Facilitating Digital Changemaking

To make my vision of having social clinics a reality, my organization Common Action for Gender Development (COMAGEND) on the 1stof April 2017 held a training workshop in its main office at Ntanfoang – Bali Cameroon. I had two objectives for this workshop: to select focal persons to lead local committees within their communities to encourage unbiased conversation on sexual and reproductive health right education and also introduce women to Digital Changemaking.

I was tense on the morning of the event since I realized the previous day that it was a no travel day within my region. On this day, vehicles don’t move and people are expected to stay off the streets as well as from carrying out any commercial activity in our English speaking regions of Cameroon. I felt the participants would not be able to make it to the event given the fact they had good distances to cover. Surprisingly, 36 women attended the workshop from different quarters within Bali subdivision. This large number of participants who braved the challenges of the day made an impact on me. The participants’ commitment to challenging prevailing social norms that limit women’s freedom and to overcoming the huge obstacle of no means of transportation, reinforced in me how important the work I do is and how much the community feels they would benefit from it.

I intentionally invited women from five religious denominations which practice either Christianity or Islam. I believe that the influence of religious and cultural diversity is extremely important in order to address sexual and reproductive health rights education. Giving women and children this basic human right within my community is a very difficult task, though badly needed.

I welcomed the women and encouraged them to relax and make the workshop a lively one by actively contributing in the activities of the day so they would be more willing to challenge taboos about speaking about SRH. We carried out the vagina game at this juncture to establish that women are one and should be confident when we are together because our challenges are the same.In the vagina game we opened our legs put our hands on the vagina to confirm we all have one which makes us one. We put our heads down to get the scent from the vagina to establish that it is a part that needs care and concern. Amazingly this game helped relaxed the women as they laughed a great deal as well as break the barrier surrounding talks about our sexuality.

Ms. Helvecia Takwe, a partner in community development, gave a keynote address on sexual and reproductive health rights as a basic human right. In her presentation, various human rights were highlighted which included; Right to life, Right to health, Right not to be tortured, Right not to be discriminated upon and many more. She encouraged participants to know their rights so that no one can violate them. She made mention of some institutions such as the Ministry of Social Affairs, Committee for Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and Committee for Economic and Social Rights (CSER) that are out to protect their rights. She also helped the women to understand the importance of SRH rights education for women and girls even at the global front.

The participants then had a one hour training on Digital Changemaking, especially on social online platforms like World Pulse (an online community for change) with particular attention on writing in a personal journal (power of sharing one’s story ) to kick start an action for change. This proved even more exciting than I had imagined since women showed much interest in understanding how they can have sisters they have never met who support and care for them. With a sample of my story which was published on World Pulse, the participants were able to see and understand the power of sharing stories, sisters uniting and acting on the issue raised, and how sharing stories can change lives. I must confess that printing out the publication on World Pulse and the comments that followed the story as well as the Participants Manual was my wisest decision. There was no power supply and internet connection on that day making it impossible for me to do my power point presentation. Many women would have joined World Pulse instantly but for no internet connection within my community. I encouraged them to start the changemaking by using SMS system which still provides for sisterly interaction and support.

Following the workshop sessions I realized that the most valuable thing to do when women get together is to facilitate discussion, rather than to teach them. Every participant is a resource person. They just need to be motivated to step up and act in their communities. Workshops like these can encourage women that they have what it takes to bring women together to create change. Many of the participants were good teachers than I can be but lacked an enabling environment to boost their potentials. The valuable contributions to make the workshop successful left me with the idea that a woman does not need to be very knowledgeable on an issue before bringing women together for change.

Our small group working sessions worked well because it gave the opportunity for every participant to contribute an idea or more. In addition, sharing my personal experience on World Pulse really helped the women understand the power of digital changemaking. They were amazed at the support that publication gave me and the great network that I have now.

Though many were enthusiastic about World Pulse, it was difficult for me to really make them have a one-on-one connection with the platform. First and foremost many of them lack the required gadgets for digital changemaking: smartphones, laptops, tablets or computers as well as internet connection which has been suspended and frequent power cuts. Moreover there is a lot of misinformation concerning the use of the internet and technological gadgets. Many believe it is a source of distraction especially for their children while others say it is for the rich. I hope that my experience with World Pulse will help them overcome this misinformation.

At the end of the workshop the participants formed a group of 17 volunteers who will continue with the discussions on sexual and reproductive health rights and the power of digital changemaking within their local communities. As a matter of fact two groups have already invited our organization to come and facilitate their workshop on April 14th and 16th 2017. Following the reaction of the women I feel that a close follow up of the women will lay the foundation for the creation of local committees a base for social clinics

How to Get Involved

Facebook page: common action for gender development

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