a local farmers market in which other communities could be involved. We are hoping to establish a local farmers market for the reason being that fresh produce is very hard to obtain locally ,the nearest grocery store with fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables is approx. 18 miles away and prices are high.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Allen,South Dakota
Describe the specific population with whom you will be working.
The target population would be of Native American Indian ancestry of the Oglala Sioux Lakota Tribe of South Dakota. Most households of our local community cannot afford internet access since most incomes are fixed incomes and well- below the poverty base line of the United States (see Shannon County income statistics). Most children work with computers in school and are adept at understanding computer concepts but most adults who reside here are computer illiterate unless they are educated or are required to work with computers/internet. I would like to work with the target population of the Oglala Lakota for the reason being that I am also a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe and would like to contribute my time and skills towards the betterment of my people.
Who else will be on your team to help implement the project?
Angela Martinez -local Social Work Major, student,tribal member
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
Daily blog of activities and planning for participants
Record Keeping of Community Participation
Participant feedback Corner
Process of Growth and Development of Community Garden
Calendar of events and activities
Tribal traditional foods/recipes
Gardening techniques
Famers Market Promotion
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 establish a network of local community organizations such as the college, community school and local leaders who will band in support of our efforts to provide an avenue for people to grow their own fresh foods and establish a Farmers Market in which they sell and can obtain foods at a cheaper price.
How many participants do you think will be trained in your project?
We are aiming for 20 to 100 participants and if our project is a success we are hoping to expand to other communities on the reservation.
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
We will be able to teach members of the community who have no experience working with computers and internet the basic skills needed to be able to network with community members and other members of the tribe in other towns in order to meet the needs of our project. I have experience working with Microsoft word 2014 and so does my partner , we also can work with Microsoft publisher, we can teach participants how to create and maintain a profile page of our project on an online social site for informational and networking purposes. I believe these basic skills will further enhance our participants knowledge of computers and the internet.
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
We will hold the work shops at our local college facility classrooms one-two days a week.We will have access to a computer room with approx. 12-15 computers available for participants. There will be internet access available at the facility
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 a community member who has worked extensively with in my own community as a youth mentor and local community organizer.
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
At present the only problems foreseen are consistent involvement of community members activity with in the project, many times participants will start a project but will sway from finishing the project as time goes on but with a lot of support and encouragement I am positive the project will work out just fine.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
I will measure the projects impact by the positive community reaction to the project and the impact our project has on our local tribal members ability to grow their own fresh produce and eventually establish a local Farmers Market in which participants will be able to affordably purchase and sell and trade fresh food items. Participants will be able to establish a network of member participation through online correspondence and thru our success , our project will stand as an example to other tribal communities who would like to do the same. I will measure our success by our positive results.
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2014?
May 1,2014- Informational Community Meeting
Community Workshops will be held 2x per week (Wednesday,Friday)
May 20th-August 1,2014 Periodic Gardening/Planting Sessions with participants
Weekly Presenters will be invited to address participants
Late August thru Early September 2014 -Community Farmers Market will be held on weekends
Detail a specific budget of up to $2,500 USD for operating costs.
Planting supplies (crates, rakes, shovels, gardening hoes, water hose, sprinklers ect.) seeds-1,500.00
Coordinator expenses/supplies (digital camera, transportation, copy paper ect.)-$800.00
Participant supplies (t-shirts, notebooks, highlighters, pens, water, gloves, bags, bug repellent ect.)-$200.00
Besides the microgrant funding, what other support can Rising Voices provide for your project to ensure its success?
We will need tons of support and input from the global community in order to keep our participants interested and well informed on the techniques and know how of starting such a wonderful project that will eventually lead to sustainable food growing and some economic stability locally.
Contact name
Mercy D. Washington
