Media Outreach Projects in Egypt
Heinrich Boell Stiftung AMEO is happy to announce the continuation of its support for Arab digital activists in the Arab world. Together with our partner Global Voices Online, we seek to strengthen the collaboration between non-digital and digital activism, to introduce non digital civil society with new media tools and to make their voices heard. Global Voices and its outreach initiative "Rising Voices" aims to extend the benefits and reach of citizen media by connecting online media activists around the world. Beginning of April, they called for proposals from various civil society organisations and digital activists to send their proposal for an activity to be supported and finally introduced to the digital world of citizen media. The idea is that a representative of the blogoshpere work and train a civil society organization, which was until now deprived from social media and digital media tools, to strengthen their outreach potential and make their voices heard. From beginning of April a committee of 5-7 volunteer reviewed over 40 applications from Egypt and selected the three best projects which will be funded.
We are now happy to announce the following projects, which will shred light to unheard stories and activities of the Egyptian civil society:
Mokattam Blog Tales
In 1992, a heavy earthquake hit the city of Cairo, in which 370 lost their lives, many more left injured, and even more were left displaced. Out of that tragedy, thousands of residents picked up and started over, settling in an area which is now the neighborhood of Masaken Alzelzal - Alhadba Alwosta, located near the prominent Mokattam mountain.
Nesma Geiwely of the Namaa Initiative will partner with the NGO Alwan & Awtar, who will show the youth in the area how they can use citizen media tools like digital cameras, video cameras, and blogs to use their creative talents in the performing arts to express themselves. In addition to capturing the essence of daily life in Mokattam, the youth will interview local residents and show a different side of life in this Cairo suburb.
Nazra for Feminist Studies: Exploring Taboos
The topics of gender equality, sexual diversity, appropriate male/female interactions, and other related topics are often taboo subjects in Egypt. Some hold the opinion that these topics are best left to be spoken about in private, if at all. Nevertheless, this subject matter is of importance to many other Egyptians, who feel that there is a need to discuss these topics because they affect their daily lives. The Cairo-based organization called Nazra for Feminist Studies aims to provide a safe place for women and men to discuss these issues.
Mozn Hassan, Doaa Abdelaal, Ramy Raoof, Fatma Emam and Bassam Mortada will lead the project Tankeeb fil Tabohaat, which means “Exploring Taboos”, by holding a series of discussions to help identify Egyptians interested in writing about these topics in online spaces. With the help and support of experienced Egyptian bloggers, the members of Nazra will teach Egyptians how they can express their thoughts and feelings on these subjects and hold meaningful conversations with others, while maintaining their privacy if needed.
Women of Minya Day by Day
Women working as daily or informal laborers in the Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt face many difficulties and obstacles. For one, these women, who work in agricultural, domestic, or manual labor jobs, often do not enjoy the benefits and legal protections of those workers with regular employment. They are often prone to wage disputes, discrimination, and higher levels of poverty.
There are NGOs working in Minya, who provide literacy classes, job-skills training, and counseling for this population of women. The New Woman Foundation aims to add citizen media training to the services offered to the women, as a way to raise awareness of their status and to be a first step towards increased advocacy for these women and thousands of others just like them.
Nevin Ebeid, who has worked extensively with this rural population and has conducted academic research on their situation, will lead a series of workshops, where she will show a group of these women, how to tell their stories using digital citizen media tools. In addition to the workshops, a conference will be held for the community, where the women can showcase their work and tell others about their lives as daily and informal laborers.
Soon, the developement of these three projects can be followed under:
http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/blog/2010/05/28/announcing-the-newest-grantees-from-egypt/