November Progress Report

Nice job on the wiki Andrew. I also changed the background to the wiki let me know if you like the new one or the old one better.

I also went ahead and did the rest of the grant proposal so it is ready to be submitted to the Rockefeller Foundations.

So as of now I think we have completed all of our objectives for the Voices of Africa Project.

Myspace: Completed

Facebook: Completed
we also have 50 members in our VOA group, many of whom have shown interest in becoming involved in the project.

Wiki: Completed

Lurcy Grant: Completed and denied funds

Rockefeller Grant: Completed

Swahili resources: completed and posted on the websites.

In conclusion, working on the Voices of Africa project has been a very educational experience and has given us a lot of insight into the process of funding and building an ICT project.

Wiki

Hey group,

I just made some changes to the wiki and I think it is pretty much finished. Take a look at the wiki when you get a chance and see what you think.

www.voicesofafrica.wetpaint.com

Second Grant Progress

Hey guys,
Part 1,2,3,4,5 of the grant proposal have been completed. Any news on parts 6 & 7?

Well Happy Thanksgiving

Second Grant Progress

Hello Group,

I finished parts 3 and 4 of the new grant that we are working on and uploaded it as a google doc.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg3wg6k4_17m8mxj

Once we have all of the parts done we can submit it online.

How is everyone else's progress going?

-Jazmine

Group Meeting for the week

This past Wednesday we were finally able to get our group all together and meet with Crystal. I think everyone can agree that the meeting was greatly beneficial and was able to communicate many problems that may have previously been troubling. We currently feel very well prepared for rapping up the work for the project. Our facebook group currently has 47 members and appears to be growing day by day. The wiki is coming along quite nicely and the group is beginning work on a second grant proposal with the Rockefeller Foundation!

"You must be the change you wish to see" - Gandhi

The group got together on Friday 11/2 to draft an updated progress report. From the meeting we were able to narrow down our focus for the remainder of the semester to working on the wiki.

Mid-Semester Progress

We have made a lot of progress in the last month and a half but we still have a lot of work to do!

Lurcy Grant Application- Completed and awaiting a response

Myspace- 3/4 finished. We need to add friends and contacts.

Facebook- completed.

Wiki- 1/3 completed. We need to customize the background, add more information and links.

Second Grant- On hold for the moment

Crystal- we have a meeting scheduled on the 24th to update her on our progress.

Wiki

hey Jazmine wiki is looking great. To change the template you can go to wiki settings and look under styles. There are about 20 different ones. We can also upload a logo item under name & logo.

VOA Wiki

Hi group,

I have made some updates to the wiki but it is still a work in progress.

You can see the updates here:

http://voicesofafrica.wetpaint.com/

Does anyone know how to change the background from the original green to something more VOA?

Pizza

hi group we will be meeting to get pizza with Crystal on Wednesday at 9:00 pm, any suggestions for a place?

New Ideas

Hey Group, here are a few ideas that we could possibly work on for the week. One would be making the myspace page more user friend and more welcoming having in mind someone who knows nothing about the project as the audience. If we do receive the grant for the digital camera, perhaps a flickr site would be useful for uploading and sharing photos. Third maybe a google documents site could be used to perform surveys; we could add this feature to the website which would help facilitate increased communication. Fourthly perhaps a blog for the women of Kenya written in swahili could be developed. Finally the new wiki which can be integrated with the Voices of Africa website is Voices of Africa

Group Meeting

Yesterday our group met to discuss project status and develop a roadmap for proceeding with the semester. We determined that the 2nd grant proposal would be beyond our capabilities. Currently we have been increasing membership in the recently developed facebook group for Voices of Africa. We also set up a wiki with wetpaint to serve as an open discussion area.

Why Voices of Africa?

The Voices of Africa group was united by a shared interest in womens education in Africa. When we met with Crystal Watley for the first time we were impressed by her passion and the ideals embodied in her project goals. We were all excited about being able to use ICT in a practical way to to educate women in rural Kenya.
Our primary objectives were to supplement the VOA website which was to be used to increase public awareness of women's issues in Kenya and provide a forum Kenyan women. Our seconday goal is to assist Crystal in obtaining funds for project equipment. By the end of the semester we hope to complete 2 grant proposals, add content to the preexisting Myspace, create a VOA Wiki and add Swahili content and government documents to the official Voices of Africa website.
Once completed, we hope these websites will increase global awareness and provide contacts to further the VOA project.
By the end of the semester we hope to gain a practical knowledge in the extent to which Web 2.0 tools can be applied in the developing world.

-Jazmine

News & Culture

For information on Kenyan news and culture affairs check out the following sites
http://allafrica.com/kenya/ (Provides news information a from allafrica.com related to kenya)
http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgindex.asp (Kenyan news)
http://www.africaguide.com/country/kenya/culture.htm (Information on Kenyan Culture)
http://www.classicescapes.com/ke-culture.html (More information on Kenyan Culture)

Country Information on Kenya

For information regarding country facts, history, and development indicators of Kenya an excellent website is https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ke.html

Meetings Agendas

Thus far our group has been meeting every Wednesday at 2:00 to discuss our project and divide our jobs for the week. This past week our group has consolidate our blog website, developed a facebook page for Voices of Africa, researched material in Swahili for Crystal's website, and has researched possible web 2.0 tools to add to the websites. We are currently waiting to hear back from the Lurcy Grant which Jazmine wrote a couple of weeks ago.

Context and Audience Analysis Survey

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg3wg6k4_0ftk8rd

Modem

Below is information regarding the modem which we will be using in the village.

"Enjoy a wireless data connection no matter where you are with the SAMBA 75 USB modem. Check your e-mail or browse the web anywhere you can get a cell signal - no phone needed. Simply plug your SIM card into the adapter and plug the adapter into any available USB port on your computer. This adapter supports GSM, GPRS, and EDGE connectivity. With EDGE class 10 capabilities, you get data transfer rates up to three times faster than GSM/GPRS. This modem also supports SMS, fax, and MMS. Best of all, it works anywhere in the world - Europe, U.S.A., and Asia. This is a great solution for travelers."

Past Group Progress

In Progress…
9/10/07 We met with Crystal and she filled in the details of the project
VoA wiki created
Blog created
Grant research
Lurcy Grant application
What is Voices of Africa?
Voicesofafrica.org
Proposal to bring info tech in the form of a telecenter to a village in rural Kenya
Goal: to provide access to education to Kenyan women about topics such as sustainable farming, health, and child rearing
Provide a forum for rural women through various web 2.0 applications
Deliverables
Write two grant proposals
Add content to preexisting MySpace page
Create Wiki
Improve Voices of Africa official website
Measures of Success
Complete and submit two grant proposals
Increase networking by creating and enhancing MySpace and Wiki pages
Increase information availability for Kenyan women through addition of official web page content
Problems and Issues
Failure to obtain money through grants before focal person Crystal’s departure for Kenya (Dec. 12, 2007)
Inability to find web pages with content in only Swahili
Inability to find or translate government documents into Swahili
Road Map
Work diligently to complete grant proposals in order to receive funds before Crystal’s departure
Access faculty with specialty in Swahili and African Studies
Contact different Kenyan or East African organizations to determine resources for finding legitimate Swahili web pages
Who is Voices of Africa?
VoA was created by TU Public Health student Crystal Watley
Crystal is the Technical Advisor to the Mbambe Rural Management Programme
She is extremely passionate about bringing info tech to rural Kenya

Background to the Internet

Basic Function
Internet - a vast computer network linking smaller computer networks worldwide. The Internet includes commercial, educational, governmental, and other networks, all of which use the same set of communications protocols
Provides - Access to the World Wide Web, EMAIL
A mechanism for information dissemination and medium for collaboration and interaction without regard for geographic location
History
US Government support of DARPA who first developed networks with a country-wide radar system in 1958 (SAGE)
Licklider was a leader in SAGE project and recruited a team to implement a network that by 1969 they had established the first node at UCLA called ARPANET. In 1972 the first application for Electronic mail was established.
Following these breakthrough in 1978 began a swell of growth beginning first in Europe as the International Packet Switched Service. The movement swept through Asia and across the world by 1981.
The first TCP/IP-wide area network came into operation in 1983 when the United State’s National Science Foundation constructed a university network NSFnet compatible with the military’s ARPANET.
1985 this network opened up to commercial interests. Separate networks such as Usenet, BITNET, and others provided gateways into NSFNet.
The ability of the TCP/IP protocol to work over previously existing communication networks allowed for a great ease of growth and eventually led the use of the term “Internet” to describe a single global TCP/IP network.
In 1991 CERN publicized the new World Wide Web project, which followed two years after the creation of HTML and HTTP by Tim Berners-Lee.
In 1993 early forms of World Wide Web browsers came onto the market and public interest in the previously academic/technical internet exploded.
Throughout the 1990s it is estimated that the Internet grew by 100% per year creating a vast network of computer terminals and thus seemingly limitless amounts of information and communication opportunities.
Required Infrastructure for Internet Access
Electricity
Telephone Lines
Computers
Various Technologies (ISP, LAN, backbones, fiber optic cables, etc)
Human Infrastructure
Gender Issues in Kenya
Contradictory laws disallow women to inherit land or property from deceased spouses
Decreased education among women due to social barriers
Inadequate employment opportunities for women
Improving Standards of Living Through the Internet
Education through online courses
Raising Awareness
Knowledge sharing between groups in developing and developed world.
The Internet and Empowering Women
There are many websites that deal with women’s issues in Africa
Place to advocate for women’s rights and social change
Maintaining social networks
Connection to others: other points of view and moral support

Background of Project

The mission of the Voices of Africa project is four-fold:

1) To facilitate change in rural villages by installing ICTs and empowering the people to utilize technology to improve their standards of living.

2) To raise awareness of the need for information and communication technologies (ICT) in rural Africa and to seek financial support for their implementation.

3) To create a safe space for Africans from all nations, tribes, and genders to share their ideas, passions, concerns, and troubles with others internationally.

4) To become a supporting and founding member of the growing movement for African liberation.