We run a youth empowerment project called Game Changers which aims to provide a group of unemployed youth with skills to help them gain employment. These young people come from a township where having a stable job is a rarity and any job opening in their area receives thousands of applications. This is not a story just true of our young people here in Edendale, Pietermaritzburg but of young people across South Africa. We would like their voices and experiences to be heard through a video blogging program that will initially focus on what it is like to be young and unemployed in South Africa.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Edendale, KZN
Describe the specific population with whom you will be working.
Our participants are all unemployed young people aged 18-23. Some of them have finished school, while others, due to different constraints, have not. Since the project started we have built trust and respect with our participants and have come to understand their backgrounds and motivations. While some of them have smart phones, none have access to their own computers or the internet at home. The proposed project came about after discussing some of the groups ideas. Many have seen YouTube videos and blogs and are interested in using this project to improve their IT skills and to have their voices heard. These young people are dedicated and passionate, and ,we believe, are the future leaders of their communities. We want them to be able to share their stories, struggles and successes.
Who else will be on your team to help implement the project?
We have a team of paid staff and international volunteers who will be able to offer support to this project. At the moment we have a team of three that work on our Game Changers programme and would also oversee this project. That said, we would like this project to be youth led so will provide support and facilitation for their ideas rather than manage it for them.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
Initially we would imagine that the video blogs would focus on youth unemployment in South Africa, however as we believe this should be a youth-led project, we ultimately believe that the content should be directed by the participants. Based on our discussions in class and the experiences of our young people we would expect to cover the following issues:
•Unemployment
•Poverty
•Being carers
•Sexuality
•Local/ national role models
We would like to share these video blogs via a YouTube channel, as well as our Facebook and Twiter pages.
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.
While the Game Changers program currently has no direct connections for this project, another of our charity projects -Siyakhona – focuses on the use of photography and digital media for health promotion. None of our participants are part of this program but it is through this network that we have established connections with digital media and video companies that could potentially assist us with this project.
How many participants do you think will be trained in your project?
We would initially like to focus on our 10 Game Changers who attend our program every day. These participants are on our program until December 2014, when they will graduate and we will have a new cohort of 10. However through training them on video production, editing and online platforms, we would like them to share this information with their peers so that they also can create content. Currently we have 2296 young people registered at our health academy (an adolescent HIV clinic) and we would like to engage as many of them as possible either as contributors or viewers.
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
We would like all of our young people to learn how to shoot, direct, edit and upload their videos on to a blog as well as write their scripts or stories. These young people have very basic IT skills due to only having internet access via smartphones. This project will not only provide our charity with content to raise awareness and engage more young people, but will help to improve and develop the technical skills of our young people which is an essential part of their personal and professional development.
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
We would like all of our young people to learn how to shoot, direct, edit and upload their videos on to a blog as well as write their scripts or stories. These young people have very basic IT skills due to only having internet access via smartphones. This project will not only provide our charity with content to raise awareness and engage more young people, but will help to improve and develop the technical skills of our young people which is an essential part of their personal and professional development.
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?
We have had our Health Academy at Edendale Hospital for 4 years now and have built an extensive relationship with the community through school projects and outreach services. Our Game Changers have been working with us every day for the last 3 months which has allowed us to build trust and understand their lives and aspirations in depth.
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
Some of the topics that our young people are passionate about, for example LGBTI rights, can be controversial in the community. In the same way that we would work with any of our young people who wish to discuss being HIV positive, we would work with them to decide if they wish to disclose or want to remain anonymous.
Also the computer room is heavily used by our other projects so access to the computers might be limited at times. As a result we suggest the purchase of a low-cost laptop that can be used for this project.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
Initially we will look to the number of views and shares of our content, as well as the number of young people that register with our services and programs as a direct result of the videos. (This data can be collected at clinic registration) Moreover we would hope that through promotion of this content and sharing by similar organisations that we can increase the debate and dialogue about youth unemployment and other issues in South Africa.
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2014?
Start of project: June 2014
Training of participants: Workshops in June 2014 as part of the their Game Changers course
Creation of content, editing for a launch upload: July/August 2014
Upload and promotion via social media and partners: End of August 2014
Report on launch of video blog series: End of September
Creation of additional content, editing and uploads: on going from August 2014
Detail a specific budget of up to $2,500 USD for operating costs.
Laptop for editing and uploads: $700
2 cameras for filming: $1200
Training Budget for workshops on filming and editing: $300
Travel budget: $150
Besides the microgrant funding, what other support can Rising Voices provide for your project to ensure its success?
We would appreciate the advice and experience of Rising Voices to be shared with our young people in terms of the best ways for them to promote and design their blog series. While we expect some of this to be covered by our hired trainer we would really value the experience of Rising Voices and it's community.
Contact name
Caroline Sculley
Organization
The Africaid Trust: Whizzkids United