APC-Africa-Women and Women'sNet

Application deadline: 19 July 2007
Workshop dates 25-29 August 2007

"It's in the telling of our stories that we discover how much of our
experiences and learning we have in common with others. Stories make our
connection with others and with the world real. They weave together our
individual experiences to reveal a picture of a community, a group and a
country."

Introduction

APC-Africa-Women, in partnership with Women'sNet, invite you to submit
an application to participate in a digital storytelling workshop. This
workshop is aimed at women who document (as content developers,
librarians, archivists, journalists, mediators, translators, information
activists etc.) the lives of women affected by violence in Africa.

Participants will develop short videos reflecting their experiences as
women documenters, and how they are affected and transformed. This will
be created through recording and documenting lived realities of women
confronted by violence. The stories will unravel how documenters deal
with, process and understand this difficult work.

An important component of this workshop is to examine the power
dimensions of story telling and how we retain the authenticity of our
own voice, as well as the voices of the people who's stories we
document, preserve or disseminate.

Women who document, record and write about women in violent situations
are at the front line of recording stories but do not have the time and
space to reflect, understand and tell their own stories, share their
responses, understandings and experiences about their work.
There is a large amount of information on the internet, but very little
that reflects the lived realities of women living and working in Africa.
The workshop aims:
• to create content by and for women,
• develop the ICT skills and capacity of women,
• strengthen organisations and enable women to share and network amongst
each other.

Who Should Apply?
Applicants should be:
• Women, living and working in Africa
• Documenters of violence against women
• Based in an organisation, institution or network
• Comfortable with English as the language used in the workshop, but you
are welcomed to produce your story in any language you choose.
• Familiar to a certain level with using computers (see form below)

The story you tell is from the first person, which means it will be
about you and your experiences. If you are interested and meet the
criteria above, please download the application form, complete it and
submit it as an email attachment to Jenny Radloff jenny@apcwomen.org .

DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING APPLICATIONS: 19 July 2007.

The workshop

Story telling has long been a tool for learning lessons, preserving
memory and history, transmitting culture and tradition, entertaining
others, for healing and caution. Stories have a value for both the
teller and the listener. For those relating a story it has value in
expression and healing, and for the listener in learning and sharing.
The 'digital' in digital story telling, refers to the medium used to
transmit stories. Digital stories, simply, are stories produced, stored
and disseminated using digital media. Digital stories can and have been
used as advocacy tools to inform policy makers and to raise awareness
amongst communities.

The digital stories will focus on the experiences of women who are
content developers, librarians, archivists, journalists, mediators,
translators, information activists, and who work in the field of ending
violence against women.

Violence and discrimination against women are global social issues,
where abuses are afflicted systematically, relentlessly and are often
tolerated, if not explicitly condoned. Our understanding of violence
against women includes, but is not limited to, violence such as sexual,
physical and mental harm, rape, domestic violence, women experiencing
violence in situations of armed conflict, women who are internally
displaced or refugees in other countries, hate crimes against lesbian
women and traditional practices harmful to women.

Participants of the workshop will take control of technology and tell
their own stories using the digital storytelling medium. This process
will help participants to locate themselves in the stories to better
advocate for the rights, priorities and concerns of women in situations
of violence.

There is space for twelve applicants who will participate in this
five-day digital storytelling workshop [25-29 August inclusive], where
they will learn to use computer software and other equipment necessary
for making a short multimedia digital story.

The digital storytelling workshop is hands-on and computer intensive,
requiring commitment and willingness to develop a short, personal story;
learn new software and edit a short digital video of five minutes in
length. Digital storytelling is not like writing a formal document; it's
more like creative, autobiographical writing. To see some examples,
check out the website:
http://www.takebackthetech.net
http://www.silencespeaks.org

In order to be eligible to participate, you must be able to attend all
five days of the workshop, and be able to travel to South Africa (25-29
August 2007 [arriving on 24th August, departing 30th August]). To
strengthen our advocacy on using ICTs to end violence against women, we
request to feature your story, or part of your story, as part of the APC
WNSP's Take Back the Tech campaign. Http://www.takebackthetech.org

This workshop is a chance to learn new skills and tell your story in a
creative and visual format. It's a lot of work . . . AND a lot of fun.

About APC-Africa-Women

APC-Africa-women is the African regional network of the Association for
Progressive Communications Women's Networking Support Programme (APC
WNSP). APC WNSP is a global network of women who support women
networking for social change and women's empowerment, through the use of
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). We promote gender
equality in the design, development, implementation, access to and use
of ICTs and in the policy decisions and frameworks that regulate them.
We have a special focus on redressing inequities based on women's social
or ethnic background - through the provision of research, training,
information, and support activities in the field of ICT policy,
skills-sharing in the access and use of ICT, and women's network-building.
Http://www.apcwomen.org

APC-Africa-Women hosts Women's Electronic Network Training (WENT)
workshops every two years. WENT workshops aim to build the skills and
capacities of women and their organisations to utilise ICTs in women's
empowerment, social development work and policy advocacy. In 2003
participants at WENT Africa developed skills in the repackaging of
information through the convergence of old and new technologies using
radio and in building websites using a Content Management System.
Weaving through the training were sessions on gender and ICT policy
issues. In 2005 WENT Africa was hosted in Kampala and using a two-track
system, trained women technicians in the use of Free and Open Source
Software (FOSS) and women managers of NGOs in technology planning. More
information can be viewed at http://wentafrica.blogspot.com/

About Women'sNet
Women'sNet works to advance gender equality and justice in South Africa
through the use of ICTs by providing training and facilitating content
dissemination and creation that supports women, girls, and women's and
gender organisations and networks to take control of their own content
and ICT use. The organisation is one of the few working on technology
for social change in South Africa, and the first to do this from a
gender perspective our work has focused on technology for purpose –
strengthening women's organisations specifically and civil society in
general – to use ICTs for achieving gender justice.
Http://www.womensnet.org.za

Intellectual Property:
All stories are owned by the women who make them. The story is your
story and will be licensed under a Creative Commons license. We are open
to discussing a formula that respects your privacy and confidentiality
should you be uncomfortable with the widespread sharing and
dissemination of some parts of your story. We would like your stories
to be part of a public effort in our Take Back the Tech initiative. This
project aims to reclaim ICTs to end violence against women during the 16
days of activism 25 November to 10 December 2007.

Instructions:
Please download this form, complete it, and email it as a file
attachment to Jenny Radloff jenny@apcwomen.org . The DEADLINE FOR
SUBMITTING APPLICATIONS is 19 July 2007. If you have any questions, feel
free to email or skype Jenny on jenny_apc. Incomplete forms will not be
considered for selection.

Date:
Name:
Address:
Country:
Organisation:
Phone:
Fax:
Email:
Age:

Please describe in a few sentences the main point of the story you would
like to tell.

What issues does your story address?

What do you hope to get out of the APC-Africa-Women digital storytelling
workshop?

Have you talked to anyone about the story you'd like to share, or is
this the first time you'll be talking about it in a group?

If this is your first time talking about it, what do you think it'll be
like for you to share the story with a group of people all telling
stories documenting, witnessing or experiencing violence against women?

Please write a draft of the story you'd like to share, below. It should
be no more than 500 words (about one and ½ pages, double-spaced, typed).
Your story should be written in the first-person. Note: If you'd like to
see examples of other people's digital stories, you can go to
www.silencespeaks.org.

Please briefly describe to us what you use computers for.

What is your familiarity with the following Software Programs and
Processes? Please put an "x" to the right of the statements that most apply.

Using a PC (Windows Operating System) or a Macintosh Computer
I know nothing
I know next to nothing
I can get around fairly easily
I'm really comfortable
I know a lot

Scanning Photos or Other Images
I know nothing
I know next to nothing
I can get around fairly easily
I'm really comfortable
I know a lot

Adobe Photoshop
I know nothing
I know next to nothing
I can get around fairly easily
I'm really comfortable
I know a lot

Adobe Premiere
I know nothing
I know next to nothing
I can get around fairly easily
I'm really comfortable
I know a lot

Do you know how to (please mark YES or NO)
Open software applications YES/NO
Save documents and find them again YES/NO
How to use a mouse, cut and paste, drag and drop. YES/NO

It would be useful to know the following applications – Microsoft office
or Open office, and using web browsers such as Internet Explorer or Firefox.

Thank You! There are a limited number of spaces in the workshop. So
please note that the submission of an application is no guarantee that
APC-Africa-Women will be able to support you to attend. Successful
applicants will be notified by 30th July 2007.