I hope to train the youth on animation to produce animated short traditional igbo language moonlight folktales. This project B2B is meant to use social media to revive the dying Igbo language & culture. It's been predicted by UNESCO Advisory Committee on Language Pluralism & Multi-language Education that Igbo language & culture will go into extinct by year 2025. if nothing is done. Hence, we intend making it appealing to youth by making use of this youth friendly medium. I intend working with young people from already established skill learning set-up so as to have an organized forum
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Orlu
Describe the specific population with whom you will be working.
The target group even though they have a fair knowledge of computer usage they lack knowledge of use of social media. They were involved in the development of this proposal, their contribution gave rise to its direction its activities. Nowadays, majority of young people here prefer audio-visual means of communications to reading. This is why we have chosen this interesting and youth friendly medium of communication to reach out.This programme will provide an opportunity for the target population who are not familiar with animation and social media to learn how to share digital information among themselves using blogs. This group will be involved in using this acquired knowledge to produce animated igbo folktales. It is expected that the output will have a wide reach among the young ones
Who else will be on your team to help implement the project?
Please add their names and any links to their blog, Twitter, or Facebook account
Ogechi Onyealsi – Coordinator/Facilitator, Facebook account: Ann Onyealisi
Ituk Orok- Animation Expert, Facebook account: Orok john
Engr Sam Uche – Technical Personnel
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
The good thing about the igbo folktales is that it impacts good morals and sense of civic responsibility on the young ones which are virtually lacking in our school curriculum today. These short stories comprising of both human and animal characters are very interesting cultural stories that have been told by our grand parents usually at moonlight which are not known by most young generation. It is expected that lessons in the stories will serve as a reference point in daily conversation. The project output will also be shared via social networking among various people. The sole aim is to make people to be proud of their culture and language as well as gain skills in the use of social media. Hence there is urgent need to make young people realize that Igbo language and culture is our pride
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 have worked out on how the project will be executed, we already have existing basic training facilities. writers and experts in igbo language translation. Already we have made arrangement with a highly competent animation expert. Also the folktales already exist though in prose form which will be developed to drama format. We intend using video sites like youtube, blogs like twitter and social network like facebook in sharing information among community members and othe people/ The target group is drawn from an already established skill acquisition programme. During our previous intervention activities our organization already has an established good working relationship with the education authority of our target population as well as the community gate keepers where we will be working
How many participants do you think will be trained in your project?
We will start with 15 participants who will be trained to produce these stories. The project area lacks basic technological knowledge especially in social media, being involved will open their mind to possibilities. The participants will be selected from an already existing skill acquisition center. After the training, it is expected that they will in turn train others thereby empowering a deprived and less privileged population. Active online forum will be created for sustainability. Social networking will be utilized to share and promote these stories
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
As an Igbo language translator, I will lead in translating the folktales to igbo language since the folktales are already existing. We also have computer engineer who will handle the technical aspect both in operation &maintenance. We will focus our training on animation (3D)/social media with an expert and other seasoned facilitators.This technology is most necessary for this community having established its acceptability from our interactions with the young people during deliberations, also the lamentation from gatekeepers of this community that our cultural values which happen to be the fabric that hold the people together is fast eroding. We are convinced that this programme will help to renew and reinvigorate the interest of the youth as well as instill more confidence in the language
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
We intend using a training hall that should be able to accommodate more than twenty participants. Currently we have three computers we hope to acquire more as soon as we get support to start the work, What is available now is etisalat USB modem internet connection. However, there are better networks that are faster. We also have display board for the training and other basic training facilities.
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?
My relationship with my community has been rewarding with regard to previous interventions, a cordial relationship has been established with the community's authority. We understand the people better than anyother organization because it is our community we are indigenes hence we know the culture and values. In families, the younger ones are fast losing their culture to the extent that children no longer find the language and culture interesting and it is causing societal alienation. My long term plan with the community is that the trained participants will on agreement within a specified period continue to step down the training to others thereby sustaining the programme, In the long run they will form a social network that will provide a platform for information sharing
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
The challenges we may face is majorly lack of steady power supply as my country does not provide steady electricity but this can be overcome through the use of an efficient generating set to augment the unsteady electricity supply. Again we will need to go for an internet provider that gives a faster though a little costlier internet connection than the one we are currently using.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
At the onset of the programme a baseline survey will be carried out to ascertain the level of initial knowledge regarding animation, social media and Igbo folktales. At the end of the training and implementation of the project will also evaluate their knowledge We will also measure and evaluate success of my project through the human (trained animation experts) and material(Animation folktales) output and the impact and level of information sharing among the people. Also we expect that the trainees will make a living with the animation knowledge they will gain from the training.
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2014?
Time Line of B2B project activities in 2014
Activity 1
Mobilization and Selection of Target group and Writers
Estimated Time frame
1st June -5th June 2014
Activity 2
Developing of short folktales into drama
Estimated Time frame
9th June – 5th July 2014
Activity 3
Training of Participants on Animation and Social media usage e.g blogs
Estimated Time frame
7th of july– 1st august
Activity 4
Production of animated Short folktales
Estimated time frame
4th August – 29th Aug 2014
Activity 5
Post Production of animated Short folktales
Estimated Time Frame
1st September -26th September 2014
Activity 6
Development of Pages on the programme blog and other channels of social network to share the output to the public including those in the diaspora
Estimated time frame
29th September – 18th November 2014
Activity 7
Demonstration and Distribution of the output to schools
Estimated time frame
27th of November – 15th of December 2014
Detail a specific budget of up to $2,500 USD for operating costs.
Hardware 500 USD
Internet access 200 USD
Workshop costs 1300 USD
Translation 100 USD
Travel 150 USD
Coordinator expenses 250 USD
Total : 2500USD
Besides the microgrant funding, what other support can Rising Voices provide for your project to ensure its success?
We will appreciate it if our project output is published in the Rising Voices Newsletter because we want the work to reach as many people as possible
Contact name
Ogechi Onyealisi
Organization
Local Initiative for Community Empowerment (LICEM)