NAWODA presentation, Femmes sans frontières
October 9, 2002, Montréal, Canada

In October 2002, NAWODA responded to a call for presentations of community networking initiatives at Femmes sans frontières. The Fédération nationale des femmes canadiennes-françaises (http://www.franco.ca/fnfcf/) and Cybersolidaires (http://www.cybersolidaires.org) invited presentations of feminist community initiatives during the third Congress on Community Networking in the Digital Era (http://www.globalcn.org/), Montréal, Canada, October 8-12, 2002.

Name of the project: Nakaseke Women Development Association (NAWODA)

Address: P.O. Box 1051, Nakaseke, Kampala, Uganda
Phone: 256-41-630238 / 256-71-843308
Contact person of the project: HENRY SERUNKUMA, Coordinator
E-mail: hmelanin@yahoo.com
Web page: www.wougnet.org/Profiles/nawoda.html

Nakaseke Women Development Association (NAWODA) is a Rural Community Based Organization established on 1st August 2001. After realizing the role of our Mothers (Women) in the development process, fuelling the need for Women Economic Independence was inevitable.

Mission

Nakaseke Women Development Association is aiming at empowering Women by training and integrating the use of ICTs in Communication and Information sharing in their daily income-generating activities for development. This will reverse the current trend of unequal gender access to new Technologies. This among others will address the shortage of Rural-African Women resources in new Technologies and empower women with resources that can produce high-income employment and provide entrepreneurial opportunities.

Programs

Nakaseke Women Development Association (NAWODA) is targeting Nakaseke Women, to provide them with information, training in ICT skills for development. NAWODA empowers women through approaches that will enable them to reap the following:

• Linking Nakaseke Women to International and National women Organizations, and other donor organizations. This will level platform for Women Cross-Culture with all its impacts on women development.
• Educating rural-based women on infectious disease prevention and reproductive and child health.
• Sensitizing women on their rights in relation to political freedom, combating domestic violence sexual and Child abuse.
• As a group, NAWODA will increase opportunities of securing Assistance from Government and other National and International donor Organizations.
• NAWODA anticipates increasing the quality and quantity of Women products with emphasis on handicrafts. This will create favorable competition on local and International markets.
• NAWODA will test and demonstrate the use of ICTs in the rural women development process.
• With the availability of the computing power, NAWODA will focus mainly on Training Women in new Technologies for sustainable development.
• NAWODA also focuses on training Rural women in using Traditional means of communication i.e Telephone, Fax, Radio and Television, all to harness the Access of information as "a developed society is an Informed Society".
• NAWODA aims at extending free Access to appropriate and relevant information to the entire women community of Luweero District and Uganda at large.

Nakaseke women status

• Nakaseke Women started using computers and also developed a culture of reading and writing, as a result of accessing Nakaseke Tele-centre services. This has also benefited their families as they have encouraged their children to develop a culture of reading from home, hence improving on their academic performance. Some women as a result of appreciating the value of education have registered for adult education classes. Some are also attending computer literacy classes at the Tele-centre, though money is a constraint.
  In this regard, Nakaseke Women forward their appreciation to International Development Research Centre IDRC and Mrs. Anne Walker Executive Director International Women's Tribune Centre (IWTC) who developed a CD-ROM entitled "Rural Women in Africa: Ideas for Earning Money" Once a graphic or text box is clicked, the women hear a voice speaking in their own language, - Luganda. This has eased their learning.
• About Twenty Women have trained as Traditional Birth Attendants. This has improved their health and reduced the high mortality rates in the villages.
• Nakaseke Women have engaged them selves in hand craft making and if exposed to markets, they will earn a living out of their products, as they tend to be on high demand on both local and International markets.
• Nakaseke Women have got enough land to exploit for income generating activities.
• In the process disseminating information to a large audience, Nakaseke women have embarked on educative drama and cultural music festivals.
• NAWODA has created a link with Between Sisters foundation that has promised to Market handcrafts and establish a website for Nakaseke Women. This will expose Nakaseke Women works globally and gain access to interested donor Organizations and individuals who share their commitments.

Challenges

• In order to integrate ICTs in income generating activities, there is need to have Nakaseke Women fully trained in computer skills. This is still unrealized because we are using one computer, which is made available by the Tele-centre i.e. women crowd around one computer. We need to seek for more computers, to enable Nakaseke Women have free computer access in favor of their convenient time schedules.
• Searching for donor Organizations and Individuals, who will link NAWODA to markets of its products, invest in new Projects and boast fundraising for sustainability of NAWODA.
• NAWODA requested for Computers from Computers for Africa and the eligibilities to qualify for 2002 offer are as follows:
  1. To prepare a site of 10 computers lab.
  2. A minimal fee of $40 US per computer for shipping and Handling.
  3. Approximately $300 US for voltage stabilizers and converters.
• NAWODA needs to solve its Internet connectivity. This could become an attractive location for call centres and develop on-line Tele-services that attract e-business development. Connectivity will also fuel the such for information and smoothen the platform of cross-culture and information sharing.
• Because of the low literacy levels of women in Nakaseke, NAWODA activities will be hindered. There is therefore need to seek for sponsorship, and integrate adult literacy in the programs of NAWODA.

NAWODA women are also grateful to Ms. Dorothy Okello, Coordinator of Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) the Umbrella body of NAWODA for her technical advise, practical help and appropriate information on which NAWODA is basing.

Other information on NAWODA:
Communication Initiative: www.comminit.com/pdskdv72002/sld-5042.html
BBC news about Nakaseke women on: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2078444.stm

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Last update: October-13, 2002