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Welcome to this read-only archive of the Worknets wiki. Our content is in the Public Domain. We were active at this and previous wikis from November, 2004 to July, 2010. Please join us at the sites below where we are now active!
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Andrius Kulikauskas Self Learners Network. Directory of ways of figuring things out. Chicago Street Artist Blog. Video summary of knowledge of everything. Notes on Gamestorming. Living by Truth working group. Twitter: @selflearners Email: ms @ ms.lt Franz Nahrada Global Villages in Transition. Global Villages mailing list. Franz Nahrada at P2P Foundation. Franz Nahrada at Facebook. GIVE. Pamela McLean Dadamac. Dadamac blog. Learning from each other. Twitter: @dadamac Janet Feldman ActAlive. Holistic Helping. KAIPPG: Kenya AIDS Intervention Prevention Project Group. Janet Feldman at Facebook. Ricardo Edward Cherlin Earth Treasury Sasha Mrkailo John Rogers Value for People, Community Currency. Cyfranogi, Community Currency. Kennedy Owino Nafsi Afrika Acrobats Benoit Couture Ben de Vries Fred Kayiwa Samwel Kongere Mendenyo Josephat Ndibalema Kiyavilo Msekwa Jeff Buderer Eluned Hurn George Christian Jeyaraj Markus Petz Lucas Gonzalez Santa Cruz Zenonas Anusauskas Internetine televizija Audrone Anusauskiene God Christine Ax, Steve Bonzak, James Ferguson, Maria Agnese Giraudo, Marcin Jakubowski, Ed Jonas, Rick Nelson, Hannington Onyango, Linas Plankis, Proscoviour Vunyiwa Pyramid of Peace to avert genocide in Kenya in 2008.
Worknets was organized by Andrius Kulikauskas of the Minciu Sodas laboratory. Andrius helps with the following websites: |
Zimbabwe See also: Kufunda We're responding to the crisis in Zimbabwe Zimbabwe crisis 2008-2009We're organizing our response. We're planning a chat on Thursday, March 5, 18:30 Central European time [7:33:02 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: Hi Masimba, how are you? I'm back home in Lithuania. [7:34:35 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: Hi Andrias. I am now in France [7:34:43 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: how are yu [7:34:46 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: great, I am fine [7:34:54 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: where were you b4 [7:35:20 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: I've been traveling for 10 months [7:35:27 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: o [7:35:29 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: US, Bosnia, Switzerland, Austria [7:35:35 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: how did the conference go [7:35:44 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: I was in several [7:35:50 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: and how is the project going [7:35:52 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: Boston wsa good for open source textbooks [7:35:57 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: thats good [7:35:57 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: Minciu Sodas is going fine [7:36:01 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: I'm writing proposals [7:36:10 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: including I wrote one for a workshop on fighting peacefully [7:36:12 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: for the Knight Foundation [7:36:24 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?Grundtvig [7:36:24 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: That sounds good [7:36:45 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: I must not very far away from you. Or am i [7:36:48 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: for the Knight Foundation I am blogging http://www.includer.org but they have been very strange to me, very unhelpful overall, I don't know why [7:37:00 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: I'm in Lithuania so Germany and Poland are in between us [7:37:05 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: how long will you be in France [7:37:15 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: we also have video meeting software you might like to try [7:37:20 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: 3 years, at most [7:37:22 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?VideoMeeting [7:37:40 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: we're interested to help in Zimbabwe [7:37:49 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: if there is somebody who would like our help [7:38:33 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: i have been in zimbabwe all along, and i have many contacts there [7:38:40 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: what did yu have in mind [7:38:43 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: also I wrote up our work on the Pyramid of Peace http://www.pyramidofpeace.net [7:38:54 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: and you can see a map of where we were in Kenya [7:39:03 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: http://www.pyramidofpeace.net/map.php [7:39:13 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: For free, we can organize and support independent thinkers there [7:39:23 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: yu have been doing a lot of work [7:39:27 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: and if there was a source of income, large or small, [7:39:42 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: then we could organize independent peacemakers in Zimbabwe like we did in Kenya [7:40:11 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: but mostly if there is somebody who'd like to work with us on projects, we can work in parallel [7:40:17 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: i know a youth organization that i could try and put yu in touch with [7:40:25 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: sure [7:40:31 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: i will have to get their email and pass it on to you [7:41:46 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: ok, yes [7:41:52 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: they might join one of our working groups [7:42:02 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: and we could suggest one if we knew more about their interests [7:42:23 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: do they have a website? [7:42:45 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: Tayson Mudarikiri [[email protected]] [7:42:54 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: Thats his email contact [7:42:58 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: please write to him [7:43:11 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: he is interested also in doing work around the environemtn [7:43:22 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: great [7:43:23 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: and he is a good contact [7:43:39 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: I have worked with him a lot, and he is an independent thinker [7:43:43 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: also I'm writing a book of lessons "Classic Math Problems" in the Public Domain [7:43:51 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: and that would be a good book to print "on demand" [7:43:58 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: because you could print just a few lessons if you wanted [7:44:07 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: so if you know any math teachers in Zimbabwe or elsewhere [7:44:09 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: that would be great. [7:44:15 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: Also, I'm writing a NordPlus proposal for that [7:44:18 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: since i am now here with access to some money, i hope to work closely with you [7:44:30 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: so if you know anybody in Scandinavia or the Baltic Countries [7:44:35 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: we might invite them as a partner. [7:44:37 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: ino [7:44:40 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: Great, we can do a lot for free [7:44:45 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: for sure [7:44:47 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: and we can do a lot for say $1,000 [7:45:03 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: also I think it would be helpful to organize a chat [7:45:08 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: some time [7:45:13 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: if there is a good time for you. [7:45:21 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: i am usually free around this time [7:45:24 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: its after work [7:45:32 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: so this is a good time [7:45:34 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: what's a good day and time? [7:45:40 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: and we can always arrange the times [7:45:58 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: we can schedule weekly meetings every Thursday [7:46:06 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: if its ok with you [7:46:14 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: at this time [7:46:53 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: ok fine [7:46:58 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: so next Thursday will be our first one [7:47:04 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: may I share our chat? [7:47:14 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: next thursday at 18:30 your time, yes? [7:47:20 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: yes [7:47:25 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: its all good [7:47:35 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: great! I will invite people and see you there [7:47:52 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: we can also try out our Video software whoever might like it is http://www.worknets.org/wiki.cgi?VideoMeeting [7:48:19 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: nice [7:48:27 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: so i must get going now [7:48:33 PM] Andrius Kulikauskas sako: peace! [7:48:37 PM] Chief K.Masimba Biriwasha sako: lets meet next Thursday MasimbaBiriwasha
Online Social Networking in ZimbabweMasimbaBiriwasha, June 24, 2008: iZiviso.com Project Speak Your Own Voice A clear detailed description of the project, including particular outputs or products the Project will generate, any arguments and ideas the Project will put forth, and the need for the project. iZiviso.com seeks to build a high quality, interactive online community of young people committed to sustained dialogue and social change in Zimbabwe. The project will be closely aligned to the faith-based sector to insulate from government’s crackdown on civil society. According to the International Institute of Sustained Dialogue, sustained dialogue is a systematic, prolonged dialogue among small groups of citizens that can affect change at the individual level through personal growth and understanding, and at the group level, through dialogue and joint social action. Young people will be trained to utilize social networking tools (including Facebook, Flick-r etc) to produce online content for community engagement purposes. Branding techniques will be enhance the platform’s attractiveness. In Zimbabwe today, young people are disillusioned because of a political crisis which has seriously compromised their future. A great many young people in the country now enagage in self-destructive behaviors or are being victimized for their political views or coerced to engage in violent activities. Young people have little access to power and wealth; their voices are often marginalized in the national discourse. Yet, young people in Zimbabwe offer a vast reservoir of potential: they constitute the majority and their ability for self-organization, their enthusiasm and their creativity are resources that can be utilized to rebuild a sense of dignity. Sadly, international donors are reluctant to support youths in Zimbabwe due to politics, but more importantly because of the apparent lack of new thinking to tackle some of the most pressing questions in the country. Against a background of a civil society onslaught, there is need for an innovative approach that creates a safe space for young people to interact and engage in progressive projects. The internet is a frontier where government does not grasp quite so tightly as in the real world. Social networking websites are abundant online but none articulate the specific needs of Zimbabwean youth. New digital technologies can be harnessed to change the way young people participate in issues that affect their lives. According to International Telecommunications Union, Zimbabwe has a total of 1,220,000 Internet users, approximately 9.9% of the population, and over 70 percent are youth aged 15 to 30. Young people will be encouraged to utilize Web-based applications to share “personal stories”, engage in online activities, and participate in offline social change. The proposed project will expand an existing platform (http://zivizo.com) using open source software and will feature virtual and personalized news desks, collaborating authoring environments, podcasts, chat, picture galleries, blogging, video clips, sound slides, and photographs that gives users an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, community action planning and disseminating information for and beyond their communities. Young people will be provided with online content production skills, an introduction to digital media tools, and civic involvement strategies to enable them to write about issues and engage in pre-identified social change activities, respectively. In addition, iZiviso.com will provide civil society actors working on youth related issues free space to publicize information and activities using web technology, a taxonomy for entries, tags and syndication capabilities. iZiviso.com will support a range of Web 2.0 functionality that empowers each community to manage their own online communication suite, including forums, chat, blogs, document management, member management, etc. Offline strategies, including media publicity and lobbying civil society organizations to publicize the project will be utilized to attract new youth participants to the platform. As part of its offline strategy, iZiviso.com will incorporate the Give-A-Book and Give-A-Pad campaign which seeks to create a safe space for youths to engage in social change. Give-A-Book campaign will involve collecting and distributing books and stationery to underprivileged children. Give-A-Pad campaign will involve collecting and distributing sanitary wear to marginalized girls that are forced to miss school due to menstruation. These two proposed offline activities will serve as a publicity campaign and recruitment strategy for the online forum. The project will establish partnerships with faith based institutions and civil society groups that work with marginalized youth in rural areas where internet facilities exist. A 50 percent quota of participants will be based in rural areas of Zimbabwe, and to encourage gender representative-ness, a 50 percent quota of participants will be female. iZiviso.com will employ distinctive community outreach through educational institutions, internet cafes, churches and groups to publicize and encourage participation of out-of-school youth on the online platform. An underlying rationale of the proposed project is that opening up a homegrown opportunity for young people to participate online and speak their own voice will enhance their capacity for cross-cultural interaction and understanding, a key factor for transnational dialogue, peaceful engagement and the building of a global civil society. The informing philosophy of the project is to rebuild a sense of dignity and meaning among youth who are living in a politically difficult context and strive to kindle a new conversational spirit that facilitates connection with contact. In order to function within a politically tense atmosphere, iZiviso.com will primarily focus on peaceful engagement aimed at fostering the spirit of reconciliation, and building a credible and trustworthy source of information. Civic engagement as defined in the project proposal is not merely limited to political party critiques. Rather, it refers to a process of giving young people power to interrogate alternative solutions to issues directly related to their lives and livelihoods. A key pre-requisite is that iZivizo.com will be based strictly on young people's own motivation, potential, knowledge, interests, and perceptions of their reality rather than theoretical mechanisms of citizen participation. Ongoing research into issues affecting youth will therefore be a key element of the proposed project. iZiviso.com will function as a cumulative, multilevel, open-ended process aimed at providing an online platform for youth to engage in a sustained dialogue aimed at discovering and fostering self-confidence to own peaceful solutions and build a trusted network of youths who can act as ambassadors of peaceful change in their communities. Having said that, in Zimbabwe, there are power and internet bandwidth bottlenecks so it is proposed the platform will be hosted in South Africa to avoid any interference. Participants will be trained to document ideas offline and only use internet for engagement during times when electricity is available. However, the project will require a solar panel to ensure constant availability of power. With regards internet connection, Zimbabwe recently introduced the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), a mobile wireless telephone, which can transmit Internet, data and voice, and it is proposed that project purchases the system which will enable wider internet access. To overcome other perceived structural problems, iZiviso.com will be integrated with email, and young people will be encouraged to also blog and contribute to the platform via their own emails. Email use is widely pervasive in Zimbabwe, and is particularly suited to participants based in rural areas. An e–mail listserv that educates participants and sustain their involvement in the movement will be utilized extensively. A listserv will also potentially boost viewership of the Web site and thereby remind users of the ease and necessity of their participation. iZiviso.com will promote the overall initiative, its impact and topical issues through a monthly print and online A4 size newsletter that will be disseminated to media, businesses, youth groups, churches, universities, colleges, political leadership, internet cafes and non-profit organizations and online subscribers. Specific products or outputs will include the following: A baseline, participatory research and report compiled on youth civic engagement to inform the project implementation and roll-out; Partnerships established with youth organisations such as Youth Initiative for Democracy in Zimbabwe (YIDEZ), Youth Agenda, Kubatana.Net, Students Solidarity Trust (SST), journalism schools, and faith based institutions etc. which are creating platforms for young people; A highly interactive online platform designed, monitored and well managed; 100 young participants trained in the standards of ethical, fair and objective online content production; An email database Young people contributing to the public sphere through online and face to face engagement on issues that affect their lives; Young participants trained and actively engaged in strategies to collect and distribute books and sanitary wear to disadvantaged children and girls in order to become agents of social change. Increased awareness of sexual health related issues, including viral videos of people with HIV talking about their day-to-day experience 2,000 print A4 newsletters highlighting quality content on the platform; A broad range of civil society organizations supporting, participating and highlighting activities via the online platform; A “Spirit of Enterprise” award given to a youth who collects and distributes either books or sanitary wear every month. An end of project report titled “Digital Dreams: Zimbabwean Youth Virtual Expressions” collaboratively written by young people using a Wiki aimed at influencing projects targeted at youth, and information technology policy making in Zimbabwe and the region Overall, it is expected that iZiviso.com will encourage young people to seek social support, share feelings and concerns, as well as brainstorm on social actions. An explanation of how the Project builds on existing efforts or charts new terrain The project will build on existing efforts to encourage peaceful civic engagement among young people. Linkages will be established with organizations such as schools, churches and youth-focused civil society groups to reach out to young people. At the same time, the project charts new terrain by actively encouraging young people to become active participants in the collection, creation and distribution of content through an online, interactive media. The project will contribute to bridging the digital divide among young people through a combination of training in digital media and civic activism through a medium that does not put their lives at peril. A description of the Project’s expected impact and how you might measure it. iZiviso.com’s overall objective is to build a critical mass of young people with online and offline sustained dialogue and civic engagement skills who can effectively contribute to Zimbabwe’s inevitable transition to democracy, which in part will require reconciliation processes. The purpose is to create a platform based on youth participation and not merely on technological features. An evaluation criteria using the logical framework approach (LFA) will guide project implementation, measure accountability, performance, quality standards and learning. The LF will be the foundation of the monitoring and evaluation plan, reporting and feedback, data collection and analysis. Measurable indicators will be formulated at the beginning and constantly monitored in the design or implementation stages. The following are the specific expected impacts and methods of measurement: a. Facilitate young people’s skills for online civic engagement The project is expected to increase levels of youth civic engagement and knowledge of issues within their communities. Youth participants will be introduced to new media tools and trained in citizen journalism skills with a particular focus on the following broad areas: a) Sexual Health, HIV and STIs prevention; b) Civil Liberties; c) Environment; d) Youth Culture, Faith, Art and Self-Expression. A monitoring tool will be designed to track the diversity, quantity and quality of content produced by youth participants. . Workshops will be conducted to raise youth’s awareness to online technologies that can help them to speak their own voice. Online tutorials will also be made available on iZiviso.com, and will be monitored on basis on hits and downloads. b. Increased youths’ ability to engage in peaceful social change projects. The project is supposed to directly contribute to youths’ ability to become agents of change through the offline strategy of Give-A-Book and Give-A-Pad campaigns which will also be feature on iZiviso.com. This will be measured qualitatively through what youths choose to do, and quantitatively through the number of books and pads collected and/or beneficiaries. c. Increase young women and rural youth’s access to internet and new media tools In Zimbabwe, traditional and cultural gender roles limit young women’s use of the internet. Also, rural youth are largely marginalized. The project will therefore seek to increase young women’s and rural youth’s participation through having a 50 percent quota of the two groups, respectively. This indicator will employ a qualitative measure, including activities undertaken. Baseline and monitoring surveys will contain gender and location disaggregated data, to inform the project design and implementation. d. Contributing to the policy making processes. The project will actively contribute to a progressive policy and action that takes on the larger question of what frameworks of access and connectivity will work for the marginalized youth. This will be measured qualitatively including number of public activities undertaken to advocate for policy reform with policymakers, practitioners, and the public as well as participation in information technology related gatherings. A report titled “Digital Dreams: Zimbabwean Youth Virtual Expressions” will be compiled at the end of the project and disseminated widely to civil society actors, schools, media houses, and policy makers. Objective indicators
To enable the design, a broad consultation using desk review, focus group discussions and key informant interviews will be conducted with youth groups to establish an initial baseline, information needs, perspectives and attitudes among youth. Design will be outsourced to a consultant a time period of three months. The project will start small with 100 purposefully selected participants, to enable focusing the project, but once it proves itself, the platform will be accessible to a wider audience. After three months, the project will be rolled out. Emphasis will be placed on building the digital media skills of young people, and networking with civil society groups that work with youths, including in rural areas. There will be a process evaluation after three and six months, to correct any problems in the design or implementation phases. The first strategy focuses on identifying and training youth participants on how to utilize new media tools. The selection for the pilot phase will be based on a staged competitive application process because trainees will form the core group that will facilitate the roll-out of the project. The second strategy focuses on community education and awareness-raising about the project, including influencing policy makers. The iZiviso project will be promoted through multiple offline strategies that will involve youth civic organizations. An online newsletter will be sent to subscribers, and made available in PDF format on iZiviso.com, for downloading, printing and distribution. Leaflets and posters describing the project goal, mission and activities will be used to promote the project as well as attract users. Articles on the project will be written and distributed to local, regional and international media. A short documentary of the trainings will also be made and featured on the online platform to highlight real life experiences of selected participants. Viral sharing and managed syndication will be employed to deliver the content to a wider online audience. Conference speaking opportunities in-and-out of the country will be sought to increase awareness of the project and establish new linkages. The third strategy focuses on building a social environment which will serve to attract young participants, provide digital media skills, and dialogue around issues of concern. An open monthly face-to-face roundtable forum will be held to facilitate joint projects among the youths, and deliberations will be featured on the platform. The fourth strategy will involve more nuanced and personal reaching to potential youth participants within educational institutions as well as out-of school youth. Youths will be offered introductory courses in citizen journalism and introduced to the concept of the iZiviso.com platform. The fifth strategy will involve engaging youths in social change projects of collecting books, sanitary wear and stationery through local churches and the private sector to distribute to disadvantaged children and girls. Documentation of the strategy will be conducted at every stage of project implementation and shared with relevant stakeholders. This will culminate in the writing of a report titled “Digital Dreams: Zimbabwean Youth Virtual Expressions” which will be a critical outline of the implementation process of the project. The reasons you are especially suited to carry out this Project; For over six years, I have worked as an online journalist and have been published in numerous print and online mediums. While at Health & Development Networks, I have been engaged in training citizen journalists on Web 2.o functionalities and writing about social issues. I currently maintain a blog titled iZiviso Int’l Magazine (http://zivizo.com) which will form the basis of the proposed platform. The readership of the blog is slowly growing. In 2007, I trained and led a team of citizen journalists to write on home based care for people living with HIV (PLHIV), which culminated in two books titled “Caring from Within” and “Inside Stories” focusing on the experiences of caregivers in the Zimbabwe. I have an intimate understanding of the terrain in Zimbabwe, and have worked at community level collecting people’s stories, and will use my knowledge to ensure successful implementation of the project. A description of how you expect the Project to fit into your career trajectory and future work; My life, education and career are dedicated to publishing ideas that can shape public discourse. I also like working with young people to explore and give shape to new ideas. I intend to pursue graduate studies in communication and publishing, and the project will form the foundation of my thesis. I fully believe that online publishing is a highly important in today’s information age society because without publishing there can be little dissemination and diffusion of knowledge and subsequently action. I want to pioneer the development of a new online publishing, social networking and civic engagement model in my country.
An explanation of how placement in an OSI institution could add value to the project Placement in an OSI institute will help me to align to the philosophy, culture and systems of the institute, essential for my own professional growth. Also, it will equip me with the management and leadership skills needed to execute the proposed project. Any other relevant information about the Project.
Linkshttp://www.kufunda.org/ Kufunda learning eco village close to countrys capital Hararehttp://berkana.tomoye.com/file_download.php?location=S_U&filename=12108021811Greetings_from_Zimbabwe_050807df.doc Greetings from Zimbabwe a story from Kufunda, Zimbabwe AboutThisPage
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