Pamela McLean wrote: > Ref reaching out into the community and information flows. The current > situation at the little InfoCentre in Ago-Are may be of interest. (Any > researchers wanting to follow up on this would be welcome). > > I have not introduced myself previously on this list and have only > been able to dip into this discussion from time to time. This email > ties into various discussions about the variety of telecentres, > especially small ones, and their connections with their communities > (most recently contributions from David Leeming and Elizabeth Carll) > > Yesterday the InfoCentre was connected to the Internet for the first > time. Until now its information flow has been limited by lack of > connectivity - now information will be able to flow more freely. > > We do not have the human resources to monitor and evaluate what will > be happening as Ago-Are comes to terms with connectivity. This could > be an excellent research opportunity. Please circulate this > information to anyone who might be interested. I will be keeping some > kind of records and already have a considerable archive to share if > anyone is interested in using it.. > > This is a brief history . The InfoCentre opened in June 2003. It is a > bottom up initiative - largely self funded. It is in rural Nigeria, > set up by OCDN (Oke-Ogun Community Development Network) - originally a > committee set up by three chiefs to support the vision of a local man, > the late Peter Adetunji Oyawale. Through "historic reasons of > friendship" it is supported from the UK by Lorraine Duff and me (under > the name "CAWD volunteers"). We use our home computers to access the > Internet on behalf of our friends in rural Nigeria. > > In August 2003 a needs analysis was done in Ago-Are at the request of > COL (Commonwealth of Learning). As a result, COL introduced OCDN to > IITA (the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture) and a > collaboration ensued - hence the VSAT installation yesterday.. > > This history means that the community around the little Ago-Are > InfoCentre already has friends in the connected community. OCDN and > CAWD volunteers have linked across the digital divide from way back in > 2001, working together to get the InfoCentre open and to achieve > connectivity. The InfoCentre links with a women's group which meets > once a week and with a farmers' group which also meets once a week. > There are links with teachers, health workers, the youth groups, the > traditional ruler and his chiefs, the local government, and the local > religious leaders. > > There is a skills base. There is a local manager and an experienced > local trainer. There is a core groups of people who have attended ICT > training courses who work at the InfoCentre as volunteers in order to > practice their skills. > > There are good links. There are close personal links across the > digital divide. There are relays of communication links - from the > local community, linked to the InfoCentre, linked to the CAWD > volunteers, linked to the connected community, Now the local community > can begin to communicate with the connected community directly - and > we will discover what information does in fact begin to flow. > > Pamela McLean
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