[Telecentres] Introduction and Basic Telecentres

[Taran Rampersad]

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


At the end of the day, this is what it's all about.

-- 
Taran Rampersad

cnd at knowprose.com

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