[wsfii-discuss] REVIEW - Wireless Training in Winneba

Wed Aug 22 06:51:52 UTC 2007

Speaking as a 'local' from a 3rd world country, I have
witnessed the difficulty faced in organising local
events that will justify the time and effort put in by
participants who will travel far and wide to be there.
Thing is, so do the locals, often enough, although
that doesn't seem to be so obvious to outsiders till
they get (t)here.

For such events to happens smoothly (and believe me
this has nothing to do with 'self-organising', but
unfortunately is perhaps perceived as being related),
even the local groups need support. 

The regrettable truth is that the costs of such
support are more or less the same as needed to meet
the ongoing costs of such events anywhere in the
world, but are considered to be out of 'proportion' to
the results. Which is to say, locals cope with and
often overcome obstacles that do not exist in other
parts of the world. Naturally, this is not valued
proportionately.

A reality we all face is that the value of things
(resources, efforts, human time and ingenuity) is
equated to money, but that money (currently, or
perhaps inherently) does not reflect the equitable
value of the resources expended. Part of the wsfii
think process is naturally aimed at overcoming this.
Seems like Winneba has richly illustrated it. 

--- Thomas Maketa <tmaketa at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thank you Marco, for  sharing this very honest
> feedback, I'm just a little
> sad that all the discusion we had on "self-organized
> event"
> just disapeared from the list.....,
> There were some good ideas on them, that would have
> adressed some of the
> problem you raised.
> 
> Perhaps the next time.....
> On 8/21/07, Marco Pompe <marco.pompe at web.de> wrote:
> >
> > Hi all
> >
> > With a little delay, my reflections on the 10days
> training on wireless
> > networking in Winneba, Ghana.
> > First of all I want to acknowledge  everybody
> involved and say a big THANK
> > YOU to the hosts , winneba open digital village /
> one village foundation
> > (WODIV, OVF) and the local partners, Ghana
> information network for knowledge
> > sharing (GINKS), Ghana Telecom (Victor), Arrownet
> (mr. Buadu), Accra Linux
> > User Group, and the sponsors, International
> Institute for Communication and
> > Development (IICD) Djursland Community Network
> (DIIRWB). After all it was a
> > successful seminar with a majority of the
> participants satisfied with the
> > program. There was a number of interesting
> sessions and some people are now
> > in touch haven t known each other until then.
> >
> > Now the uncomfortable part: The fact that the
> training was not well
> > prepared has brought a number of problems of which
> many have been technical.
> > These technical problems have been solved mostly,
> even though one of the
> > partners has failed to contribute in many ways.
> But as mostly WODIV and
> > GINKS have provided the most urgent needs, it
> happened at certain costs. The
> > modus the training was held in finally could suit
> as to benefit the start up
> > of the WODIV center in winneba, but failed to
> address the following:
> > -       The impact of the event on the local
> environment (winneba,
> > university) as well as Ghana and Westafrica was
> very low.
> > -       The practical aspect of the training was
> very inefficient and
> > confusing, due to a lack of preparation.
> > -       The interaction of the participants was
> very little because the
> > structure of the sessions is what we call
> ex-cathedra teaching.
> > the  after-show  was missing at all.
> > -       The content of the session in general was
> not focused on
> > particular solutions and was rather confusing than
> empowering.
> >
> > Some of these thing were also an effect of the
> last minute promotion of
> > the event. It was actually promoted as a training
> for certain staff working
> > in that field so WODIV was very focused on suiting
> to the expectations of
> > these participants.
> >
> > my personal conclusion would be, that it needs a
> stronger (personnel,
> > financial capacity) local hosts network for a
> summit with international in-
> > and output and certainly a VERY MUCH longer and
> committed preparation. Even
> > the training in Winneba could have been very much
> better, when the local
> > partners would have had more time to dedicate it
> to the preparation. To
> > organize a WSFII Africa 2008 it will need people
> locally being paid for the
> > time the have to commit, because the amount of
> volunteers we have in europe
> > or US is definitely not available here. It will
> need certain NGOs to step in
> > with more powerful ressources and more contacts
> and experience in networking
> > and public relations.
> >
> > Finally, I was expecting something worse to happen
> and I am relieved it
> > didn t end up in a mess. Sorry for being that
> direct (some people even call
> > me rude because of that). I am very concerned
> about grassroots empowerment
> > and I want everybody at least to learn as much as
> possible out of this
> > experience.
> >
> > greetings from accra, marco
> >
>
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Vickram

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