Empower the Woman,Empower the Society

VOICES OF OUR FUTURE WEEK ONE ASSIGNMENT
Topmost among what excites me about Web 2.0, is its power to connect women across continents and all walks of life in a global community where they get an opportunity/opportunities to raise their voice to be heard by all, right from the sophisticated and elite to the most naïve at the grass root level.
Web 2.0 Citizen Journalism and Empowerment programme, is a solution provider in totality. Englishmen say “Knowledge is Power”, the website has given the woman a platform to acquire knowledge which empowers them in the long run. The empowerment is without discrimination.
Environmental conservation-imagine over 560 VOF applicants all using hard copy training materials? This would mean that several trees would need to be fallen off to provide the stationery, in addition commuting to a central place for live classrooms leading to untold air pollution, all contributing to environmental degradation. Online courses are a relief.
Web 2.0 contributes greatly to the strengthening of social networks, “no man is an island” thus socialization is healthy and paramount for every human. If restricted to face to face interactions it would be time consuming and not cost-effective, thanks to Web 2.0 which has provided an arena for the same even at the comfort of our homes. Women globally can interact freely and conveniently and form alliances aimed at dealing with social injustices directed to women.
Nurturing of talent-the tombs remain the wealthiest in terms of unexploited talent buried several feet underneath. What a better forum to nurture writing/journalism talent for the women globally than Web 2.0,which gives fair opportunity to all to speak and be heard?
Offers productive pastime to women-this is two-pronged as it benefits both the writer and the reader, in this case the writer can express herself without fear while the reader is informed and entertained-edutainment.
The current and foreseen opportunities for my empowerment are as follow:
 Challenge to give back to the community-giving back to the community is the greatest gift to humanity. With daily online interactions with women who have rolled out great initiatives to build the local women capacity, why not me?
 Communication skills-written communication is one of the strongest forms of communication especially due to its advantage of future referencing, I have noted improvement in my writing skills and this can only be better with the kind of exposure offered exclusively here.
 Establishment and strengthening of social networks-with this, I have managed to interact with women working with Most At Risk Populations in HIV Prevention, particularly the Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights. Plans are underway to develop partnership with a local NGO which I interacted with here.
 Capacity building in MS Office applications- I have experienced immense improvement in running computers, all thanks to this programme, I can’t type more faster, and has acquired better understanding of the Computer Commands. Keep up the woman empowerment, for its’ said “educate a woman, educate whole society “likewise “empower the woman and empower whole society”.