Namakkal District in Tamilnadu,India with a population over 1.7 million is the worst hit of HIV/AIDS both by its prevalence and impact. Though, the teenagers have awareness on HIV/AIDS-they have limited skills to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS. They lack of knowledge of Sexually Infected Diseases.The knowledge on these vital issues are neither taught in education nor by the family members.The only get few information by their peers which are also myths.We propose to give away the scientific information through the social media, info on treatment centres support and follow up with couselling.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Namakkal
Describe the specific population with whom you will be working.
We do target the teenagers who are studying in the upper school level and colleges who has access to internet. We sensitize them with proper information of HIV/AIDS, STI, modes of transmission, myths and misconceptions, symptoms, diagnose centres, information on counselling, Treatment procedures for STI, posting the common FAQs and clarifying the doubts besides knowledge building columns by the experts in the field. We plan to create a ‘knowledge circle’ in every school and colleges and in every villages through the readers of this social media pages and to organise various follow up programs both online and offline to build various awareness drives to reach and help more people who are in need. We intended to bridge the access to the services and ensure the availability too in Namakkal.
Who else will be on your team to help implement the project?
The various project teams within WORD- http://www.wordorg.net, our co-working partner NGOs like Consortium of Namakkal NGOs- http://www.cnngos.org.in will be helping to implement this project and reach out more to the needy and in organise various special drives cater to the follow up needs on this program.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
The contents including news, articles, stories, visuals, short messages on The scientific information on STI and HIV/AIDS, types of STI-its symptoms- treatment procedure- list of specialists, counselling, follow up services, screening centres for HIV, modes of transmission, common myths and misconceptions, protection mechanisms, positive living concepts and knowledge building columns by the experts.
Those who study will be equipped the knowledge on STI and HIV/AIDS. We will motivate them to pass on this information to others and we encourage to post their activities in reaching out to more people with their innovative techniques. Through the proposed ‘knowledge circle’ we will also be organising various program to enhance the knowledge and promote the peers to educate all.
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.
Women's Organisation in Rural Development- WORD already help various NGOs to build websites to ensure their online presence to promote their grassroot level activities to reach wider audience and help the support from the external world to the NGOs. We have enough experience in the field. We had various partnerships with AIDS Prevention and Control Project/ USAID; Family Health International/USAID; India HIV Alliance; United National Office on Drugs and Crime; Tamilnadu State AIDS Control Society etc and represent various government committees to make our voice to this issues. These information can be found our web- http://www.wordorg.net
How many participants do you think will be trained in your project?
We intended to reach and train 1000 teenagers through this project. Through the ‘knowledge circle’ we ensure the sustainability of their active participation, peer promotion and follow up.
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
We intended to use social media sites extensively to implement the project supported by appropriate blogging. Women's Organisation in Rural Development- WORD already help various NGOs to build websites to ensure their online presence to promote their grassroot level activities to reach wider audience and help the support from the external world to the NGOs. We do have a vocational training centre in Namakkal to impart training on computer technology too.
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
We have 20 desktop computers with broadband internet connection with an average speed of 520Mbps.
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?
Right from the inception of WORD, we are working with the community with various social development programs with various donor with different techniques.
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
We do not oversee any challenges in our planning and implementations.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
The number of followers to our social media site, no of postings by the audience, virtual sharing and re-sharing, no of established knowledge circles in the community, special programs organised by the knowledge circles are the key measures to evaluate the success of the program.
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2014?
Project Teen Talk will be implemented for a period from May 2014- April 2015 ( One year ) and the follow up will be activities will be forever.
Detail a specific budget of up to $2,500 USD for operating costs.
Additional Hardware:450$, Internet Access:200$; Knowledge Circle Programs:390$; Co-ordinator Travel: 480$. Co-ordinator Honorarium: 480$
Besides the microgrant funding, what other support can Rising Voices provide for your project to ensure its success?
Capacity Building Programs through online, create compendium services online by NGOs on specific topices- innovations, success stories for effective replication.
Contact name
M. Renida Sarala
Organization
Women's Organisation in Rural Development
