Motataisi Living Lab:Project Overview
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Poverty is more than a lack of money and income, more than lack of access to facilities and services such as water, roads, education or clinics. It is the result of “poverty of spirit” ie an attitude of hopelessness, an ignorance of available resources, a dependence upon others, lack of confidence, discouragement, lack of skills, lack of trust, lack of integrity and lack of effective sustainable organization; in short, lack of good management. Communities should work towards the elimination of the social problem of poverty by analysing its causes, and taking steps to oppose and remove those causes. Since poverty is a social problem, the solution to that problem is social. (Factors of Poverty, Phil Bartle, Phd. 2007)
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Vision
To equip communities in Lesotho with a ‘Digital Doorway - Motataisi’ that would educate and provide the overall knowledge coverage to adapt to the communal, national and global development strategies.
MOTATAISI – referred to in English as the Guider has set foot in Lesotho to do just that – Guide. The question that pops up is guide who and in what? The general answer is to guide anyone needing to meet the one important facet of human life, which is, to seek knowledge. The need to establish reach, recall and impact.
Motataisi – the new model of information intake being introduced in Lesotho, is not based on command but on connection and collaboration. Through this initiative the Absolute Personal Responsibility – APR – principle will be ignited to energize communities to realise that they have to solve their own personal problems using their resources and control, supported by external resources and expertise.
The inherent realisation propelling Motataisi into this participatory mode is informed by the fact that it is human nature to see what you do not have in your life along with celebrating all the good you do have. The realisation that grassroots populations are often used as objects for change but not as an essential component of their own change. Relating this to national level practice, it is a common factor that everyone focuses on all the weaknesses rather than developing the strengths, , or to recognising that people can move from being receipts of strategies to being the creators of the strategies that would empower them.
Mission
To roll out communal Motataisi throughout Lesotho, in order to provide communities with a facility through which they can learn, communicate and access information that would facilitate proper literacy programmes for functional and vocational training that would enhance their status and capabilities.
To benefit from Motataisi, the communities must be open to learn from the experiences of others, in order to shorten the learning curve – hence the connection and collaboration.
Lessons learnt from current practices show that very little has been done to improve livelihoods especially for those living in rural communities, thus reducing Lesotho to a basket case. This has resulted into a widespread loss of confidence by people to even do things they can manage, leaving the responsibility to external assistance especially governments. When people lose their confidence there is tendency to play victim rather than step up to the challenge.
The introduction of Motataisi is designed to change all this and facilitate a new mindset to do things differently and view development challenges of self and country differently.
Motataisi with your assistance will achieve for Lesotho new ways for people especially the youth, physically and mentally disadvantaged people in their geographic communities to:
- Through Motataisi – help the disadvantaged population communicate interactively and better understand one another, share know how and generate passion in solving problems pertaining to their geographic communities;
- Through Motataisi – assist the disadvantaged communities to use information, news and academic resources and imagine their collective possibilities as communities, and to set and reach common community goals;
- Through Motataisi – dig for academic information, news and act on it, including new ways to collect, prepare and distribute information that reveals hard to know facts, identifies common problems, clarifies geographic community issues or points out practical courses of action;
Thus Motataisi seeks to bestir the people into an awareness of their own condition, provide inspiration for their thoughts and rouse them to pursue their true interests.
Objectives
The MOTATAISI Foundation will facilitate the provision and awareness of projects, technology, infrastructure, information, and skills necessary to enable local and rural communities, especially the youth, physically and mentally disadvantaged people achieve innovative ways in their geographic communities:-
- To embrace initiatives that will improve access to and choices to an empowering knowledge base without favour or discrimination by sex, disability, political and religious affiliation, but that will generate passion in solving problems pertaining to their geographic communities;
- To develop their livelihoods and link them to the national and global strategies against poverty in order to realize equitable social development growth at grassroots level; and to enhance their internal capacities and capabilities and awareness of the importance of doing business in their natural environment to fight poverty;
- To acquire the necessary skills that will empower them to take charge and responsibility of their livelihoods through projects that are not coercive, but that will foster respect for their human rights and human dignity;
- To embrace initiatives that will contribute to the development and transfer of knowledge, information systems and technologies on all aspects of their collective and national empowering plans and adopt and adapt Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Systems in their income-generating and economic activities in order to derive the inherent social and economic benefits;
- To maintain the facilities that would allow for the continuous training and awareness, development and updating of information aimed at combating the information gap and digital divide common to their communities;
- To adapt to the principles of Fair Trade in their actions to ensure that they receive fair prices and fair shares of profits, including the adoption and use of environment-friendly sustainable methods of production, at all levels.
Location
Considering that the population of Lesotho is less than two (2) million with at least 75% of the population with an estimated household budget of less than one American dollar ($1) a day, there maybe pilot areas but the envisaged location is throughout the rural communities in Lesotho.
The Community
Our community includes amongst others the following categories whose contribution is pivotal to the achievement of our mission:
- Communal - Local Government and Chieftaincy
- Technological - local and international technicians
- Economic – local and international strategies and best plans
- Political – grassroots and national buy-in
- Institutional (social) – local and international professionals, advisers, and volunteers
The target beneficiaries are the communities in the peri-urban to rural areas of Lesotho, especially vulnerable and orphaned children.
Initial results indicate the following benefits:
- Transfer of information to the community and creation of awareness and knowledge. Customized content and applications to meet community requirements,
- Access to a service without discrimination, and an appropriate environment to communicate and learn,
- Improved computer awareness and literacy and opportunity for users to interact with technology on their own terms, and without external resources,
- Low maintenance in the long term.
In the long term, the benefits will include the following:
- The promotion of employment opportunities to fight poverty in general and across board,
- The promotion of educational opportunities as a way to equip the communities with adequate skills,
- The investment in rural infrastructures is capable of supporting intensified education, agriculture, tourism, combating environmental degradation and skills development.
What problem is being addressed?
One of the major constraints in Lesotho is access to relevant information especially in the rural areas. There are few places where information can be accessed except through the radio. For those who can read, they cannot afford to buy a newspaper on a weekly basis. The library and internet cafes (for a fee) are found only in the District centres. For those out of school, and the impoverished communities of peri-urban to rural areas, there are no outlets to access information on issues pertaining to their daily lives. These include information on their rights, HIV/AIDS, changes in agriculture patterns, development issues, job opportunities, self empowering mechanisms, etc.
By adopting the use of the Digital Doorway – Motataisi, the following problems will be addressed:
- To deliver basic information on what is in sectors such as Education, Agriculture, Human Rights, Tourism, Health, Local government, etc.
- To provide information on how to issues, such as getting a birth certificate, social services, necessary government service documentation and forms, advice on the generation of income-generating activities at local level and other relevant information.
Information Dissemination
- To support teachers in their introduction and teaching of technologies and learners with abilities to use technology to achieve new levels of learning;
- To improve capabilities, expand knowledge, and assist communities acquire new information age skills and abilities;
- To provide ICT access to in and out-of school children and communities at their geographic location;
- To develop the basic ICT skills and supportive learning styles required for on-line communication ;
- To introduce initiatives for the development of business, production and management skills,
- To deliver information on how to and what is, in all sectors i.e. agriculture, education, health, local government, tourism etc,
Training and Awareness
- To advocate the adaption Motataisi as a model in building support networks and online information resources that will assist communities to improve their capabilities and expand their knowledge.
- To expand the training and educational establishments and coverage, notably literacy programmes as well as components of programmes that enhance the potential and status of illiterate people.
- To develop the basic ICT skills required for on-line communication and introduce initiatives that contribute to the development of business and management skills of people in the communities.
- The promotion of employment opportunities to fight poverty in general and across board.
- The promotion of educational opportunities as a way to equip the communities with adequate skills.
- The investment in rural infrastructures is capable of supporting intensified education, agriculture, tourism, combating environmental degradation and skills development.
- Envisaged Network Of the Digital Doorway Network in Lesotho.
Content Development
The main priority will be the development of Lesotho based content covering all sectors. Effective use of the Digital Doorway will require fresh and interesting content periodically. Sustaining the excitement depends on the production and updating of the quality, quantity, variety and relevance of the content. The regular provision of updated and relevant content will encourage users to move from familiarity to peer learning and eventual competence.
For students, out-of school public and other members of communities mostly in the peri-urban to rural areas, there are no other outlets to access information on issues pertaining to their daily lives, especially civic information on rights, government pronouncements and services, HIV/AIDS, changes in agriculture patterns, development issues, job opportunities, self empowering mechanisms, etc.
Through a strong and broad participatory administrative system, the Digital Doorway model has the capacity to conduct user friendly surveys and create custom services as in hospitals, schools, community centres etc, to reduce the pressure of developing initial administrative procedures and institutional management deficiencies.
Proposed Solution
By adopting the social entrepreneurship concept that has been known to be applicable in filling the gaps in the delivery of services in these areas of community enhancement and civil society work especially in the following areas:
- Delivering where the market cannot – Poor and rural communities often have no access to most services and utilities because they fall outside the market economy, or they do not have enough money to buy the services.
- Delivering where the Government cannot – Poor and rural communities are often as cut off from government services (e.g. getting passports, accessing social welfare benefits; medical, legal and educational information) as they are from the types of services the market provides. They invariably spent considerable amounts of time and cash, negotiating the maze of government offices not knowing where to go and what is needed.
The Motataisi Foundation has therefore chosen to introduce the Digital Doorway – Motataisi as a model in building support networks and online information resources that will assist communities to improve their capabilities and expand their knowledge. The best possible solution “to bring the continent’s rural communities out of poverty is to give the people the tools and skills they need to do the job for themselves”, an objective that the Foundation is tackling head on.
The introduction and use of Digital Doorway can contribute in part to the achievement of the National Vision 2020, the Poverty Strategy Paper and many of the Millennium Development Goals as set by the United Nations. One of the major constraints in Lesotho is access to relevant information especially in the rural areas. Digital Doorway can provide a wide range of services, including ICT access to school and out-of-school services to communities such as Internet/e-mail, On-line Counselling on relevant topics such as Special Education support, HIV/AIDS, distance learning, ICT literacy training and YOUTH Entrepreneurship training, Local Government Policies and Strategies, Tourism Development and related information dissemination etc.
The initial beneficiaries of this concept are the orphans and vulnerable children, young people and the communities at large. Initial results indicate the following benefits:
- Creation of awareness and knowledge of the relevant basic ICT rudiments.
- Access to a service without discrimination.
- Provision of an appropriate and private environment to communicate and learn.
- Improved computer awareness and literacy and opportunity for users to interact with technology on their own terms
- Customized content and applications to meet specific country and community requirements.
- Promotion of computer literacy without external resources.
- Transfer of learning to the community and
- Low maintenance in the long term.
Technology Explained
Digital Doorways is a product of the CSIR Meraka Institute (South Africa) research project “The Digital Doorway Literacy through Unassisted Learning Project”, that undertook to introduce computer literacy into the realm and experience of all its citizens. Its main objectives are to provide children, especially those who are vulnerable and orphaned, and communities in the rural and disadvantaged areas, with freely accessible computer equipment and open source software, which would enable them to experiment and learn without formal training and with minimal external input.
- Figure 1. A 3 Way Terminal System
- The hardware consists of a rugged steel terminal comprising 3 sides, each side containing an LCD screen, vandal-proof keyboard, touchpad, webcam and speakers. A server is also located inside the steel housing. The server is used for video capture. Internet connectivity is provided by various means (e.g. GPRS). Cables run from the unit through a pipe into the ceiling.
- Figure 2. Accessible System (for users with disabilities)
- The Accessible Digital Doorway has two terminals specially adapted for wheel-chair access. In addition, grab handles are installed to assist users who are unstable when standing in front of the unit. Two of the four terminals are equipped with joysticks instead of mouse pads. Specially adapted software works in conjunction with the hardware modifications
Each Digital Doorway serves as both a tool for computer literacy development and a source of information on a range of subjects. The content includes the OpenOffice suite, educational games and programs, an introduction to computer terminology, scientific software, 10 000 books from project Gutenberg, a snapshot of the Wikipedia, Mindset health and curriculum-based educational videos, interactive science simulations and numerous other applications for children and adults. For lasting benefit in a community, the Digital Doorway must be fully operational at all times with cur The main priority will be the development of Lesotho based content covering all sectors. Effective use of the Digital Doorway will require fresh and interesting content periodically. Sustaining the excitement depends on the production and updating of the quality, quantity, variety and relevance of the content. The regular provision of updated and relevant content will encourage users to move from familiarity to peer learning and eventual competence.
To address the problem, the Digital Doorway is fitted with a broadband satellite multicast solution for the downlink and GSM Cellular GPRS backhaul, that will allow the project team to provide additional content, fix bugs in the operating system and provide users with text-based feedback mechanism. The GPRS backhaul is also used to obtain statistics from the system to determine if it is still operational, and provide data on which applications, programmes and sites are being used. This allows the project team to track trends and identify the most popular applications, programmes and sites.
Social Challenges
Some of the key challenges are:
- The need for a process which is short (and so not too resource-intensive) and yet sufficiently in-depth to address the needs of poor people, and to do so in an empowering way;
- To establish collaboration and integration systems with research institutions and other stakeholders already existing to attract sufficient facilitators to develop capacity within each community who will provide their time at minimal cost (e.g. governmental departments in social development, agriculture, health, education and tourism etc. who may need to get to know the project priorities themselves), as well as potential candidates among the community members;
- The need to train people within the communities to undertake planning, and develop their ability to plan and manage the deployment of Motataisi in their areas;
- The need for a budget to be available immediately to support local action after the planning;
- The need to avoid the extremes of shallow or token participation under conventional approaches on the one hand, and the slow, highly resource-intensive approaches typical of NGOs, on the other, which have virtually no links with formal planning structures.
A pilot Digital Doorway has already been introduced in Lesotho at Ha Tsolo, a community on the outskirts of Maseru with a population consisting of the garment workers from the Thetsane Industrial area. The reception by the children has been overwhelming. The Digital Doorway has been tested and already in use in South Africa.
The location of Ha Tsolo (peri-urban) and its diverse population has in the past month given a better insight to the practical uses of the Digital Doorway. Its proximity to a community school and football ground has ensured that its existence spread quickly. It will be advisable in the future to install a recording device within the machine to better understand the reception, perceptions and aspirations of the numerous children and adults who visited the machine during and after installation.
Technical Challenges
Community Requirements
For a Digital Doorway to be successful it is essential that the community leaders and the community as a whole want to have the Digital Doorway in the community. This ensures buy-in and prevents vandalism and theft. An agreement with the community will be deliberated to ensure their commitment. It is also very important that somebody from the community accepts responsibility for the Digital Doorway. The commitment will include:
- Helping out users that might experience problems.
- Restarting the Digital Doorway if necessary.
- Contacting the organisation providing support and maintenance should something serious go wrong.
- Keeping the Digital Doorway environment clean.
The site where the Digital Doorway must be installed should be in close proximity to several schools, in an environment that permits children to make a noise (i.e. not inside a library or church), accessible 24 hours per day and safe and secure to use at all hours (preferably a site where the activities around the Digital Doorway are visible from the outside, not an enclosed room or at the end of a dark alley).
Technical Requirements
- The site where you want to install a Digital Doorway must have:
- A concrete floor at least 3m x 2m (as stable floor of the same size could be considered)
- A non-leaking roof with an overhang of at least 300mm.
- A brick and mortar wall on the 3m side of the concrete floor.
- A stable, continuous electricity supply is preferred.
- At sites that meet the other requirements the suitability of power sources such as solar panels can be considered.
- If the site does not have cellular phone coverage, a check will be made to confirm where the closest point with coverage is. If this point (e.g. On top of a hill) is within 5 kilometres that can be seen clearly from the site where you want the Digital Doorway installed, the site may still be suitable.
- An environment that has a large quantity of foot traffic
Equipment Ownership
To ensure sustainability, the equipment maintenance will be sustained by the Foundation more so to ensure the software upkeep of the system. The community is expected to contribute to the physical upkeep and protection of the site and the hardware.
Intellectual Property
Until the final release and conclusion of the Digital doorway concept, CSIR still holds the Intellectual Property Rights. Discussions are underway to release the prototype for replication outside South Africa.
Sustainability
The roll-out of the Digital Doorway project to the rest of the country is anticipated to be best served by a social entrepreneurship model; a model that strives for both financial sustainability as well as a drive for social change.
In terms of the Digital Doorway’s sustainability model, we include two essential components, namely, non financial resources and predictable revenue sources. 'Non financial resources' will include ensuring continued interest in the initiative, mobilising volunteers/champions and recurring in-kind contributions that will enable the initiative to keep going. 'Predictable revenue sources' are long-term, repeat, and performance-based funding sources (foundation, individual, government, corporate), and fee-based that will provide predictable funding, (services such as basic advertising, sponsored content, sponsored programs, surveys and general subscriptions from interested stakeholders), in exchange for social impact. An earned-income generating model is being developed as part of the broader Digital Doorway initiative, and will be tested on the Lesotho project.
Furthermore, the Coordinator has been attending workshops under the auspices of Wireless Africa Initiative to develop a business plan and identify both technical and business/social entrepreneur skills that would be introduced to the communities as a way of building the sustainability of the Motataisi initiative.
There will be a monitoring and evaluation constituent during this stage to offset any problems that maybe encountered. The team will be continuously be engaged in assessing the performance of both programmes. Before implementation, all stakeholders will through participatory platforms agree on the content, timeframes and modalities of getting the project off the ground. Furthermore the above mentioned technical requirements and community related issues will be addressed before hand.
