Miadé Local Community Networks Ecosystem Map

Conclusion of our project

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For the time being our project has come to an end. Our project partner, the GIZ, is continuing a second phase of the project together with local lead locals.

This project was about the empowerment and reinforcement of local communities in Lomé, Togo. We used participatory design and co-creation methods to serve the individual needs of each community. With our project we wanted to support local networks and tech skills as well as raising the level of tech expertise of the community members, so that they can create and use the low-cost and open source infrastructures.

Within the course of our project we have completed three workshops with three communities.

During the first workshop we got to know the communities and established their individual needs. In the second workshop we examined the specific needs of the communities and discussed which content they would want to upload onto their local network and which MAZI applications would be suitable for them. In the third and last workshop we installed the local network with the communities, minimising their reservations and fears about the technology.

You can have a look at our ecosystem map illustrating the structure and goals of our project.

Considering the success of our project so far,we would really like to continue this project with other communities. We are currently working on a concept for a follow-up project.

If you have any questions or are interested in learning more about this project you can reach us by sending an e-mail to intex-sek (at) dfki.de.

Project Flyer
Journal Article
Miadé Local Community Networks Ecomap
Ecomap of the project
Miadé. Local Community Networks Conception de troisième atelier ©miadé

Conception of Workshop 3

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After having finished the second workshop with our three communities, we started the evaluation of the second and the preparation of the third workshop. 

In order to do this efficiently besides the distance (between Togo and Germany) we worked together with a Miro-board. Miro is an online platform where you can create and share whiteboards with your colleagues so that you can work on them simultaneously. Thanks to this platform, we were able to gather ideas and suggestions for the creation of the third workshop together.The objective of our second workshop was to identify the problems of the communities and connect them with the functions of the rasberry pis and it gave us good first results and concrete ideas of contents. We can now include these ideas in the creation the third workshop.

In the preparation of this workshop, it was therefore important to reflect on the second workshop in order to be able to improve any aspects that can still be improved.Our collaboration on the Miro gave us very clear goals for the third workshop. With the third workshop we want to create a better understanding of the technology and the approach of the project. Anguish and reservations about technology must be eliminated and we would like to establish the first contact  with the rasberry pis. In addition, we want to start creating contents together with the communities. We also decided which MAZI applications are suitable for which community.

We are now well prepared and looking forward to organizing the third workshop with the three communities, which will happen in the last week of august..

 

 

Here you can get an insight into our collaborative work with the Miro board.

Miadé. Local Community Networks Conception de troisième atelier ©miadé
Miadé. Local Community Networks Couture ©Local Leads

Mask Sewing Workshop with the children of Hälsa International

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Miadé. Local Community Networks Couture ©Local Leads
Miadé. Local Community Networks Couture ©Local Leads

Just recently our Team in Togo organized a workshop for sewing face masks with the children of the Hälsa community. 

The workshop was conducted by our Local Lead Victoire, Ousia (also one of our Local Leads) who took the photos and Nora, who works for the GIZ Togo and who was present for the logistics. The workshop lasted from 9:30 a.m. to about 1 p.m. and was held at the Hälsa Community Centre. We worked with 8 children from Hälsa International and three coaches which were animating the children as well as Mr. Kévin FIASHINOU (Hälsa Team) who is in charge of the centre.

We learned to sew pleated masks by hand, respecting the AFNOR standards, this  reminded us once more, why we have been wearing masks for those past months. Which lead to a discussion about the importance, the usefulness and the efficiency of these masks. We talked about why we prefer this model to others, also about why we consider the AFNOR standards as the most efficient and useful standards. Together we established what we will remember and keep in mind as lessons or values throughout this crisis. All the children of Hälsa International decided they wanted to continue respecting the barrier measures against Covid19, keep their patience to learn an occupation and to maintain their concentration, will, determination and a dutifulness in general. 

The workshop ended in the early afternoon in a joyful atmosphere! We took a “family picture” with the masks that we made.

We will also publish a tutorial video soon, which is still being developed. 

Thanks to Victoire, Ousia and Nora for holding and creating this workshop and thanks to the community of Hälsa International for participating!

Miadé. Local Community Networks Couture ©Local Leads
Miadé. Local Community Networks Couture ©Local Leads
Miadé. Local Community Networks Halsa Community, 2nd workshop ©Local Leads, Togo

Workshop 2 Hälsa International

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The aim of our community network project is to support, augment, and extend existing social networks with the help of network technologies. In order to find existing social networks we chose three different communities, with which we will be carrying out the project together: the “Kantata community”, the “Africa Coworkers” and the “Halsa International” community.

Kantata 

The Kantata community is made up of artists of all kinds – artists in dance, art lovers, amateurs and artists in literature, slam and comedy, or music. Kantata is an online platform that is presented to the public as an entertainment site but also as a showcase for the work of Togolese artists from all disciplines. The unification of the entrepreneurial spirit of various artists in Togo should make it possible to create a common space for action in times of reduced contacts and curfews, presenting the various arts in a showcase and making them available to art lovers.

Africa Coworkers

Africa Coworkers is a community of young entrepreneurs whose vision is to make entrepreneurship different through innovation and collaboration. It brings together young entrepreneurs and candidates for entrepreneurship from various sectors of activity, such as agriculture, e-commerce, technology or crafts.

Hälsa International 

Hälsa International is a community of teenagers and youth from the streets with very limited access to communication and tics and who are looking for innovative learning alternatives.

Deuxiéme atelier Miadé. Local Community Network. ©Local Leads

Workshop 2 – Kantata

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In consideration of the hygiene conditions, the second workshop was held in community centres in town.
And we equipped the communities with hand washing “stations” and hand sanitizors.

The goal of ur second workshop was to identify the communities’ problems and challenges and to introduce the participants to the functions of the Raspberry Pi.
Together we established possible content and the application that can be used for its distribution according to their needs.

Since we gained such different results from the first workshop, we adapted the process of the second individually for each community.

The process of the workshop

The community of Kantata established already in te first workshop many ideas for possible content for their local network platform.
This is why we decided to now give them  a short introduction about the applications they can use and design a prototype with with proposed content with them together.

Also with this community we started the workshop off with some “Icebreakes” in form of the game “Jeu de Similarité” (Games of Similarities).
The participants build pairs of two and had to find things in common with their game partner in order to show how many similarities we actually have.
Afterwards using the “Quick and Dirty Prototyping” design thinking method the Raspberry Pi was presented to the participants. Since this method allows in a very short time a tridimensional overview of the concept the members of the community quickly gained specific ideas about their possibilities that the local network has to offer.

For the Community of Kantata we asked the following questions:

  • How can the content be accessed? les gens accèdent à notre contenue? 
  • What do you want to accomplish with the uploaded content?
  • What do you share with each other?
  • With which applications do you want to share the content?
  • In what frequency would you like to share new content?
  • What and who do we need? (video, audio, … who films, who edits, what material do we have, how often will we produce the content, …). 
  • How will me produce these contents?

After discussing those questions, we played another game to bring awareness to the concept of the network and the needed interaction for its realisation. During the game “La toile” (the web) all the participants form a circle in which one of them hold a ball of wool. This ball is being tossed from one person to the other, while each person holds on to the thread and says their name before throwing it to the next person. At the end of the game the whole ball of wool is undone and in between the players a beautiful web has unfolded itself.

 

 

The results 

The members of Kantata already had a very clear idea of which contents they would want to share on their network. They also already had thought of the application they would use to contribute those contents. They are well aware of their needs and wishes and have their own ideas what to share within their community and outside of it.

Among their needs they named human resources, such as actors, directors or scriptwriters, but also tools, such as cameras, microphones, tripods or lighting.

To manage their network, the community had already presented a plan.  They wish to establish a committee which is responsable for the validation of the content, to create a guide and criteria for the production and validation of the content. They would like to have the possibility to create user accounts that are secured with a password for each person that wants to add content to the network and free access for all users. If possible, they would also like to have a dashboard with possibilities to choose other languages.

The content the members proposed was, if possible, visit touristic paces in Togo via (3D) videos, using voice-over in the local languages with translation or subtitles in French and English. Im addition they would like to create a silent theater, a video and voice-over or images of “Edrou Loo” which is a dance and story-telling procedure around the fire. The short film “Le Chef du Quartier” (The neighbourhood-boss), which is a 30 minute two-part movie, is also something Kantata would want to upload onto their platform. They wish to offer classes to learn their local language and culture, provide information about personal success stories, quotes and advice from african and western philosophers or inspiring debate sessions with guests.
They wish to train artists in using smartphones to create their works, which then also can be uploaded. In addition, the members of Kantata want a copyright for artists, fight against discrimination, racism and ethnocentrism and want to promote awareness of the culture among students, using the local network.

It should be possible to access the local network at Daltas, their community centre, from at home, close by or if needed through the internet.

The community is ready for the production of content. Even though the participants were a little shy at the beginning of the workshop, they then became excited and participated in a very interactive and productive way.

In conclusion with the local network the community hopes to improve collaborative work, sociability, growth, promote the culture of Togo, have a platform to display products made in Togo and rethink art! 

Local Community Networks, Miade Workshop 2 - Africa Coworkers ©Local Leads, Togo

Workshop 2 – Africa Coworkers

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In consideration of the hygiene conditions, the second workshop was held in community centres in town.
And we equipped the communities with hand washing “stations” and hand sanitizors.

The goal of ur second workshop was to identify the communities’ problems and challenges and to introduce the participants to the functions of the Raspberry Pi.
Together we established possible content and the application that can be used for its distribution according to their needs.

Since we gained such different results from the first workshop, we adapted the process of the second individually for each community .

The process of the workshop

Considering the existing backround knowledge in digital technologies, we could already include a broad overview of the Raspberry Pi into the second workshop. We also talked about the applications which can be used with the software and even collected concrete ideas for possible content for their local network.

The Ice-Breaker games we played in the beginning of the workshop with the participants were “La toile” (The Canvas) and the “Jeux de similarité” (The Game of Similarities).

(You can read more about these games in the article of “Workshop 2- Kantata” and “Workshop 2 – Halsa”.)
A “Back to the future storyboard was our chosen design thinking method to establish their ideas for possible content, which we also used for the Halsa community.

The following questionnes were asked:

If you could project yourself 2, 5 or more years into the future…

  • Where do you see the project of the local networks? 
  • What do you see yourself contributing to this future and what are you gaining from it?
  • To which programs, trainings, information or content will you have access to at Africa Coworkers?
  • Which topics do you want to address in the content of your entrepreneurship?
  • How do you think you could reach more countries with this project?
  • What kind of content you think would be helpful to achieve and secure financial independence?

The results of the workshop 

The workshop with the Africa Coworker community achieved good first results, together with the participants we were able do crystallise first concrete ideas about possible content for the network.

Africa Coworkers would like the possibility of exchanging photos, videos, podcasts, links and articles on their platform.

The members want to contribute as much content as possible. They would like to share their practical competencies, information about the possibilities of financial support, the access to the employment market and they would want to accomplish those goals by working in a collaborative manner.

The essential needs of the community that were determined, were though to improve their  own abilities in the wished for content. Meaning their practical expertise, gaining more knowledge about personal development, entrepreneurial leadership, financial opportunities and possibilities on the job market.
Though the participants also said, they would enjoy to also use the local network for entertainment purposes.

The local network should support them in their collaborative work, in expanding their united and individual projects and help promote their entrepreneurship.

They want to be able to access the network from a distance, from at home and of course from their community centre.
In conclusion, Africa Coworkers came up with many ideas and content in the second workshop and got very excited about realising this project.

 

 

Click here to read more about the process of the other workshops with this or the other communities!

Les Ateliers
Miadé. Local Community Networks Atelier 1 ©Local Leads

Workshop 1

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The aim of the first workshop was to get to know our three communities better, in order to understand their needs and wishes and the differences between the three communities. 

They received the following 5 questions to be answered via WhatsApp voice message.

  • Describe the location of your community.
  • What are the people in your community doing here? 
  • What are you doing together within your community? 
  • What do you like about your community? 
  • What do you like to change in your community?

The results where quite different for each of the communities 

KANTATA

The members of the Kantata community go to the cultural centre in order to attend concerts, exhibitions, reggae nights, dances, shows and other organized activities. 

They love the beauty and the artistic and cultural aspect of the place and they enjoy doing percussion, ballet and dance training. 

For the members of the community, the particularity of the community centre is its originality, the location and the calm environment. Community interests include art, photography, vodou, African traditions, training, internships and cultural exchanges. 

What is missing in the programs according to the community members is the diversity of the programs, they would for example prefer having more concerts.

As proposals for activities or content to upload on the raspberry pis the members of the communities already had great ideas. They suggested the short film “le chef du quartier”, a virtual tour of the exhibitions of Lomé, Edru loooo and Ahoévia (African stories) and a virtual tour of tourist places in Togo. 

With unlimited powers, the community would like to expand the center and bring more visibility to it. They want to promote Togolese culture internationally, create studios for artists, organize national and international fairs and create other similar centres in other regions or localities. In addition, they would like more education and training opportunities.


HÄLSA International

The children in the Halsa International community replied to the given questions in a different way than the other communities. 

If the children had super powers, they would want to change their life and the city of Kodjoviakopé, which is a district west of downtown Lomé. They would like to stop all of the violence and theft in the streets and markets. Furthermore they would like to bring all the children living on the streets back home. The children want to stop the bad deeds, wrongdoers and little „gris-gris“ (vodou) in the neighborhood. 

In addition, they would like to do a job to become somebody and to take care of their families. The places that the children like are the Zongo Market, Frontiers (Kodjoviakopé) and Katanga, because they meet their friends there to have fun, there is an interesting environment and moreover there are small jobs and the possibility to earn some money. There are also places that children don’t like, because there are fights and violence.


AFRICA COWORKERS

The members of the Africa coworkers community, see their community as a get-together of young, entrepreneurial people, who work together in order to motivate themselves, to face their challenges and to personally evolve and develop initiatives. They see themselves as Servants of Africa and as the entrepreneurial youth. 

The uniqueness of their community is the sharing of experiences and skills in a family atmosphere, which is also stimulating and motivating. For them, reaching the next level means having autonomy and financial security, launching their projects throughout the territory and achieving their goals and dreams. 

The most important thing about their community is the assurance of being able to count on others in difficult times, the family atmosphere and the sharing of experience that motivates everyone to reach their personal goal. They hope to be actors of development, particularly considering the well-being of Togolese youth. They want to accompany young people, so that they have access to job opportunities and anyone can have success without exception. 

For the community to be better and go to the next level they wish for a larger space with several well-equipped offices. They would like to have a computer room with at least 20 computer stations. This would be a great help for people who come for training but do not have computers. They would like to receive more resources, especially financial resources for the community, so that they can have training in PDF files, training videos with a reasonable capacity, as well as free and paid training (at a lower cost). With the help of these resources they could help young entrepreneurs to develop their activity, to facilitate access to training, jobs and the realization of their dreams. 

If they had unlimited resources they would like to improve the community and make the world a better place. They would install other small communities like their own in villages and areas of Togo with a good internet connection, in order to enable all young people in these areas the access to high quality training. They would be a financial partner and offer training opportunities that would allow other communities to learn as well. The communities aim is to make life easier through the creation of business opportunities throughout the whole country, so that they can contribute to the socio-economic development of Togo.


The first workshop went very well and gave us a great impression of the life within the three communities. With the help of these results, we can now start the preparations for the second Workshop. In the second workshop, which will be conducted by the Local Leads, we will be collecting more ideas for content to upload on the raspberry pis with the communities and we will be talking about the technological opportunities and functions of the local networks.

For the three workshops we will be using different methods, so that each method suits the needs and wishes of each community. 

You can read more about the second workshop in the second Blog article.