In the context of developing countries, an optimistic outlook on technology has prevailed. Academic literature is replete with predictions of the transformations that ICTs will trigger; and the Internet, in particular, has been hailed as the great equalizer for opportunities of all types. This dominant paradigm of ICTs as potential enablers of social, political, and economic development reigns - and "If you build it they will come" beliefs have directed much of the development efforts in those countries. ICTs are seen as an enabling tool that will help developing countries "catch up" with the rest of the world. But questions about how these opportunities might be realized within real contexts - with real limitations - remain.
What does research show? Mbarika has been in the forefront of academic research into ICT implementation in Africa, and has provided a theoretically-informed framework for understanding ICTs in less developed countries (Mbarika 2002, Mbarika et al. 2002, Mbarika and Byrd 2002). His work has focused on ICT infrastructure in Africa, and it provides an excellent base from which to begin to understand the contextual differences that dictate information systems research in less advantaged environments. Yet the work stops short of more granular investigations into ICT use in specific communities. It is here that this narrative about one rural community and its ICT implementation finds a niche.
The balance of this paper describes the ICT implementation project, notes the differences between utopian expectations about ICT use, and actual situated use of relatively commonplace ICTs, i.e. email, multimedia formats like CD-ROM, and the introduction of the Web. The discussion will highlight the concepts that are helpful in examining this interesting case, i.e. the "Information Road" and its "Traffic"; and will draw attention to the strategies that the people involved in Nigeria employed to make these technologies "work" for them (Suchman 1996). These stories are not often told within academic IT-related literatures, and the final section examines the values and difficulties of framing this discourse for academic consumption.
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Oke-Ogun is divided into ten Local Government (LG) administrative areas. The infrastructure in Oke-Ogun is poor. Some roads are surfaced, especially the major roads, but they tend to be poorly maintained with many potholes and some unsurfaced stretches. Telephone networks and cyber cafes are are only just beginning to come into Oke-Ogun. Until recently, people had to travel to Ibadan to make phone calls or to send emails. For most people, telephones and Internet access are so distant as to be of no practical relevance in their lives. The postal service is unreliable. It is usually better to send messages by hand. The public service vehicle drivers at the motor parks (bus/taxi stops) provide an important informal courier service.
Ago-Are is on the main road running north from Ibadan through Oke-Ogun. It is in Atisbo LG, about a three-hour journey from Ibadan, depending on how the trip goes, and it is not advisable to travel after dark. Water in the area usually comes from wells and boreholes. Some water is provided via reservoirs and pumping stations, but piped water, even if "treated" is not necessarily safe to drink. Some communities take their water directly from streams. The electricity grid, provided by the Nigerian Electrical Power Authority (NEPA), extends all the way to the towns. However, it is unreliable, and even if lights are on they are seldom bright enough to read by. When people in Ago-Are plan even the most routine activity that relies on electricity, they will often say "NEPA willing". A building that needs to have reliable electrical power must have its own generator.
In September 2003, a satellite-based email service center opened in Saki, approximately a quarter of an hour journey from Ago-Are. When the center opened, using the service cost 280 naira an hour (£1.40), which puts it beyond the reach of most Ago-Are people, except for occasional short family messages. Unsurprisingly, this service is also intermittent.
Although this setting seems an unlikely place for an ICT innovation, the community became involved in initiating a ground-breaking ICT project. In 2000, Peter Adetunji Oyawale, a visionary who founded the Committee for African Welfare and Development (CAWD), planted the seeds for what he hoped would be a pilot-project for ICT use in rural Africa. The Oke-Ogun project now ties in with other initiatives through CawdNet which networks with community groups in rural Nigeria and within the virtual communities on the Internet. Peter had a vision, a strategy and a plan to build a digital bridge that would connect the people and culture of his birth, with the people and culture of the UK, where he had lived as an adult. Friends on both sides of this digital bridge, some in the UK, some in rural Nigeria, supported the idea of an integrated community information system.
It was particularly important to Peter to include the poor and illiterate people of the community in this new endeavor, as it was the group into which he had been born. Nigerians are passionate about football, so to actively engage the community, he planned for the project to begin with the creation of a football league [linked text will launch in separate window], and for computers to come later.
Peter had a list of things he wanted to do. After football would come Community Digital Information Centres (CDICs), community radio, and through them all kinds of capacity development. His plan, known as "Oke-Ogun Community Development Agenda 2000 Plus" (OOCD Agenda 2000+), would involve each of the ten LG areas in Oke-Ogun, without any political or religious bias. The strategy of starting with football was intended to help people learn the name of OOCD Agenda 2000+ and associate it with the idea of "Bringing good things that the developed world enjoys".
At first there was uncertainty about how to move on, but key activists were determined to continue with Peter's work. The football league activities were on hold, but three members of the original football coordinating committee continued to meet in Ibadan (Chief Adetola, Chief Adejumo and Chief Mojoyinola). At this point, the football tournament was all that the chiefs had agreed to do; they were unaware of the details of Peter's greater vision. Chief Adetola and Pam had once been formally introduced by Peter, over the telephone, and a few names had been put to faces when Pam represented Agnita at Peter's funeral in Ago-Are, but Peter's vision for communication and links across the digital divide was still at a very early stage. Continued communication, without Peter, was key.
Peter had lived on both sides of the digital divide and had known both cultures well. Now a great deal of learning was needed on both sides in order to continue the communication that Peter had begun. Here, the Internet, and digital information, eventually played a large role in developing an understanding between the partners, and led to the opening of the Ago-Are InfoCentre (based on Peter's vision for CDICs). The strategies that are now coming into play for the benefit of the community were initially developed for internal communication between the activists across the digital divide.
First there was a language barrier to overcome. Peter had spoken English and Yoruba. Chief Adetola, in Ibadan, only spoke Yoruba. In the UK, Agnita and Pam spoke only English. It was cumbersome and expensive trying to work together over the phone, with a Yoruba friend interpreting, but eventually email offered another point of contact. Better communication was established through Chief Gbade Adejumo (then on the football coordinating committee, now chairman of the OCDN committee) and Pam. Chief Adejumo's first language is Yoruba, but he also speaks and writes English fluently. He provides the link between the committee and the UK. However, he does not use a computer himself, but normally sends an intermediary to a cyber cafe to email on his behalf.
Pam was proactive in trying to maintain the connections that Peter had started, and soon found that she was becoming a promoter and interpreter of Peter's vision for Peter's supporters in Nigeria. In the UK it was easy to research topics online, something it was virtually impossible to do in Nigeria. Some of the online research Pam did was about Africa, and was simply for her own benefit, but some was about ICTs, rural development, and related topics. Relevant pages were printed from useful sites on the Internet; brochures and free magazines about development issues were gathered. Occasionally a courier would take the resulting "information pack" to Nigeria. The couriers were usually friends-of-friends who were traveling, as commercial courier services are expensive, and there was no external funding of any kind. Gradually a core of knowledge developed, shared on both sides of the digital divide, which helped to build the foundations more firmly.
Information about development, such as the publications of the Department for International Development (DFID), were studied by Pam and her new colleagues. It seemed that Peter had been what the DFID called a "local champion", and so the three chiefs agreed to take on that role. About six months after Pam and the chiefs started to work together, the chiefs formed a committee, called OOCD Agenda 2000+, from which the OCDN committee would later be formed. The foundations Peter had laid on both sides of the digital divide had been weakened, but were still sufficient to build upon, and once again the two cultures were linked.
The committee officers, Chief Adetola (treasurer), Chief M.O. Mojoyinola JP (secretary) and Chief Adejumo (chairman), invited Peter's uncle, Mr Timothy Oyawale, to join them. Mr Timothy is a farmer from Ago-Are, and once he joined the committee it meant the foundations were now being restored in Peter's home of Ago-Are in the LG of Atisbo, towards the north of Oke-Ogun. Previously the focus had moved to urban Ibadan, in the South of Oyo State, a comparatively convenient location for all three chiefs to meet, and the place for sending emails. The chiefs represent four Oke-Ogun LGs between them, and geographically the committee represents all the ten local government areas that make up Oke-Ogun. The chiefs are respected community leaders who have continued to keep representatives of all the LGs informed of plans and progress, and they link with many present and potential stakeholders in Oyo State.
Their early uses of the Internet and an email list helped the group lay the groundwork for its first full-time worker. The OOCD Agenda 2000+ committee applied for a volunteer through the Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) program, and David Mutua, a Kenyan volunteer, arrived in Ago-Are to manage the project in July 2003. The local community provided David with meals brought by Maria, the community cook, until his self-catering accommodation was available, and Atisbo LG provided a senior employee, Amos Adeniyi Adedokun, to work with David. Timothy Oyawale acted as David's cultural mentor, guiding him into his new relationships in the community.
The Solo is an ultra low power computer - about the size of an A4 ring binder. It is designed to be used away from sources of mains electricity and away from technical support - ideal for Oke-Ogun. It is also designed for small-scale local assembly, which benefits local economies and enables technology transfer. This aspect ties in with Peter's concern for capacity development. In May 2002 OCDN facilitated Paul Richardson's visit to Nigeria, to field test the Solo and explore other practical issues. Solo field tests gave OCDN the opportunity to introduce Oke-Ogun people to leading-edge technology, as well as providing useful feedback to the design team. Fantsuam Foundation is now taking Solo assembly forward in Nigeria.
Paul brought two second-generation prototypes for field testing. OCDN took Paul and the Solo to various locations in Oke-Ogun, meeting government officials, health workers, teachers, pupils, and others. Many had never seen a computer before. They were interested and enthusiastic.
In August 2002, Pam was in Ago-Are to help with David's induction. Using solar power for energy had first been demonstrated with the Solo, but other examples soon followed. Pam took to Nigeria various tools that might be useful to David in his work (portable typewriter, laptop computer, a CD-ROM, which gave a flavour of what it is like to use the Internet, a digital camera), as well as some samples of DIY solar kits and some books, including one on the Anahat, a low-cost solar cooker. Soon afterwards, an email sent through a series of intermediaries on behalf of various people in the Ago-Are community arrived in the UK, asking for more information about solar cooking. The email included an invitation for the creator of the Anahat solar cooker (Anna Pearce) to visit Ago-Are and teach the community how to use her cooker. Unable to travel to Nigeria, Anna instead shared additional information and equipment with Pam in the UK, and a Super Video CD (SVCD) was made to show the equipment with some idea of how it is used (the UK climate doesn't support full African-style demonstrations of the Anahat).
The SCVD was posted to David, so that he, Amos and Maria could view it on the laptop. In August 2002 when Pam visited again, collecting evidence of information needs, through short video interviews, solar cooking was mentioned twice - once by Amos and once by a spokesperson after a meeting for women. It is noteworthy that the women's group representative noted how expensive it would be for someone to come to Ago-Are, and suggested making a videocassette for training purposes instead. Video is an ICT that has been enthusiastically taken up in Nigeria, and even in Ago-Are it is easy to find a video cameraman to cover family weddings and community events. Finding a TV and video player afterwards is more of a challenge.
Some people in Ago-Are are now interested in various aspects of solar power. They have seen the high-tech Solo, the very low-tech Anahat solar cooker, the DIY solar demonstration kit with its solar powered torch, and battery rechargers for radios, and suchlike. Some people are aware of the work of Leo Blyth, who helps people to set up small businesses producing more highly finished and marketable versions of the DIY solar devices. They are seeking more information and CawdNet is trying to get funds to follow through on this. The information flow could not be happening without the Internet, but it is much more complicated than just "going to Google".
The information sought by members of the community reflects the interests, needs and aspirations of this rural area (see footnote). Other community information interests so far have been: health information on malaria, HIV/AIDS [linked text will launch in separate window], agriculture, ICT awareness (especially, but not exclusively, among teachers), governance, micro-credit and livelihoods, water and sanitation, provision for children with disabilities, and opportunities for distance learning. The appropriate use of Yoruba is becoming an issue of increasing interest, as the InfoCentre begins to consider the role of printed materials in its provision of information.
The traffic has not been only one way. There is an e-newsletter, published by Kabissa, which is normally edited in the UK, using news from OCDN. Pam often makes contributions to discussion lists, which describe aspects of OCDN or request information on behalf of the project. One such list was Information Society: Voices from the South, whose members discussed various aspects of ICTs and development (see the archives of these discussions for more details). On the day that list members were discussing the meaning of "community", Pam received Chief Adejumo's email about the InfoCentre opening. Pam thought it offered an interesting new slant on communities, so added explanatory notes and forwarded the main description to the list. Contacts from this list developed further, through personal correspondence, and led to links between OCDN and Commonwealth of Learning (COL). As a result the InfoCentre in Ago-Are is now involved in a project with COL and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to develop training materials for farmers.
The UK volunteers also download complete Web sites, discussion lists and virtual conferences to CD-ROM so that people can access these off-line. This part of the work, which is handled by Lorraine Duff, has increased since the InfoCentre opened. At present the resources are better known by people linked closely to the OCDN committee than by the general community, but general community awareness is growing. Pam visited again in April 2004, and afterwards the volunteers decided to alter their approach with the CD-ROMs, as the information collection was probably growing too rapidly to be helpful. It is probable that the information on CD-ROMs available via the three computers at the InfoCentre in Ago-Are exceeds the total information in all the books in the homes, schools, colleges, hospitals and clinics of the surrounding area. Lorraine and Pam have stopped "pushing" information and now just send suggestions about what could be sent, and wait for follow up emails to "pull" it.
The project emphasises two-way flows of information, and the fact that information from Ago-Are also has a role to play on the Internet. One of the first Web sites demonstrated to the Ago-Are community on CD-ROM in August 2002 was about the Solo, and included photos taken around Ago-Are in May 2002. In April 2004 Pam took copies of the e-newsletter on her laptop. When people came to call (as they frequently do in Ago-Are) the newsletter served a number of functions. People could catch up on news about the project, find out what information was being shared with people overseas, and start to operate the computer for themselves to browse through the news items.
In August 2003, one year after David's arrival, Chief Adejumo, David and Pam were re-united at Lagos International Airport. Pam's visit lasted nearly four weeks, and included Ibadan, Ago-Are, Okeho and Abuja. During the visit Pam and David tried to create and send a complete newsletter from Ago-Are. [linked text will launch in separate window]. This was a non-trivial undertaking, which almost succeeded, but failed at the most unexpected point.
However the main purpose of such visits is not to make things happen with the technology. It is to bring people together for reality checks and to update each other; to clarify the vision and direction. It is about the relationships and trust necessary to enable independent and supportive teamwork to continue despite the limited communication opportunities. The impetus for "information traffic" in Oke-Ogun is the need and desire for people to communicate.
In 2003 OCDN had two opportunities to contribute information in new ways. OCDN was invited to participate in the African Computing and Telecommunications (ACT) conference, in Abjua. OCDN had never contributed to a conference like this before, so it was difficult to weigh up the potential benefits against the costs of the journey. The invitation was accepted, and a new stage was reached in OCDN's growth and development. Also in 2003, COL asked the team to do a needs analysis in Ago-Are. In response, a number of meetings were held, with teachers, farmers, youth, women, the oba and his chiefs, and the community committee. Mini-video reports were recorded for most of these groups (see a sample video, the interview with Baale Agbe, chief of the farmers). After the needs analysis for COL, OCDN was invited to participate in a meeting related to the COL-PROTEIN program. These were both opportunities which resulted from interactions through email lists.
Mini-videos have proved a valuable form of digital communication. People who would not be prepared to write a report are often willing to say a few words on a given topic. In addition to the COL needs analysis work in Ago-Are, mini-videos were also recorded during the visit to Chief Adejumo's home-town of Okeho, one of the proposed locations for the next InfoCentre. The Okeho mini-videos were recorded with OCDN chairman Chief Adejumo, Victoria Adetona from RUSEL, Mrs Adejumo from Children's Welfare Foundation (CWF), the headmaster and pupils of Okeho School for the Handicapped, pupils, and other representatives of RUSEL and CWF. The mini-videos serve a purpose similar to video conferencing, enabling people to speak to someone else from a distance, although only one way. Subsequently, some videos were shared directly as videos, others were used as source material for the COL needs analysis report, and for written contributions to Internet discussions and lists.
The network of contacts is still expanding. In the UK Pam encourages links between OCDN and the research community, and is excited about opportunities to link theory and practice. Thanks to the Internet, links between the international project community and academia are increasingly possible - witness the fact that OCDN is already engaged in useful exchanges of information with individuals at various universities, and that this paper is offered to an academic audience. Such opportunities for inclusion are a direct result of digital information, its free flow and accessibility.
The main elements that have been brought together are:
Since he returned to Kenya people he worked closely with in Ago-Are have tried to keep in touch with him, and with Pam and Lorraine, the CAWD volunteers, through emails. CAWD (the charity) has sent money to the InfoCentre to pay for essential emails and travel to the cyber cafe.
Lists useful to OCDN and CawdNet include the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) discussion list, which has addressed issues around rural connectivity, through various threads, and archives of this discussion are available. The 'HIF-net at WHO' list provides useful material for the Health SIG. ('HIF-net at WHO' is working to improve access to reliable information for healthcare providers in developing and transitional countries. To join the list, send an email with name, organization, country, and brief description of professional interests.) Most recently the IIEP E-learn Open Source list has opened up new opportunities for the Ago-Are community.
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| Inside the InfoCentre: trainees Muji and Elisha during their initial three month period working as volunteers, with visitor Florence, who was on the NYVC volunteer progamme for Nigerian graduates |
The project volunteers celebrated the opening of the InfoCentre by starting a digital newsletter, open to list subscribers, about the project. The newsletter is hosted by Kabissa. Chief Adejumo's description of the opening ceremony is in the first edition.
The project community has been building up both the traffic and the footpath in the belief and hope that one day it will become a main thoroughfare of "information traffic" between Oke-Ogun and its growing digital community network. It is hoped that with a greater density of traffic it may be possible to upgrade from a footpath to a road, as OCDN and the UK volunteers seek out potential partners to work with in development efforts. Putting it in local terms, the people with the power to build the "information roadways" are not people "like us" (i.e. the project activists and wider Ago-Are community). We are only like "junior brothers and sisters". Decisions about bringing the road to Ago-Are will be made by "senior brothers" not by us. All we can do is add to the information traffic along the pathway and hope that we will find friends among the "senior brothers" who will want our information traffic to flow more effectively and decide to build a road.
The project's current challenge is to link relevant, useful information to appropriate interest groups, and disseminate it effectively. There are various inter-related challenges. There is a need for local awareness of the potential of ICTs, a need for skill building, and the problems of affordable access also have to be addressed, and useful information has to be found.
Local awareness is being developed through community contacts and the development of SIGS. Development of community awareness about access to information has little to do with computer awareness. Instead it is an awareness that the InfoCentre is not just about business services and training courses, but about practical problem solving related to "finding out" about things. Community groups are being encouraged to have representatives who act as "infomediaries" between the community and the Internet (via the InfoCentre and its CD-ROMs, the cyber cafe, and the support offered through the CawdNet network.) This is still at an early stage.
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| This picture tells a story. The man operating the computer and the woman are teachers who are also farmers. They had just been appointed as representatives of the
farmer's group, and had come to the place where Pam was staying to introduce themselves.
Forutunately "we had NEPA" (i.e. there was power via the Nigerian Electrical Power Authority national grid) - see the dimly glowing wall light. Having electrical power meant that Pam was able to introduce them to a computer for the first time. They were navigating their way through some of our newsletters stored on the laptop. Pastor David, who subsequently became manager of the InfoCentre, had called in as well - in Nigeria people call in all the time. Pastor David already had some familiarity with computers. Pam was quietly moving away so that he would naturally take over the supervision. |
For some groups the sending of emails to people who could seek out information has not yet been combined with serious information seeking. People are starting to try out email, but they are not expressing the level of information-seeking that they demonstrated in front of the video camera. Even a simple email from the Ago-Are farmers' SIG to the UK is an achievement, even if it is only a couple of lines asking after the family and saying that the maize harvest has started. Those key elements represent a breakthrough. The farmers, many of whom are poor, illiterate and speak no English, are starting to investigate and experience the power of the Internet. Rural Yoruba people always begin by asking "How is your family?", even in a new relationship where they have just been introduced. So it is a natural first question to try out through the Internet. In that simple email they are starting to ask questions and share information, and reaching out across the digital divide.
The young people who have mastered ICT skills have a more confident approach, and exchange information more freely. They sometimes ask for specific help, as when there were problems with the InfoCentre computers. It was a cause of some celebration within the project when advice from the IIEP list resulted in the problems being solved.
The InfoCentre runs training courses. These are attended by various people, but especially by teachers and young people. Teachers are very active in community affairs and it is said locally that what you teach to the teachers, you teach to the community. It is government policy that IT should be taught in schools, but there are few initiatives to help implement this in rural areas. Teachers are searching for opportunities to "know computers" so they are keen to go on training courses at the InfoCentre. The InfoCentre has to pay its way, so course fees are a problem. The teachers have to pay for their own training. The desire of the teachers to gain IT skills provides a huge window of opportunity for cascading computer awareness into the community, if only the problem of course fees could be overcome.
Peter had always seen his vision of an integrated community information system, with connectivity, CDICs and community radio, as something that other African communities could adopt. The links that the volunteers have established online and through personal contacts are helping to make others aware of Peter's vision, strategy and plan: not just what he wanted to do, but how it is working out in practice.
Pam, on the other hand, just goes to the computer in her home in the UK, writes a message at any time and sends it instantly. She can check her messages whenever she has time. For both portions of the message, a number of infrastructural supports must be in place.
In Oke-Ogun, infrastructure is poor, unreliable, but made up for by a number of alternative ways of getting things done. These are frequently exercised in the routine use of ICTs. In the UK, the infrastructure is robust and reliable, and it would be difficult to imagine individuals going to such great lengths to send a simple message. In fact, people are often at a loss as to what to do if their electricity goes off or their server has a problem - they are without readily conceived-of alternatives. They are dependent on technology, whereas the people of Oke-Ogun have to be more resourceful and self-reliant in these matters. They know how to work around breakdowns and obstacles because breakdowns often occur and obstacles are many (Gasser 1986, Suchman 1996).
The use of more sophisticated ICTs is even more difficult, and that is why in Ago-Are most Internet "access" beyond basic email has to be through CD-ROMs sent from the UK. This requires copying Web site contents to CD-ROMs to be sent to the InfoCentre for access off-line, power and equipment willing. To make a simple Web site "work" for Oke-Ogun community members requires a lot of articulation beyond what is normally understood as "Internet use".
The strength of OCDN is the network that has been established between two groups with access to very different kinds of information. OCDN has local knowledge in a rural community beyond the reach of the usual ICT infrastructure, and the UK volunteers have easy Internet access. The vision and purpose they share enables information to be exchanged, but because communication is limited, the UK volunteers have to make considered choices about what information to share. It is an ongoing learning experience; a mutual mentoring. OCDN learns what information options are available through the Internet. The project volunteers learn the information needs of the rural community. Together they try to use ICTs effectively and creatively to satisfy those needs. Sometimes the UK volunteers send emails that summarize a mass of information from the Internet so that Oke-Ogun people can get the most important information in a short amount of time online. At other times a full Web page of information, accompanied by the simple message "Possible interest to anyone you know?" is sent and is passed through the local networks. A good example of what it took to make useful information usable is this story about the Prize for Women's Creativity in Rural Life, organised by the Women's World Summit Foundation (WWSF). Notice of an award was sent to OCDN in Ibadan; Chief Adejumo emailed back that he intended to nominate someone, and she became a prize-winner.
For some, their entire knowledge of computers was based on the Solo prototype. This is a leading-edge technology, but the Solo is not yet in production. Subsequent computers used by OCDN have been ordinary laptops and PCs, and compared with the Solo these do not shine. They are power-hungry, heavily reliant on ordinary electricity supplies (instead of little solar panels), the screens do not respond to touch, and they do not have their own satellite link to send emails. The lack of an email service, especially, came as a disappointment to some Oke-Ogun people, as email is potentially far more relevant to the community than a telephone service would be. People now using the InfoCentre are not necessarily the same people who saw the Solo, however. Many think the InfoCentre PCs are as good as there is, although by many standards they are slow and limited. Although the Solo sets a standard for local computer use in the future, currently available technologies necessitate highly contextual articulations of use.
Because the articulation activities and the physical dimensions of moving information are "invisible", they are not valued in the academic discourse that focuses on ICTs. Suchman (1996) has presented these ideas in poignant ways: stories about clerical workers show how the activities they perform to "make things work seamlessly" are undervalued. By telling their stories, Suchman brings awareness of these articulations to the academic community in ways that can inform the design and implementation of ICTs in organisations.
The Oke-Ogun story can serve a similar purpose. The efforts that OCDN employs to exchange simple email messages might easily be overlooked in typical stories of ICT implementations. This story gives a clear, detailed understanding of ICT implementation in the context of a rural development project in Nigeria. In interpreting the story, Susan Johnson has helped Pam build a bridge to the academic community. These tellings and retellings are important translations between academic visions of ICT use and the local situated use of ICTs in rural areas. The more these stories are told, the more difficult it is to overlook the articulations people employ, and the more likely it is that our ICT vision can include the highly contingent nature of infrastructures in much of the world. Instead of hearing about the technology that "makes things work", we give credit to the people who actually do all the work. At some point the infrastructure may become robust, but until then this community will continue to do what it takes to become a part of the cyber community. One of the most important things is a vision of how something can work, and an example of how it has worked. Peter Adetunji Oyawale and OCDN have given a vision and an example to their region. Pam has told their story to the academic community. It is our responsibility to incorporate the lessons learned into an upgraded version of a vision of ICT use.
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Anahat solar cooker http://www.cleovoulou.com/boxaid.htm
Baale Agbe, chief of the farmers, video interview http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pam.mclean/BaaleAgbe.wmv (Windows Media file, will play in Microsoft Internet Explorer)
Committee for African Welfare and Development http://www.cawd.info/
CawdNet http://www.cawdnet-intro.blogspot.com
CAWD Community Development Agenda 2000
Plus Committee http://www.cawd.info/content/aboutus/football_coordinating_cttee.html
Commonwealth of Learning http://www.col.org/
COL-PROTEIN program http://www.col.org/programmes/capacity/protein.htm
Department for International Development http://www.dfid.gov.uk/
DIY solar kits http://www.biodesign.org.uk/
ExpLAN Computers Ltd http://www.explan.co.uk/index.shtml
Solo http://www.explan.co.uk/solo/specs.html
Solo applications http://www.explan.co.uk/solo/market.html
Fantsuam Foundation http://www.fantsuam.com/
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Human Info NGO http://humaninfo.org/
IIEP E-learn Open Source list - archives of the discussion http://lst.iiep-unesco.org
InfoCentre digital newsletter, registration
information http://lists.kabissa.org/mailman/listinfo/OOCD2000plus
Information Society: Voices from the South discussion
archives http://www.dgroups.org/groups/IS/index.cfm
Intermediate Technology Development Group http://www.itdg.org/
INASP-Health http://www.inasp.info/health/
InterWorld Radio, mission statement http://www.interworldradio.net/about/mission.asp
Kabissa http://www.kabissa.org/
Leo Blyth http://www.itcltd.com/issue.asp?id=5j
Oke-Ogun http://www.cawd.info/content/okeogun/about.html
Peter Adetunji Oyawale http://www.cawd.info/content/cawd/our_founder.html
Pilot-project for ICT use in rural Africa
http://www.cawd.info/content/cawd/pilot-project.html
Society for Family Health http://www.psi.org/where_we_work/nigeria.html
Voluntary Services Overseas http://www.vso.org.uk/
Women's World Summit Foundation http://www.woman.ch/home.asp
GKP discussion list archives on rural
connectivity
http://www.gkdknowledge.org/
Prize for Women's Creativity in Rural Life http://www.woman.ch/women/1-introduction.asp
Glossary of Acronyms
ACT- African Computing and Telecommunications
holds a summit every year to gather IT users, suppliers, service providers,
policy-makers and innovators. The OCDN project was invited to participate
in 2003.
CAWD - The Committee for African Welfare and Development was originally formed in 2000 to help bridge the digital divide and bring new opportunities for better health, education and sustainable development to rural Africa. The committee no longer exists but the name lives on. CAWD is now a registered charity, "Charity for African Welfare and Development". Pamela McLean and Lorraine Duff describe themselves as "CAWD volunteers". The name "CawdNet" is used when additional groups or individuals are working together on the kind of projects that the original CAWD would have supported.
COL - The Commonwealth of Learning is an intergovernmental organisation that encourages the development and sharing of open learning/distance education knowledge, resources and technologies. COL is committed to helping developing nations improve access to quality education and training.
COL-PROTEIN - The Poverty Reduction Outcomes Through Education Innovations and Networks program is sponsored by the Commonwealth of Learning.
DFID - The Department for International Development was established in 1997 as the successor to the Overseas Development Administration, and is a UK government department. Its mission is to promote sustainable development and poverty reduction.
GKP - Global Knowledge Partnership is a worldwide network promoting the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for sustainable and equitable development. It includes governments, civil society groups, donor agencies, private sector companies and inter-governmental organisations in alliances known as 'multi-stakeholder partnerships'. Pam has been participating in one of the GKP hosted discussion lists.
ITDG - The Intermediate Technology Development Group is an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) which specialises in helping people to use technology for practical answers to poverty. ITDG works directly in four regions of the developing world – Latin America, East Africa, Southern Africa and South Asia – to demonstrate and advocate the sustainable use of technology for poverty reduction in developing countries.
LG - Local Government - Oke-Ogun is in Oyo state, and is divided into ten areas. Local administration is the responsibility of the ten local governments, each with a local government chairman. Ago-Are comes under Atisbo LG.
OCDN - The Oke-Ogun Community Development Network is the current official name of the Nigerian side of the project first envisioned by Peter Adetunji Oyawale. Previously, the project was referred to as OOCD, or OOCD Agenda 2000 Plus.
OOCD Agenda 2000+ - The Oke-Ogun Community Development Agenda 2000+ committee was formed in 2001 by three chiefs from Oke-Ogun to continue the work envisioned by the late Peter Adetunji Oyawale for community development. The name of the committee was changed in 2004 to the Oke-Ogun Community Development Network (OCDN).
RUSEL - RUral SEarch Light is a micro-credit organisation in Oke-Ogun.
VSO - Voluntary Services Overseas is an international development charity that works through volunteers. Its vision is a world without poverty in which people work together to fulfil their potential. David Mutua is a VSO volunteer from Kenya, who has played a key role in the OCDN project.
WWSF- The Women's World Summit Foundation is a humanitarian, non-governmental, non-profit organization with United Nations consultative status (ECOSOC, UNFPA and DPI). WWSF programs aim to help implement women's and children's rights, to generate increased commitment and support for the realization of agreed development goals, and to hold world leaders accountable to their promises made at numerous UN summits and international conferences. An Oke-Ogun woman, Victoria Adetona, was the recipient of a prize for rural creativity through a WWSF program.
Another training video that people have asked for is one to explain how they can use Leo Blyth's ideas. At time of writing there are not the resources to produce these training materials. However there are practical plans, which can take off as soon as support is found. The materials would not just be in English and Yoruba versions; the plan is to also do a Hausa version (and possibly other languages too), in collaboration with the Fantsuam Foundation.