Facilitating Digital Changemaking

SUMMARY

On the 12 of April, 2017, I had my training of seven women on digital change making. (They are between the ages of 22 to 30 years). Before the training, I was really concern as to who to train since participants should be able to read, write and at least have some basics about computing and the use of digital tools. So I ended up training my neighbors. At the same time, I was excited that I was going to be a blessing to other women-to give them what I wish I was given by introducing them to world pulse. I had to search out world pulse all by myself.

My target audience was women whether married or single. This is because every woman has a story to tell and which they can do on world pulse and spousal abuse is no respecter of persons-it can happen to any woman. So every woman or lady needs to know about it.

OBJECTIVES

The main objectives for this training were to:

1. Introduce the women to world pulse and how to use the platform to tell their stories and be heard.

2. Help women understand how to use digital tools to affect change in their lives and community

3. Educate them on spousal abuse

MAIN TRAINING

The training lasted for two hours and for a small group of seven women. As they arrived, they were given the registration form to register. After that, I introduced myself and told them my story about how I survived spousal abuse and how I am working to break the cycle of spousal abuse. This is because my organization’s activities are mostly carried out in the rural communities. I then ask them to introduce themselves and then say one thing they wish to change in Ghana and their communities if they had the power to change anything. It was a really interesting session because every woman had a story or an issue they want changed that is affecting women- ranging from child marriage to teenage pregnancy to child labor and to violence against women. They were then introduced to the world pulse network and the various areas such as journals and comments, story award, resource exchange, safety and security online etc by going through the presentation slides.

Though the internet connectivity was not stable, we were able to do this because they were given handouts on the power point presentation and the digital empowerment manual. I then told them my story of how I got on the world pulse platform and all the benefits of joining the platform.

They could not create their own journals due to the fact that the internet was not stable and also we did not have enough digital gadgets to use. But they promise to do that after the training. They were now shown how to effectively use face book, twitter and LinkedIn to get their messages across. I then educated them on spousal abuse –signs of abuse, forms, stages of spousal abuse, effects and the way forward when being abused. Participants were then allowed to ask questions or contribute to what has been discussed.

The last thing they did was to fill in the “Training Participant Feedback Survey”

CHALLENGES

The major challenge was the venue. I had arranged for us to meet in a school. But on the day of the training, the school had no light which means our two laptops could not powered and it was going to be dark soon since the training was organized in the evening. So we ended up in my living room where the lightening was not bright for both the pictures and the video. Another challenge was the unstable nature of the internet but we were able to carry on because of the handouts they were given. The only thing they could not do, was to create their journals We also did not have enough laptops or tablets or smart phones for the training. We had two laptops which I used to show them how to create their own journals. This experience is totally different from the last group facilitation I did. Because everything about world pulse was new to them. So they could not contribute much

. LESSONS

1. When participants have questionnaires to answer, the questions should be read and explained to them before they answer. They took a long time to fill in the participant feedback survey.

2. I t is better for training to be organized in the morning or afternoon and not in the evening so that even if there is no light. You can still work

3. If it possible, arrange for two venues. So that if there is any problem with the first venue on the training day, you can change to the second one.

Over all, the training went well. Participants turnout was more than the number I expected and they all arrived in time. They were all excited to learn about world pulse and even suggested I organized more training for them which I am planning to do after this course

How to Get Involved

website: https://fbendoweh.wixsite.com/mysite

Email: fbendoweh@yahoo.com

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Bendoweh-Foundation-1589639667916674/

world pulse:https://www.worldpulse.com/en/my-pulse/profile