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South Africa
[APC Africa Women] - “It’s in the
telling of our stories that we discover how much of our experiences and
learning we have in common with others. Stories make our connection with
others and with the world real. They weave together our individual
experiences to reveal a picture of a community, a group and a country.”
Introduction APC-Africa-Women, in partnership with Women'sNet, invite you to submit an application to participate in a digital storytelling workshop. This workshop is aimed at women who document (as content developers, librarians, archivists, journalists, mediators, translators, information activists etc.) the lives of women affected by violence in Africa. Participants will develop short videos reflecting their experiences as women documenters, and how they are affected and transformed. This will be created through recording and documenting lived realities of women confronted by violence. The stories will unravel how documenters deal with, process and understand this difficult work. An important component of this workshop is to examine the power dimensions of story telling and how we retain the authenticity of our own voice, as well as the voices of the people who’s stories we document, preserve or disseminate. Women who document, record and write about women in violent situations are at the front line of recording stories but do not have the time and space to reflect, understand and tell their own stories, share their responses, understandings and experiences about their work. There is a large amount of information on the internet, but very little that reflects the lived realities of women living and working in Africa. The workshop aims to create content by and for women, develop the ICT skills and capacity of women, strengthen organisations and enable women to share and network amongst each other. Application deadline: 19 July 2007 Download application: http://www.apcafricawomen.org/wentappform.doc Workshop dates 25-29 August 2007 Who Should Apply? Applicants should be: *Women, living and working in Africa *Documenters of violence against women *Based in an organisation, institution or network *Comfortable with English as the language used in the workshop, but you are welcomed to produce your story in any language you choose. *Familiar to a certain level with using computers (see form below) The story you tell is from the first person, which means it will be about you and your experiences. If you are interested and meet the criteria above, please download the application form complete it and submit it as an email
attachment to Jenny Radloff
Jenny@aqpcwomen.org
DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING APPLICATIONS: 19 July 2007. The workshop Story telling has long been a tool for learning lessons, preserving memory and history, transmitting culture and tradition, entertaining others, for healing and caution. Stories have a value for both the teller and the listener. For those relating a story it has value in expression and healing, and for the listener in learning and sharing. The ‘digital’ in digital story telling, refers to the medium used to transmit stories. Digital stories, simply, are stories produced, stored and disseminated using digital media. Digital stories can and have been used as advocacy tools to inform policy makers and to raise awareness amongst communities. The digital stories will focus on the experiences of women who are content developers, librarians, archivists, journalists, mediators, translators, information activists, and who work in the field of ending violence against women. Violence and discrimination against women are global social issues, where abuses are afflicted systematically, relentlessly and are often tolerated, if not explicitly condoned. Our understanding of violence against women includes, but is not limited to, violence such as sexual, physical and mental harm, rape, domestic violence, women experiencing violence in situations of armed conflict, women who are internally displaced or refugees in other countries, hate crimes against lesbian women and traditional practices harmful to women. Participants of the workshop will take control of technology and tell their own stories using the digital storytelling medium. This process will help participants to locate themselves in the stories to better advocate for the rights, priorities and concerns of women in situations of violence. There is space for twelve applicants who will participate in this five-day digital storytelling workshop [25-29 August inclusive], where they will learn to use computer software and other equipment necessary for making a short multimedia digital story. The digital storytelling workshop is hands-on and computer intensive, requiring commitment and willingness to develop a short, personal story; learn new software and edit a short digital video of five minutes in length. Digital storytelling is not like writing a formal document; it’s more like creative, autobiographical writing. To see some examples, check out the website: http://www.silencespeaks.org
In order to be eligible to participate, you must be able to attend all five days of the workshop, and be able to travel to South Africa (25-29 August 2007 [arriving on 24th August, departing 30th August]). To strengthen our advocacy on using ICTs to end violence against women, we request to feature your story, or part of your story, as part of the APC WNSP's Take Back the Tech campaign. Http://www.takebackthetech.org This workshop is a chance to learn new skills and tell your story in a creative and visual format. It’s a lot of work . . . AND a lot of fun. About APC-Africa-Women APC-Africa-women is the African regional network of the Association for Progressive Communications Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP). APC WNSP is a global network of women who support women networking for social change and women's empowerment, through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). We promote gender equality in the design, development, implementation, access to and use of ICTs and in the policy decisions and frameworks that regulate them. We have a special focus on redressing inequities based on women's social or ethnic background - through the provision of research, training, information, and support activities in the field of ICT policy, skills-sharing in the access and use of ICT, and women's network-building. http://www.apcwomen.org
APC-Africa-Women hosts Women's Electronic Network Training (WENT) workshops every two years. WENT workshops aim to build the skills and capacities of women and their organisations to utilise ICTs in women's empowerment, social development work and policy advocacy. In 2003 participants at WENT Africa developed skills in the repackaging of information through the convergence of old and new technologies using radio and in building websites using a Content Management System. Weaving through the training were sessions on gender and ICT policy issues. In 2005 WENT Africa was hosted in Kampala and using a two-track system, trained women technicians in the use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and women managers of NGOs in technology planning. More information can be viewed at http://wentafrica.blogspot.com About Women'sNet Women'sNet works to advance gender equality and justice in South Africa through the use of ICTs by providing training and facilitating content dissemination and creation that supports women, girls, and women’s and gender organisations and networks to take control of their own content and ICT use. The organisation is one of the few working on technology for social change in South Africa, and the first to do this from a gender perspective our work has focused on technology for purpose – strengthening women’s organisations specifically and civil society in general – to use ICTs for achieving gender justice. |