Dear Rui, Keith & GKD Members, Thanks for posting your messages about Kabissa's training of trainers program on the GKD list. Since we announced it earlier this week, we received many inquiries from all over the world - I guess one shouldn't underestimate the reach of the GKD list!
We are aware that as Time to Get Online grows, we need to begin communicating our plans and approach more broadly -- keep an eye on the <http://www.timetogetonline.org> Web site where we will post more details and also add functionality to allow people and organizations to participate in various ways. For the time being, please complete the feedback form on the Website or write to Kim Lowery at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> if you want to organize Time to Get Online workshops for a specific group of organizations or in a specific country, have suggestions or proposals for getting involved (or incorporating our program into your existing work) or are simply interested in being kept informed of our progress. I apologize for the appearance of a preference towards supporting organizations working in Anglophone African countries. This doesn't really reflect our mission, which is to help organizations throughout Africa to put ICT to use for the benefit of the people they serve. We wanted to ensure that the first rounds of Time to Get Online are as successful as possible, so the first workshop took place in Lagos, where I already had quite a bit of experience working with civil society organizations. The second workshop took place in nearby Accra. The venue for the Accra workshop was so good that we decided to hold our first training-of-trainers workshop there too even though we are inviting participants from throughout West Africa (including non-Anglophone countries). The current West Africa focus also reflects the priorities of our two funders - the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA). Once we have our first "graduating class" of Time to Get Online training partners who have successfully carried out their first workshops in their own communities, we will be very interested in replicating the program over and over again throughout the continent, training partner organizations to carry out Time to Get Online workshops in English, French, Portuguese and whatever other African languages make sense for the communities they serve. We are already translating the materials into French as part of the current phase of the program. Where we go next depends a lot on where the demand is for more workshops and more localized versions of the training materials. So to answer your question, Rui: we would be interested in talking more with you and others working in Portuguese-language African countries about translation of our materials into Portuguese and organizing a Portuguese-language training-of-training program. The idea of working with organizations in Brazil on developing the Portuguese version is appealing. The Time to Get Online materials, which are going through a significant update leading up to the workshop in August, are designed to be as universally useful as possible and yet can be localized for a specific country, language or group of organizations. For example, currently the case studies and examples are tailored for African advocacy organizations. The appendices and accompanying CD-ROM are packed with further learning resources, Websites, and free software and can also be adapted and localized. We also believe that our curriculum would be suitable for e-learning, both through interactive self-learning (i.e. on CD-ROM or via a Web site) and through scheduled online workshops using Internet conferencing and collaboration tools (i.e. Isoph <http://www.isoph.com>). Best wishes, Tobias -- Tobias Eigen Executive Director Kabissa - Space for change in Africa http://www.kabissa.org * Kabissa, meaning complete in Kiswahili, was founded on the belief that information and communications technologies (ICTs) can be a revolutionary force in civil society. * On June 23, 2004, Keith Birkhold <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > With regards to Rui Correia's request for trainers and assistance in > putting together a program in Portuguese, there is a very talented > professor from Brazil, named Lucio Teles, who was a professor in British > Columbia, Canada until recently. He has set up IT company in Brazil, > which is a huge Portuguese speaking country. This is his website for the > new company: <www.telestraining.com.br>. He was part of a 12-member > panel group which worked with an Ohio school in best practices for a > virtual school, and is very good at knowing which hardware and software > to use for a variety of objectives. He may be able to help you and to > also help you set up a network to continue developing skills. That is > the beauty of the Internet -- distance is a minor limitation. Hope this > helps. > > > On Tuesday, June 22, 2004, "Rui Correia" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > I follow with interest the marvellous initiatives undertaken by Kabissa > > and other organisations. However, I feel increasingly anxious that there > > is virtually nowhere that Portuguese-speaking African organisations can > > turn to for this kind of valuable support. > > > > I do a lot of work in Angola and I feel the frustration of people there > > when the language isolation factor prevents them from fully > > participating in events in the region. > > > > I was wondering if Kabissa/ GKD would consider hosting a > > Training-of-Trainers Programme for the PALOP (Portuguese-Language > > African Countries: Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde Islands > > and Sao Tome & Principe). At the very least, what would be the > > possibility of slowly starting to put together the training kits and > > peripheral material necessary for training events or for self-learning? ------------ This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by the dot-ORG USAID Cooperative Agreement, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org provides more information. To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd For the GKD database, with past messages: http://www.GKDknowledge.org
