Some quick thoughts. Given your very open approach (great!), I think the best thing you can do initially is to ask the community what they most aspire to. Of course, not everyone in the area will agree. And, in many communities, just getting to the point of having people articulate their deep aspirations can take a lot of work - You have to establish trust and rapport; you have to build up their confidence; you may have to undo years of cynicism caused by previous people/organizations who parachuted in to "help" but left after a year or two (or less). (I say the last with deep regret about having done that myself in many instances.) Still, the first task is to ask them, and to spend a lot of time asking them. It's great that you have committed people on the ground - hopefully, they are as committed to listening as they are to doing. Here is an interesting fact about all of your questions below. They all start with "Do I.?" Are you sure you have the right pronoun? Once you have a better sense for the things that the community most wants, I think the answer to the rest of your questions will become immediately apparent. After that, the trick is to do less providing and problem-solving yourself, and instead help the community do as much as they can towards their own aspirations for themselves. Most people agree that it's better to teach a person how to fish than to give fish. But, actually implementing that is not trivial, especially when fish = computer center or fish = social enterprise. The hard part is finding the right balance of what you do for them, and what you help them do for themselves. Feel free to get in touch with specific questions. Kentaro From: change-bounces@change.washington.edu [mailto:change-bounces@change.washington.edu] On Behalf Of neetu jain Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2013 10:20 PM To: Rose G Cc: African PRIDE Centre; change - Mailing List; systers+africa2@systers.org Subject: Re: [change] [Systers] ICT & RURAL AFRICA I want to bring this thead up again. to get answers to how exactly start up a center/NGO or something in a remote village. --lets say .. i have identified a region .. ( the region in Rajasthan, India has high female foeticide, child marraiges, domestic voilences cases) --I am fortunate to have some people on the ground .. willing to work with me and they are committed and passionate -- Now the questions i face are:-- how to i chart up a sustainable solution in this area?..now i am thinkign out loud ------Do i start a computer center in this region ? why ..how can computers helps in this remote desert area getting them employment ? how can internet, excel benefit these people? -------Do i start a social enterprise --that sounds better since girls in that region love to sew, or learn more home-making skills .. so they willbe interested in coming and learning and making new things (crafts, pots clothes bags e.t.c) ..because they are getting skills they can use and ..if a fair trade is established they can earn ..and hence get empowered. But then i don't have experience and i need guidance and i wonder if the costs can be broken down .. such as international sellings will actually translate to profits back home for these artisans ? --------Do i start a awareness center ..a information center probably is the low-caste safe alternative .. but its reach/impact also is not that much. So my question is . ..How to find the right solution for this remote village in Rajasthan ..to make a difference in the lived of those girls..Whom i dream of giving the same opportunities i was fortunate enough to get cheers, Neetu On Mon, Apr 15, 2013 at 4:35 PM, Rose G <iffatgill@gmail.com> wrote: Hi Joan and Neetu, Joan, you really struck a nerve there. I have been working on the issue since 2010 and have run into walls repeatedly. I am from Pakistan originally, and we have power cuts for up to 18 or 20 hours every day. The government is not promoting use of solar power nor looking in to providing any incentives for switching to alternative energy sources. I started a technology centre in a very remote desert area (thanks to Systers PIO award) and the girls travelled to the centre from miles for the lessons and would sometimes wait a few hours before returning to their homes. They would have wasted half their day, mane even bus fare and all in vain. The situation was not so bad previously but because the power issue got worse and worse, we were running out of luck about what to do. Now the centre is used is a private lesson facility almost, if someone wants a lesson or guidance about writing a job application, and there is power, they are accommodated. If not, they go back without gaining anything. In short, it is serving for the individual needs of some women but regular group lessons have been a nightmare. Neetu, we were also facing similar social and cultural barriers of girls not coming out of their homes, so we decided to make it a women only centre. We had a very good respond, partly because it was a group of young women who asked us to start such a facility. We got a managing board and a steering committee for the centre in no time! I agree that connecting the needs of the women to the technology is very important. You cannot just start a centre somewhere and hope for women to walk unto it. It will only be a success if a genuine need for such a facility has been identified. If the need is not there, there will be no interest from the community. I hope to hear more on this topic especially where electric power issue is concerned as I am planning to keep on with my mission of connecting women from rural areas through modern information and communication technologies. Kind regards, Iffat On Apr 15, 2013, at 17:39 , neetu jain <nutshi@gmail.com> wrote:
I have been very interested in knowing more about how technology can help rural remote areas.
I would love to know more about your findings.
Here are my 2 cents ( having good amount of exposure to remote villages In Rajasthan, India)
1) the best means of information dissemination in rural villages is face to face. They have ample gatherings .. and any information that is useful ( financially, physically e.t.c) spreads pretty fast ( even the gossips and non-useful info does ..but we are not considering that here) ...free food gatherings, awareness camps should be a hit..for spreading good information
2) There is lot of resistance for girls to get out of home .. in general in these places because of patriarchal system ..But if there is a safe secure ways to make a decent earning .. often that resistance can be fought over
3) Safety of girls is the topmost priority .. if that in any ways is questionable ( like long travel, no support from the mail society e..tc) then no matter how good the initiative it is .. it will fail
4) Cellphones ( in India as well as in Africa) ..are invading even the rural sectors .. because if their usefulness .. they have transformed the way business happens atleast in villages known to me ( because hoarding is a major occupation there )
5) To involve girls .. we need to combine the "cultural part" with 'technology part".. to be well received .. Like traditional things that girls can do at home .. sewing, making other craft stuff e.t.c .. are vastly accepted in rural places .. as things to do for girls .. if somehow using digital world into these hobbies and often occupations .. can be incorporated then i think it would be a good hit .. for ex .. a "sewing machine database" of a village ..somebody helps them checkout , maintain the database e.t.c , getting deisgns from internet , selling online e.t.c e.t.c are few things that come to my mind ..on how their interests can eb blended with technology to get better results
6) There was a computer donated by bill gates foundation in my village .. i found out when i was there 10 years back .. It was in a cow shed --it had internet :) slow but still worked ..i was abel to chat with my fiance in Stanford from that cowshed -internet thanks to gated foundation . But it made me feel very sad .. on how technology goes waste ..when there is not enough effort spent in incorporating it into people's lives
On Mon, Apr 15, 2013 at 10:23 AM, African PRIDE Centre < africanpridecentre@gmail.com> wrote:
Any ideas on how we can transform rural folk, especially women and young girls using ICT? Remember that grassroots lack power connections!
Joan
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