Rural Women in Africa (CD-ROM): Ideas for Earning Money
SummaryText
The International Women's Tribune Centre (IWTC), working in partnership with the International Development Research/Eastern and Southern Africa Office (IDRC/ESAO), Nairobi, has developed an information tool that offers direct access to information for women who "are among the most marginalised in development - poor women with little or no reading ability".
Pioneered in Uganda, the technical specifications that guided the development of the new information tool were that it be used on basic computer systems at rural telecentres, require minimal technical know-how to operate, and not rely on access to the internet or the worldwide web. The educational requirements were that the content material be accessible to an audience with little or no reading skills, be seen as having immediate value and be in the language of the community. Furthermore, "and from a practical perspective", the new tool needed to be affordable in cost and adaptable into other languages to ensure widespread replicability and viability.
An underlying premise of this project was that the audience for this new information tool would be first time users of computers. It was also assumed that a rural woman's initial experience in using this new information tool would be important in determining whether the woman became a repeat user of facilities in the telecentres. "In short, the new tool was expected to deliver not only useful information but also a positive experience."
The end product is a CD-ROM that uses a simple browser navigating system with graphic interface and spoken text. The content for the new CD-ROM was drawn and adapted from two primary sources: "From Boardroom to Burning Sun: Interviews with 75 Successful Entrepreneurs in Uganda" by Peg Snyder and the small business training manual, "Marketing Strategies", developed by the Overseas Education Fund (OEF) and field-tested extensively among low-income women in Africa.
The CD-ROM is available in English and in the Luganda language; the information tool is also available online.
Click here to view the tool online.
Pioneered in Uganda, the technical specifications that guided the development of the new information tool were that it be used on basic computer systems at rural telecentres, require minimal technical know-how to operate, and not rely on access to the internet or the worldwide web. The educational requirements were that the content material be accessible to an audience with little or no reading skills, be seen as having immediate value and be in the language of the community. Furthermore, "and from a practical perspective", the new tool needed to be affordable in cost and adaptable into other languages to ensure widespread replicability and viability.
An underlying premise of this project was that the audience for this new information tool would be first time users of computers. It was also assumed that a rural woman's initial experience in using this new information tool would be important in determining whether the woman became a repeat user of facilities in the telecentres. "In short, the new tool was expected to deliver not only useful information but also a positive experience."
The end product is a CD-ROM that uses a simple browser navigating system with graphic interface and spoken text. The content for the new CD-ROM was drawn and adapted from two primary sources: "From Boardroom to Burning Sun: Interviews with 75 Successful Entrepreneurs in Uganda" by Peg Snyder and the small business training manual, "Marketing Strategies", developed by the Overseas Education Fund (OEF) and field-tested extensively among low-income women in Africa.
The CD-ROM is available in English and in the Luganda language; the information tool is also available online.
Click here to view the tool online.
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