‘INGOOMA’ basically means ‘drum’ in the Maragoli accent of western Kenya. In the days past, a large ‘ingooma’ was placed into the Maragoli hills, that was used to communicative important information to the community .It was the focus of the entire community, and they relied on its boom to know how the situation was in the community and what to do in different situations. This project intends to use citizen media as a modern day ingooma, to share and impart important information among young people of the Maragoli community, as a way of empowering and providing exposure to technology.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Mbale, Vihiga County
Describe the specific population with whom you will be working.
I intend to involve young men from the Maragoli community who are mostly school drop-outs . There is a high drop-out rate in the community especially among buys, who have to leave school early and earn a livelihood. They have not had the chance to learn about information technology and it's benefits because of their level of literacy. These are people who will be heads of families and community leaders in the near future, and it is important for them to be exposed to and exchange a variety of information. Only a small percentage of the target population may have basic computer and internet knowledge.
Who else will be on your team to help implement the project?
Bromley Mwenesi htt:/www.facebook.com/bromley Mwenesi
Victor Jaika Bulemi htt:/www.facebook.com/Victor_Ijaika_bulemi
Steven Mukuru htt:/www.facebook.com/steveaustin_Mukuru
Hillary Bikendi htt:/www.facebook.com/Hillary _Bikendi
Kevin Monroe htt:/www.facebook.com/Kevin_Monroe
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
We intend to share information pertaining to income generation and general empowerment, like imparting entrepreneurial skills, with young people who have ventured into different projects and succeeded sharing what they did and how they did it with other young people. The focus will mainly be encouraging young men to rise above their current situation and find ways to free themselves, stop being earthbound and soar above illiteracy and the incapability it brings about. The participants will be encouraged to share whatever aspirations and dreams they have had, but thought impossible to achieve. We shall then link them up with people who can make them achieve their aspiration, and give them than ‘I can’ attitude. This will include linking them with people with similar aspirations.
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 intend to link the participants up with organisations like the county agriculture department, and the ministry of agriculture and also information technology in the central government. We also intend to collaborate with other community based organisations in the area that involve themselves with youth empowerment generally.
How many participants do you think will be trained in your project?
We hope to start with at least three hundred participants in the project. these will be selected from the four corners of the community, to successfully portray the ‘ingooma’ concept. They will be the booming sound of the drum that will resound in all corners of the community.
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
We intend to use laptop computers, tablets and mobile phones because of their portability. They will be easy to lag around in the field, and also easy enough to train the participants in their usage and handling.
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
We will be using Vihiga High school computer laboratory, which is the only facility in the area that is sufficiently equipped to enable us to successfully hold the seminars. It has up to thirty computers with modems, whose dial-up speed varies with the service providers.
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?
Having grown up in the community, I am the wearer of the shoe, who knows where it pinches. I am also a community youth mobilizer and well known around the county for youth based activities. The other people who will be carrying out the project with me are also well known in the community and familiar with citizen media and information technology.
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
The major challenge we expect is the fact that most of the anticipated participants are not very familiar with computers and and information technology generally. we therefore intend to take them through a familiarization course where they will be equipped with the basic skills that they will require in order to capably and sufficiently utilize the information tools.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
Our major objective of this project is to enable young men to learn from each other and from others. its success will be determined by how well they put what they learn to use. We shall gauge this by closely monitoring how they are putting the varied information availed to them to practical use. We shall be seeking the answers to questions such as;
1.What have they learned through this project?
2.Of what use has this information been to them?
3.Have they successfully shared what they have received with other people in their community?
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2014?
1st June-30th June… Mobilization and training of possible participants
1st July-15th July… empowerment seminars and introduction to citizen media
16th July- start of the project, with the participants being encouraged to access as much information as possible and in turn, share it with other beneficiaries.
Detail a specific budget of up to $2,500 USD for operating costs.
Purchase of 50 android enabled phones 500 dollars
Purchase of laptop computers and tablets 700 dollars
Payment for seminar hall 300 dollars
Logistics 500 dollars
Besides the microgrant funding, what other support can Rising Voices provide for your project to ensure its success?
The best was we could also be assisted is being linked to different sources of information with which we can empower the youth. This could be information pertaining to entrepreneurial skills, environmental conservation and farming methods. It would be very useful if we would be linked to a possible market for products such as handicrafts and other goods that the youth may manufacture as income generation projects.
Contact name
Erick Livumbazi Ngoda
Organization
N/A
