Lango community Radio shall help people air their views, communicate local international news; transmit relevant knowledge on rights, technology, practical issues like health and education, preserve the Lango culture in terms of music, art and norms; and link other communities to the Lango culture online as well as through the local radio networks.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Lira
Describe the specific population with whom you will be working.
The Lango community is now over one million in number. Over ten thousand are now linked to the online radio and over three hundred of the them shall have access to the radio network locally. Over twenty community leaders have given me a go head to make a request to start up the project. The community to me is over ninety percent underrepresented online but very well connected to the local radios through their radio sets and mobile phones. I would like to work with them because the online radio will be one way through which I can link the Lango people and the global community at large as well as bring development in the area. The target group with computer familiarity are graduates, diploma holders, people with secondary education and as well as those with solid basic primary education.
Who else will be on your team to help implement the project?
Those who will be on the implementation team are general manager (jimmy Alani), production manager and IT specialist (Aguma Bonny), secretary (Eger Ambrose), local community leader (Paramount Lango Chief), Chairman (Hon. Felix Okot Ogong), broadcasting (Barbra Among) and other ten members.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
The news, stories and other content shall be local news, international news, and educational programs on national health,resources, environment, history, economy, politics and educational issues. Besides local music, country music and those of international tastes shall be aired. Information on market price trade opportunities shall also be aired. Programs that preserve the Lango culture shall be aired.
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 connection that has been made is the plan to register the radio, getting the right technician to have the Lango community radio online and making contributions towards the project.
How many participants do you think will be trained in your project?
We hope to train 200 participants locally to help in linking the radio programs with the local community and giving feed backs to the radio station, the local community as well as to the international community. We shall aim to train people to record films, music, drama, and local
stories, etc. The program shall be primarily sustained by adverts, making announcements, selling albums, video films, organizing music concerts, selling interesting movies, etc.
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
We shall reach those to be trained through radio, organizing local meetings to communicate the relevant knowledge, and selecting, training and supporting the participant who shall work as community leaders as well as technical experts in the project. As experts we are of diverse experience in terms of having in our team ICT technicians, politicians, economists, business experts, community leaders, women representatives, lawyers and religious leaders.
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
We shall hold technical workshops at Lira Municipality wit 20 laptop computers having high speed internet connection supplied by Orange Uganda company through USB modems. The workshops shall focus on news gathering, airing community programs, transmitting online and airing via radio those programs At the local level we shall hold workshops using projectors and at least three laptop computers to enable the local communities benefit most from the project.
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 born of Lango Community. I have been crystallizing t he project for five years now after listening to Montserrat Community Radio, Metro Radio in South Africa, Breeze FM in Cayman Islands, and several other online radios. I have the capacity to link up with the community leaders, donors, politicians, local leaders and I have a premise where the project could be launched. Already, I have mobilized over 20 members for the project.
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
The specific challenges expected wean planning are having the project registered at the national level, getting the right equipment, and installing the equipment. These challenges may be overcome by having members contribute towards the registration of the project, searching for the right equipment on the internet, collecting donations at the local, national and international levels in order to buy, transport, locate and install the equipment. During the implementation of the project there could be problems of sustainability of the project and this challenge might be overcome through commercial operations of the radio station.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
The impact of the project shall be measured in terms of (a) the number of peoples reached through both the online radio and airing radio news and broadcasts, (b) the amount of money generated by the radio station, (c) the number of activities and programs performed in terms of transmitting knowledge in the various sectors, (d) the number of local, national and international music and movies transmitted, (e) number of children, vulnerable women, saved or helped; number of people benefiting from the knowledge supplied; and amount of tangible benefits arising from the broadcasts; and (f) level of global awareness of lango community.
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2014?
(a) May to June: registration of the project.
(b) July to August: Buying the equipment.
(c) September: Installation of equipment.
(d) October: Recruitment of staff.
(e) November to December: The Lango Community Radio Station begins its operations.
Detail a specific budget of up to $2,500 USD for operating costs.
(a) Travel expenses (300) shall be used for traveling to Lira, Kampala and Gulu to actualize the mobilization of the relevant participants, (b) internet access (700) for making contacts to members and sourcing technocrats to hep in building the online radio, (c) registration of the Lango Community Radio (1,000) would require mobilizing contributions from the local community members and well wishers, and (d) coordinator
expenses ($500) to help in scheduling meetings, making phone contacts, reviewing the constitution, filing and documenting the project.
Besides the microgrant funding, what other support can Rising Voices provide for your project to ensure its success?
Besides microgrant funding or equipment, we shall accept any support that Rising Voices deem fit for the project.
Contact name
Jimmy Alani
