Pooling Traditional and New Technology Resources for Community Development in Jamaica
17-09-2003 ()
Producing a radioshow
© UNESCO
One week ago, Roots FM Innercity Community Radio and the Zinclink Cybercafe, two entities of Mustard Seed Communities, an urban community development NGO in Kingston, Jamaica, became the hub of a novel learning activity in pooling their traditional and new technology resources together to develop a Community Multimedia Center.
During the workshop held on 9 September, participants concentrated on reinforcing website maintenance techniques; producing and offering services in digital audio; creating their own multimedia presentations based on local culture, issues and lifestyles; utilizing e-forum for networking and discussion strategies for full transformation into a bona fide Roots FM/Zinclink Community Multimedia Centre.
The workshop followed closely on the heels of a five-day orientation and information seminar/workshop hosted at the Mustard Seed Communities headquarters in downtown Kingston, 25-29 August last. This event opened its doors to representatives from 17 other community-based NGOs dealing with a variety of issues such as children and parenting, HIV/AIDS, environmental preservation, gender, drug addiction, youth, entertainment, peace and conflict.
Reportedly, this seminar/workshop was the first such activity held in Jamaica, to introduce this particular segment of civil society to the practical combination of new and traditional information and communication technologies in building a knowledge society from the grassroots. It provided four and a half days of intensive training in new communication tools and software and a wide range of applications in digital audio; radio browsing; audio editing software; multimedia production- tools and presentation; and Web site building and maintenance.
Through such exposure participants were encouraged to become more active, particularly in the development of local media content using Jamaican indigenous music and art forms. Others emerged with a sense of empowerment, ready to become more proactive in the development of their communities. Further training exercises in this field are foreseen to be carried out on a regular basis in the future.
These activities were undertaken within the framework of the UNESCO/Swiss FIT international project to transform existing community radio stations into Community Multimedia Centres, known in the Caribbean as the Mulimedia for Caribbean Communities (MCC) project. Vilma Gregory, executive director of VILCOMM Services Ltd. a Jamaican multimedia company, is co-ordinating the project.
The workshop followed closely on the heels of a five-day orientation and information seminar/workshop hosted at the Mustard Seed Communities headquarters in downtown Kingston, 25-29 August last. This event opened its doors to representatives from 17 other community-based NGOs dealing with a variety of issues such as children and parenting, HIV/AIDS, environmental preservation, gender, drug addiction, youth, entertainment, peace and conflict.
Reportedly, this seminar/workshop was the first such activity held in Jamaica, to introduce this particular segment of civil society to the practical combination of new and traditional information and communication technologies in building a knowledge society from the grassroots. It provided four and a half days of intensive training in new communication tools and software and a wide range of applications in digital audio; radio browsing; audio editing software; multimedia production- tools and presentation; and Web site building and maintenance.
Through such exposure participants were encouraged to become more active, particularly in the development of local media content using Jamaican indigenous music and art forms. Others emerged with a sense of empowerment, ready to become more proactive in the development of their communities. Further training exercises in this field are foreseen to be carried out on a regular basis in the future.
These activities were undertaken within the framework of the UNESCO/Swiss FIT international project to transform existing community radio stations into Community Multimedia Centres, known in the Caribbean as the Mulimedia for Caribbean Communities (MCC) project. Vilma Gregory, executive director of VILCOMM Services Ltd. a Jamaican multimedia company, is co-ordinating the project.
During the workshop© UNESCO
Related themes/countries
· 2003
· Jamaica: News Archive 2003
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- Jocelyne Josiah, Adviser in communication and information for the Caribbean, UNESCO Office, Kingston, Jamaica.
- UNESCO Kingston
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