CDATA[Author: krisdev
Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 6:34 am (GMT -8)
Topic Replies: 1

This is a contribution to the Drum Beat Chat discussion forum. We are currently discussing UNICEF's pilot solar-enabled communication hub, The BEE. For the opening note of this discussion, please see: http://forums.comminit.com/viewtopic.php?t=107035&style=2 For information on how to participate in or unsubscribe from this forum, and to view the archives of the forum online, please visit the following link: http://forums.comminit.com/viewforum.php?f=49&style=2
===

I am a member of Comminit and read about your BEE Portable Solar Powered Communication Hub. Our hearty congratulations to you and your team members.

We have formed 'India Village Liberation (IViL)' mainly consisting of Social Activist from NGOs and students of Indian Institute of Technology - Madras, Chennai, one of the most premier technological institutions in India and have adopted Natham village in Thiruvallur District, Tamil Nadu State, South India for rural community development initiative.

We would like to take your support to provide connectivity to the rural community for the overall improvement of the village and for educating the girl child through the community school in the village to achieve the UN MDGs.

Photos of our visit can be seen at:

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/krisdev/IViL_Natham_visit_Nov09_2008?authkey=BybsgSyl1ZY#

Kris Dev
ICT & e-Gov Consultant, India
');document.write('krisdev');document.write('@');document.write('gmail.com');document.write('');//-->
1 (206) 274 1635


Deborah Heimann wrote: This is a contribution to the Drum Beat Chat discussion forum. For information on how to participate or unsubscribe to this forum, please see the footnotes below.
===

Welcome to our September 2008 Drum Beat Chat discussion.

This month we focus on UNICEF's solar-enabled communication hub, The BEE, as detailed within issue #459 of The Drum Beat. I have included the details about the communication hub here, below. You can also read the full issue of The Drum Beat online here: http://www.comminit.com/drum_beat_459.html

The BEE is being developed to provide connectivity, information, and opportunity to people and communities in remote or emergency situations. The question for this group is: Based on your experience, where and in what situations do YOU think this tool could best be employed?

Please either reply to this email or send your thoughts to ');document.write('drumbeatchat');document.write('@');document.write('comminit.com');document.write('');//--> - we look forward to hearing from you.

Many thanks,
Deborah Heimann
Moderator - Drum Beat Chat


===


The BEE - a solar-enabled communication hub

In June 2008, UNICEF's Division of Communication set out to complete a prototype of a portable solar-enabled communication hub that would (1) connect children even when there is no connectivity, (2) offer quick connectivity hubs in an emergency, and (3) provide informational, communication, and educational opportunities for children in remote and/or emergency situations.

The BEE, as the communication hub is now called, was originally envisioned as an information tool that could remain in the community/school after an emergency. However, as the prototype neared completion, it was evident that it could be used for a variety of purposes whether for information exchange, a radio station, a way to deliver curriculum, ensure business continuity, or deliver entertainment and give people, especially children, a voice.

The BEE is a package that can be easily transported - for example as checked luggage on a plane - to a location and set up by a field worker with limited technical knowledge. The BEE is designed to be transported as a set of secure flight cases, which are custom-engineered to lock together and, when assembled, to provide a kiosk-like setting for stability and safekeeping.

Please see some notes on the development of the BEE on the UNIWIKI: http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://x.mepemepe.com/wiki/The_BEE

Also see initial design sketches and photos: http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.flickr.com/photos/29636224@N05/sets/72157606805627730/

The BEE can be used in situations where there is no electricity, using solar panels to power the device and charge batteries, which will provide power at night or during cloudy conditions. It can also be used at night to display video presentations and educational materials using low-power LED devices. Each "Queen BEE" station can communicate with other smaller "Worker BEE" sub-stations that are in the line of site (up to 100km away) using mast antennas–located either on physical antennas or placed high on structures or trees–providing VOIP and communications to other units. The BEE can also pull data from satellite feeds and be used to share stories and community maps, documentation, and essays with other users.


Situations in which the BEE functions


The BEE is more than an internet kiosk, it is a new way of thinking. It is an intersection of innovations. While still in the proof-of-concept phase, the BEE can be seen working in a variety of situations.

Emergency situation
In an emergency situation, a field worker can carry the unit into the affected area and set up a base of operation in a short time. The BEE will come with a bundled software package for emergency response. The unit will start-up, prompt for a login, then take the user directly to vital applications that provide up-to-date information on the situation. A survey tool will collect information from field workers or interested citizens on the status of disease, pit latrines, or number of people in a household. In refugee camps or internally displaced person (IDP) camps, the photo registration application will register lost children and project their pictures on a wall so that worried family members can easily find them. The BEE can connect with other units in the area to share data and give a layout of the overall situation.

Education Hub
The BEE can also be installed at the village school and serve a class of up to 40 children. Every night, the unit will download the curriculum for the next day. Schoolchildren in different parts of the country can talk and learn together using the videoconference application. Low-cost web-enabled mobile phones can be provided which will interact directly with the BEE unit to push out locally-stored information, such as an offline copy of Wikipedia (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.wikipedia.org/). Even the lowest grade commercial non-WiFi enabled phones can be employed through short message service (SMS) to teach literacy to adults. As with the emergency software package, the BEE can come bundled with a standard education package. Round Box Global, a private sector business and technology consulting firm, is developing an online platform upon which diverse curricula can be uploaded, organised, and disseminated to young people with varied levels of connectivity and access to technology. Their project involves the creation and development of tailored learning management systems through which displaced teachers and students can access standards-based educational materials. This system is targeted at the world's most vulnerable populations, and initial testing and implementation would be, in coordination with UNICEF and the BEE, in areas of emergency, displacement, and dire need.

Community Support
The BEE can also function as an information hub for an entire community. With the Rosco software developed by UNICEF, the BEE can turn into a radio station on the go. Rosco is a fully functional radio station that runs on the free, open source Linux operating system. With its FM transmitter, the BEE can turn into a community radio station on-the-fly and broadcast stories recorded on the unit. With the RapidSMS software, the BEE can take the pulse of the community. RapidSMS is a SMS/audio system that allows for mass-scale SMS/audio output and input from a simple web-interface. The system can be used to send out SMSs to many users and groups with ease, as well as monitor and respond user's feedback in the form of responding SMSs or phone calls. Additionally, the system provides the ability to setup "forms" with various questions on it. One can then notify people who are collecting data for you and they can begin to send in data responses via SMS. Any trusted partner with an internet connection can watch the data come in, view it, and work with it immediately. This can tie the user in to the community via simple opinion polls as well as provide useful information about various indicators in the community. While the BEE can function as an individual unit, it also has the ability to sync with a central server. A community could put a Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) tower on the tallest hill or tree in the community, and have the ability to link up any small device - a BEE, an ipaq Hewlett-Packard phone, or any device with web-based applications - to the local network. A central server could keep content offline and upload and download content whenever a dedicated internet connection is available. This central server could be anything from a laptop, to another BEE, to a dedicated server unit with battery backup in case the power fails.


The BEE Partners


The idea for the BEE was inspired by the work of some of UNICEF's partners, including the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa (CSIR) (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.csir.co.za/) and its subsidiary the Meraka Institute (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.meraka.org.za/), Inveneo (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.inveneo.org/), and Round Box Global (http://www.rbxglobal.com/#Home).

UNICEF and CSIR have a longstanding collaboration, working on such projects as MobilED. MobilED, a tool to access and participate in the internet via a normal mobile phone, was developed by CSIR, and then evolved into RapidSMS at UNICEF. With the Digital Doorway (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.meraka.org.za/digitalDoorway.htm), CSIR is also a pioneer in internet-enabled information kiosks. Their knowledge of the field will be evidenced in the next revision of the BEE as UNICEF and CSIR collaborate again on a production model.

Inveneo is doing great work in the field, and partnered with BOSCO Uganda Relief Project (Battery Operated Systems for Community Outreach (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.bosco-uganda.org/) to provide access to computers, internet, and voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) telephony for IDP camps in Northern Uganda (reported in the Drum Beat here: http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_427.html See: http://www.comminit.com/en/node/135220). The BEE prototype uses an Inveneo flatpanel LCD.

AMD (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.AMD.com/) has also provided UNICEF with the computer motherboard and central processing unit (CPU) for the first BEE prototype.


Moving Forward


By early September 2008, UNICEF will have built a production-ready model with CSIR. This model will be more ruggedised, compact, and flexible. The Operation System and the user experience will also be improved over the working prototype. After the production-ready model is created, it will be tested in remote areas in South Africa. The goal is to test the BEE in five field locations that each pose unique climate, security, and remote location constraints.

The BEE will feature many of the software endeavours of UNICEF’s Division of Communication, the testing of which will accelerate the development process. All of the applications are lightweight, which means the applications favour small data transfers from the internet. RapidSMS and Rosco, explained above, are only two of the main applications on the BEE. It will also feature the Mizizi and OurStories applications, which will allow the user to upload his or her story and metadata to a Google Maps type interface. His or her story will appear as a point on that map and be available to everyone in the world. The next prototype of the BEE will also support a videoconference application that will be lightweight and easily allow people to communicate in a way they might not have been able to before.

UNICEF is looking forward to bringing the strengths from different sectors and locations together in order to create the BEE for application in real situations. The specifications and designs will be open source and creative commons.

With this issue of The Drum Beat, UNICEF is looking for feedback about where and in what situations the BEE could best be employed.

The BEE is not intended to replace the long-standing UNICEF standard educational response, but rather to supplement the learning environment and expand the opportunities for access to information of children and communities whether in post-emergency or remote settings. After rounds of testing, it remains to be seen how the BEE will fit in with current UNICEF projects, as well as allowing UNICEF's Division of Communication to expand into previously uncharted areas.


The minimum specifications for each BEE unit:


Note: "server" units serve client units if there is more than one BEE in the area, and have a greater hardware configuration (see parts lists for "Queen Bee" and "Worker Bee").
* Completely self powered (solar, wind, etc.) and able to provide 12 hours of continuous operation for all functions during a 24 hour period.
* All sensitive components sealed against dust, moisture, animals, and other possible environmental factors.
* Able to communicate with other units using TCP/IP at 1+ mega-bytes per second (Mbps).
* Able to provide FM transmission for 5+ kilometre (km) range.
* Able to provide web-browsing capability for at least one person at a time.
* Able to provide audio broadcast to an audience of 40 students at a time.
* Has a camera to capture both still and moving images.
* Has a microphone to record audio from near-range (within 2 meters).
* Has auxiliary audio inputs and outputs.
* Able to accept external storage devices (USB and SD).
* Requires authorisation from the administrator to boot from external device.
* Hardware-compatible with Linux and other Open Source operating systems.
* Has a reset function to either a server-unit defined configuration as well as a default configuration that can be activated both remotely and onsite.
* Has hardware watchdog to reset any sub-systems that lock up.
* Remotely monitor-able.
* Can operate within temperature and humidity extremes (-30 to 50 degrees Celsius and 5% to 95% condensing humidity).
* Modularised as to allow replacement or upgrade of components by non-technical users.
* The "server" unit is able to communicate with other systems on the internet via satellite and/or cellular (GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, etc).
* The "server" unit is able to cache and store websites and serve them to other units.
* The "server" unit is able to push content and configurations to other units.
* The mast has provisions for mounting of antennas at least 6.5 meters above ground.
* The mast is self-supporting and able to maintain antenna direction in 25km/h wind gusts without guying.
* The mast has provisions for mounting solar panels or other means of powering the unit.
* The mast is connected to unit by a replaceable tether, which allows for power, radio signal, and data transmission to and from all mast-mounted hardware. The replaceable tether can be up to 7 meters long. Between the unit and the tower base.
* All exterior surfaces of unit and mast are composed of material that is highly resistant to rot, fungus, mold, termites, oxidation, and any other long-term decay.
* Include pictorial assembly and setup instructions attached to an internal surface.


Parts list of the BEE - Prototype 1:
Prototype 1 cost roughly US$6,000 to build, but costs will likely drop as the production process is streamlined.

"Queen Bee"
1. AMD Geode LX800 ION A603 500Mhz embedded low power motherboard w/ 1GB ram and 2GB PQI Disk-on-Module (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://wwwd.amd.com/catalog/SalesCat.nsf/doclookupweb/CEF3492F57763CCF8625725800148E8D?OpenDocument&id=First+International+Computer,+Inc.~ION+A603)
2. 15" TFT monitor - supplied by Inveneo Technologies along with ION motherboard, this is a "no-name" panel.
3. Ramsey electronics UAM2 20W amp for audio (http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=UAM2)
4. 3" waterproof marine speaker (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.rocktheboataudio.com/html/32291.html)
5. Samsung SP-P310ME LED based DLP projector (http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/detail.do?group=computersperipherals&type=dataprojector&subtype=ultraportableprojector&model_cd=SPP310MEMX/XAA)
6. Ubiquiti Networks Powerstation2 Access Point (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://ubnt.com/products/ps2.php)
7. Radio Communication Lab RC2547T-FM PLL FM Transmitter (http://www.electronicsinfoline.com/rcl/product_info.php/cPath/1_15/products_id/
8. BP Solar SX-320J Modules x6 (http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9019646&contentId=7036975)
9. Morningstar ProStar PS-30 Charge controller w / remote battery temperature probe (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.morningstarcorp.com/en/pro-star)
10. Deka /MK S27 SLD G Gel Cell battery x2 (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.mkbattery.com/pvsolar.php)
11. Logitech QuickCam Pro9000 (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/webcam_communications/webcams/devices/3056&cl=us,en)

"Worker Bee"
1. AMD Geode LX800 ION A603 500Mhz embedded low power motherboard w/ 1GB ram and 2GB PQI Disk-on-Module
2. 15" TFT monitor
3. Ramsey electronics UAM2 20W amp for audio
4. 3" waterproof marine speaker
5. Ubiquiti Networks Powerstation2 Access Point
6. BP Solar SX-320J Modules (x6)
7. Morningstar ProStar PS-30 Charge controller w/remote battery temperature probe
8. Deka /MK S27 SLD G Gel Cell battery (x2)
9. Logitech QuickCam Pro9000

Go to http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://x.mepemepe.com/wiki/BEE_prototype_1_parts_list for a full online list of parts with links.


For more information on the BEE, please contact:

Erica Kochi
+1 646 226 6361
');document.write('ekochi');document.write('@');document.write('unicef.org');document.write('');//-->

Christopher Fabian
+1 646 410 5122
');document.write('cfabian');document.write('@');document.write('unicef.org');document.write('');//-->


===


Contribute your reactions, ideas, and examples by replying to this email or sending a message to ');document.write('drumbeatchat');document.write('@');document.write('comminit.com');document.write('');//-->


===

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_________________
Kris Dev
ICTD Consultant
Manthan Awardee
]

CDATA[Author: Warren Feek
Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:34 am (GMT -8)
Topic Replies: 0

This is a contribution from KATE MCINTURFF to the Drum Beat Chat discussion forum. We are currently discussing UNICEF's pilot solar-enabled communication hub, The BEE. For the opening note of this discussion, please see: http://forums.comminit.com/viewtopic.php?t=107035&style=2 For information on how to participate in or unsubscribe from this forum, and to view the archives of the forum online, please visit the following link: http://forums.comminit.com/viewforum.php?f=49&style=2

***

I work for a Canadian network of organizations, researchers and individuals working on peace and conflict issues.

I am the coordinator of the gender and peacebuilding working group.

Representatives of women's organizations working in conflict-affected areas have been consistently reporting frustration at the lack of flow-back of information from international organizations. As a result I have begun a small project aimed at evaluating effective means of ensuring that there is a better flowback – with particular attention to the problems that attend communication with women and girls – low literacy rates and low access to public spaces.

I would love to know more about the BEE project. It seems ideally suited for ensuring better communications of INGOs and IOs with women and girls working in conflict zones.


All the best,

Kate

Kate McInturff, Ph.D.
Coordinator, Gender and Peacebuilding Working Group

Groupe de travail sur l'égalité entre les sexes et la consolidation de la paix
Peacebuild
Paix Durable
1 rue Nicholas Street, Suite 1216,
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 7B7, Canada
Tel: 613 241-3446
Fax/Telec: 613 241-4846
Email: ');document.write('gender');document.write('@');document.write('peacebuild.ca');document.write('');//-->

www.peacebuild.ca
_________________
Warren Feek
Executive Director
The Communication Initiative
1-250-658-6372
');document.write('wfeek');document.write('@');document.write('comminit.com');document.write('');//-->
]

CDATA[Author: Nazrul
Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2008 8:50 pm (GMT -8)
Topic Replies: 1

This is a contribution to the Drum Beat Chat discussion forum. We are currently discussing UNICEF's pilot solar-enabled communication hub, The BEE. For the opening note of this discussion, please see: http://forums.comminit.com/viewtopic.php?t=107035&style=2 For information on how to participate in or unsubscribe from this forum, and to view the archives of the forum online, please visit the following link: http://forums.comminit.com/viewforum.php?f=49&style=2

***

Hello All,

I support the idea of putting the BEE at places such as, schools, libraries, community e centers etc . I have been reading the article on the BEE with lots of interest and it seems this can really be useful for the countries and regions such as, Bangladesh struggling with lack of electricity.

My organization runs a project ( www.connect-bangladesh.org ) that connects rural schools to the internet and allows teachers and students to take benefits of education resources available online, collaboration and information sharing. However, the schools ( currently 50 schools but we plan to reach 200 schools by 2009 ) we work with often struggle with low bandwith and power outrage. BEE may be a potential answer to this challenge in connecting rural areas so crucial for digital divide.

The Connect Bangladesh project also plans to enhance 21 st century skills among rural students and teachers to make them equally skilled and confident compared to their urban counterparts. I thought a communication device like BEE can significantly contribute to this initiative.

I am looking forward to this discussion and hear perspective from other countries as well.

Best,
_________________
Nazrul Islam
Relief International-Schools Online, Bangladesh
www.connect-bangladesh.org
]

CDATA[Author: jlevy
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:12 am (GMT -8)
Topic Replies: 1

This is a contribution to the Drum Beat Chat discussion forum. We are currently discussing UNICEF's pilot solar-enabled communication hub, The BEE. For the opening note of this discussion, please see: http://forums.comminit.com/viewtopic.php?t=107035&style=2 For information on how to participate in or unsubscribe from this forum, and to view the archives of the forum online, please visit the following link: http://forums.comminit.com/viewforum.php?f=49&style=2
===

On placement and use of the Bee:

Wouldn't it be best to demonstrate this to organisations involved with
children and with emergencies (CBOs, NGOs, ect.) at the local level
and see who will adopt its use and take on raising interest in
community care of the BEE? Schools, libraries, tele/business/mobile
phone centres, clinics, and existing communications centres seem to
suggest themselves as possibilities, but, ultimately, telecentre
research and evaluation seems to recommend care in establishing an
"ownership" structure (attending to power and gender dynamics) and
attention to incorporation of linguistic, literacy/educational, and
economic situations on the local level.

The matter of the use by children needs particular attention. Perhaps
beginning where there are forums of child participation, as in
Karnataka, India (http://www.comminit.com/en/node/267522) and
elsewhere, children could be given the opportunity to participate in
the questions of placement and use.

There is also much to be learned from the spread and successful
scaling of private computer centres that teach computer skills. Though
they are unavailable where economic marginalisation prohibits market
success, the skills appear to be in demand and might be a start for
looking at the use of the BEE as a technology education resource at a
basic level in locations where these skills are unavailable and might
serve to help develop capacity to maintain the hub and its links to
other villages.

--
Julie Levy
Editor
The Communication Initiative
');document.write('jlevy');document.write('@');document.write('comminit.com');document.write('');//-->
]

CDATA[Author: Deborah Heimann
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 8:52 am (GMT -8)
Topic Replies: 1

This is a contribution to the Drum Beat Chat discussion forum. For information on how to participate or unsubscribe to this forum, please see the footnotes below.
===

Welcome to our September 2008 Drum Beat Chat discussion.

This month we focus on UNICEF's solar-enabled communication hub, The BEE, as detailed within issue #459 of The Drum Beat. I have included the details about the communication hub here, below. You can also read the full issue of The Drum Beat online here: http://www.comminit.com/drum_beat_459.html

The BEE is being developed to provide connectivity, information, and opportunity to people and communities in remote or emergency situations. The question for this group is: Based on your experience, where and in what situations do YOU think this tool could best be employed?

Please either reply to this email or send your thoughts to ');document.write('drumbeatchat');document.write('@');document.write('comminit.com');document.write('');//--> - we look forward to hearing from you.

Many thanks,
Deborah Heimann
Moderator - Drum Beat Chat


===


The BEE - a solar-enabled communication hub

In June 2008, UNICEF's Division of Communication set out to complete a prototype of a portable solar-enabled communication hub that would (1) connect children even when there is no connectivity, (2) offer quick connectivity hubs in an emergency, and (3) provide informational, communication, and educational opportunities for children in remote and/or emergency situations.

The BEE, as the communication hub is now called, was originally envisioned as an information tool that could remain in the community/school after an emergency. However, as the prototype neared completion, it was evident that it could be used for a variety of purposes whether for information exchange, a radio station, a way to deliver curriculum, ensure business continuity, or deliver entertainment and give people, especially children, a voice.

The BEE is a package that can be easily transported - for example as checked luggage on a plane - to a location and set up by a field worker with limited technical knowledge. The BEE is designed to be transported as a set of secure flight cases, which are custom-engineered to lock together and, when assembled, to provide a kiosk-like setting for stability and safekeeping.

Please see some notes on the development of the BEE on the UNIWIKI: http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://x.mepemepe.com/wiki/The_BEE

Also see initial design sketches and photos: http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.flickr.com/photos/29636224@N05/sets/72157606805627730/

The BEE can be used in situations where there is no electricity, using solar panels to power the device and charge batteries, which will provide power at night or during cloudy conditions. It can also be used at night to display video presentations and educational materials using low-power LED devices. Each "Queen BEE" station can communicate with other smaller "Worker BEE" sub-stations that are in the line of site (up to 100km away) using mast antennas–located either on physical antennas or placed high on structures or trees–providing VOIP and communications to other units. The BEE can also pull data from satellite feeds and be used to share stories and community maps, documentation, and essays with other users.


Situations in which the BEE functions


The BEE is more than an internet kiosk, it is a new way of thinking. It is an intersection of innovations. While still in the proof-of-concept phase, the BEE can be seen working in a variety of situations.

Emergency situation
In an emergency situation, a field worker can carry the unit into the affected area and set up a base of operation in a short time. The BEE will come with a bundled software package for emergency response. The unit will start-up, prompt for a login, then take the user directly to vital applications that provide up-to-date information on the situation. A survey tool will collect information from field workers or interested citizens on the status of disease, pit latrines, or number of people in a household. In refugee camps or internally displaced person (IDP) camps, the photo registration application will register lost children and project their pictures on a wall so that worried family members can easily find them. The BEE can connect with other units in the area to share data and give a layout of the overall situation.

Education Hub
The BEE can also be installed at the village school and serve a class of up to 40 children. Every night, the unit will download the curriculum for the next day. Schoolchildren in different parts of the country can talk and learn together using the videoconference application. Low-cost web-enabled mobile phones can be provided which will interact directly with the BEE unit to push out locally-stored information, such as an offline copy of Wikipedia (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.wikipedia.org/). Even the lowest grade commercial non-WiFi enabled phones can be employed through short message service (SMS) to teach literacy to adults. As with the emergency software package, the BEE can come bundled with a standard education package. Round Box Global, a private sector business and technology consulting firm, is developing an online platform upon which diverse curricula can be uploaded, organised, and disseminated to young people with varied levels of connectivity and access to technology. Their project involves the creation and development of tailored learning management systems through which displaced teachers and students can access standards-based educational materials. This system is targeted at the world's most vulnerable populations, and initial testing and implementation would be, in coordination with UNICEF and the BEE, in areas of emergency, displacement, and dire need.

Community Support
The BEE can also function as an information hub for an entire community. With the Rosco software developed by UNICEF, the BEE can turn into a radio station on the go. Rosco is a fully functional radio station that runs on the free, open source Linux operating system. With its FM transmitter, the BEE can turn into a community radio station on-the-fly and broadcast stories recorded on the unit. With the RapidSMS software, the BEE can take the pulse of the community. RapidSMS is a SMS/audio system that allows for mass-scale SMS/audio output and input from a simple web-interface. The system can be used to send out SMSs to many users and groups with ease, as well as monitor and respond user's feedback in the form of responding SMSs or phone calls. Additionally, the system provides the ability to setup "forms" with various questions on it. One can then notify people who are collecting data for you and they can begin to send in data responses via SMS. Any trusted partner with an internet connection can watch the data come in, view it, and work with it immediately. This can tie the user in to the community via simple opinion polls as well as provide useful information about various indicators in the community. While the BEE can function as an individual unit, it also has the ability to sync with a central server. A community could put a Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) tower on the tallest hill or tree in the community, and have the ability to link up any small device - a BEE, an ipaq Hewlett-Packard phone, or any device with web-based applications - to the local network. A central server could keep content offline and upload and download content whenever a dedicated internet connection is available. This central server could be anything from a laptop, to another BEE, to a dedicated server unit with battery backup in case the power fails.


The BEE Partners


The idea for the BEE was inspired by the work of some of UNICEF's partners, including the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa (CSIR) (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.csir.co.za/) and its subsidiary the Meraka Institute (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.meraka.org.za/), Inveneo (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.inveneo.org/), and Round Box Global (http://www.rbxglobal.com/#Home).

UNICEF and CSIR have a longstanding collaboration, working on such projects as MobilED. MobilED, a tool to access and participate in the internet via a normal mobile phone, was developed by CSIR, and then evolved into RapidSMS at UNICEF. With the Digital Doorway (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.meraka.org.za/digitalDoorway.htm), CSIR is also a pioneer in internet-enabled information kiosks. Their knowledge of the field will be evidenced in the next revision of the BEE as UNICEF and CSIR collaborate again on a production model.

Inveneo is doing great work in the field, and partnered with BOSCO Uganda Relief Project (Battery Operated Systems for Community Outreach (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.bosco-uganda.org/) to provide access to computers, internet, and voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) telephony for IDP camps in Northern Uganda (reported in the Drum Beat here: http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_427.html See: http://www.comminit.com/en/node/135220). The BEE prototype uses an Inveneo flatpanel LCD.

AMD (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.AMD.com/) has also provided UNICEF with the computer motherboard and central processing unit (CPU) for the first BEE prototype.


Moving Forward


By early September 2008, UNICEF will have built a production-ready model with CSIR. This model will be more ruggedised, compact, and flexible. The Operation System and the user experience will also be improved over the working prototype. After the production-ready model is created, it will be tested in remote areas in South Africa. The goal is to test the BEE in five field locations that each pose unique climate, security, and remote location constraints.

The BEE will feature many of the software endeavours of UNICEF’s Division of Communication, the testing of which will accelerate the development process. All of the applications are lightweight, which means the applications favour small data transfers from the internet. RapidSMS and Rosco, explained above, are only two of the main applications on the BEE. It will also feature the Mizizi and OurStories applications, which will allow the user to upload his or her story and metadata to a Google Maps type interface. His or her story will appear as a point on that map and be available to everyone in the world. The next prototype of the BEE will also support a videoconference application that will be lightweight and easily allow people to communicate in a way they might not have been able to before.

UNICEF is looking forward to bringing the strengths from different sectors and locations together in order to create the BEE for application in real situations. The specifications and designs will be open source and creative commons.

With this issue of The Drum Beat, UNICEF is looking for feedback about where and in what situations the BEE could best be employed.

The BEE is not intended to replace the long-standing UNICEF standard educational response, but rather to supplement the learning environment and expand the opportunities for access to information of children and communities whether in post-emergency or remote settings. After rounds of testing, it remains to be seen how the BEE will fit in with current UNICEF projects, as well as allowing UNICEF's Division of Communication to expand into previously uncharted areas.


The minimum specifications for each BEE unit:


Note: "server" units serve client units if there is more than one BEE in the area, and have a greater hardware configuration (see parts lists for "Queen Bee" and "Worker Bee").
* Completely self powered (solar, wind, etc.) and able to provide 12 hours of continuous operation for all functions during a 24 hour period.
* All sensitive components sealed against dust, moisture, animals, and other possible environmental factors.
* Able to communicate with other units using TCP/IP at 1+ mega-bytes per second (Mbps).
* Able to provide FM transmission for 5+ kilometre (km) range.
* Able to provide web-browsing capability for at least one person at a time.
* Able to provide audio broadcast to an audience of 40 students at a time.
* Has a camera to capture both still and moving images.
* Has a microphone to record audio from near-range (within 2 meters).
* Has auxiliary audio inputs and outputs.
* Able to accept external storage devices (USB and SD).
* Requires authorisation from the administrator to boot from external device.
* Hardware-compatible with Linux and other Open Source operating systems.
* Has a reset function to either a server-unit defined configuration as well as a default configuration that can be activated both remotely and onsite.
* Has hardware watchdog to reset any sub-systems that lock up.
* Remotely monitor-able.
* Can operate within temperature and humidity extremes (-30 to 50 degrees Celsius and 5% to 95% condensing humidity).
* Modularised as to allow replacement or upgrade of components by non-technical users.
* The "server" unit is able to communicate with other systems on the internet via satellite and/or cellular (GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, etc).
* The "server" unit is able to cache and store websites and serve them to other units.
* The "server" unit is able to push content and configurations to other units.
* The mast has provisions for mounting of antennas at least 6.5 meters above ground.
* The mast is self-supporting and able to maintain antenna direction in 25km/h wind gusts without guying.
* The mast has provisions for mounting solar panels or other means of powering the unit.
* The mast is connected to unit by a replaceable tether, which allows for power, radio signal, and data transmission to and from all mast-mounted hardware. The replaceable tether can be up to 7 meters long. Between the unit and the tower base.
* All exterior surfaces of unit and mast are composed of material that is highly resistant to rot, fungus, mold, termites, oxidation, and any other long-term decay.
* Include pictorial assembly and setup instructions attached to an internal surface.


Parts list of the BEE - Prototype 1:
Prototype 1 cost roughly US$6,000 to build, but costs will likely drop as the production process is streamlined.

"Queen Bee"
1. AMD Geode LX800 ION A603 500Mhz embedded low power motherboard w/ 1GB ram and 2GB PQI Disk-on-Module (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://wwwd.amd.com/catalog/SalesCat.nsf/doclookupweb/CEF3492F57763CCF8625725800148E8D?OpenDocument&id=First+International+Computer,+Inc.~ION+A603)
2. 15" TFT monitor - supplied by Inveneo Technologies along with ION motherboard, this is a "no-name" panel.
3. Ramsey electronics UAM2 20W amp for audio (http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=UAM2)
4. 3" waterproof marine speaker (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.rocktheboataudio.com/html/32291.html)
5. Samsung SP-P310ME LED based DLP projector (http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/detail.do?group=computersperipherals&type=dataprojector&subtype=ultraportableprojector&model_cd=SPP310MEMX/XAA)
6. Ubiquiti Networks Powerstation2 Access Point (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://ubnt.com/products/ps2.php)
7. Radio Communication Lab RC2547T-FM PLL FM Transmitter (http://www.electronicsinfoline.com/rcl/product_info.php/cPath/1_15/products_id/
8. BP Solar SX-320J Modules x6 (http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9019646&contentId=7036975)
9. Morningstar ProStar PS-30 Charge controller w / remote battery temperature probe (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.morningstarcorp.com/en/pro-star)
10. Deka /MK S27 SLD G Gel Cell battery x2 (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.mkbattery.com/pvsolar.php)
11. Logitech QuickCam Pro9000 (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/webcam_communications/webcams/devices/3056&cl=us,en)

"Worker Bee"
1. AMD Geode LX800 ION A603 500Mhz embedded low power motherboard w/ 1GB ram and 2GB PQI Disk-on-Module
2. 15" TFT monitor
3. Ramsey electronics UAM2 20W amp for audio
4. 3" waterproof marine speaker
5. Ubiquiti Networks Powerstation2 Access Point
6. BP Solar SX-320J Modules (x6)
7. Morningstar ProStar PS-30 Charge controller w/remote battery temperature probe
8. Deka /MK S27 SLD G Gel Cell battery (x2)
9. Logitech QuickCam Pro9000

Go to http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://x.mepemepe.com/wiki/BEE_prototype_1_parts_list for a full online list of parts with links.


For more information on the BEE, please contact:

Erica Kochi
+1 646 226 6361
');document.write('ekochi');document.write('@');document.write('unicef.org');document.write('');//-->

Christopher Fabian
+1 646 410 5122
');document.write('cfabian');document.write('@');document.write('unicef.org');document.write('');//-->


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]

CDATA[Author: Deborah Heimann
Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 7:48 am (GMT -8)
Topic Replies: 1

This is a contribution to the Drum Beat Chat discussion forum. For information on how to participate or unsubscribe to this forum, and to view the discussion forum online, please visit the following link: http://forums.comminit.com/viewforum.php?f=49&style=2
===

With the close of AIDS 2008 last week, there have been a multitude of news reports and articles flying through cyberspace related to the issues addressed within Amanda Atwood's commentary (below). Panoscope (see http://www.panosaids.org/) has published a number of them that reference local solutions and relate to holistic approaches.

In addition, an initiative that was held in preparation for AIDS 2008, which I read about this morning (though from Aug 4th), I found particularly interesting as an example of grassroots, participatory, community organising for AIDS prevention. I thought I'd share the link with everyone here. Please see Huairou's "Update from Grassroots Peer Exchange on HIV and AIDS" at http://www.huairou.org/knowledge/News/08-04-grassroots-peerexchange.htm

Please do reply to this note with your own examples or responses to Ms. Atwood's commentary. Do you agree with her assessment and suggestion? Do you have similar examples from other contexts? Do you have alternative suggestions? Was there anything that you heard or read about at AIDS 2008 that might support or refute Amanda's assertions?

Many thanks for joining the discussion!

Best wishes,
Deborah Heimann
Moderator - Drum Beat Chat
Deborah

Deborah Heimann wrote:
Welcome to our August 2008 Drum Beat Chat discussion.

This month we focus on a piece in which Amanda Atwood, of The Kubatana Trust of Zimbabwe and The NGO Network Alliance Project, takes a look at two case studies - one from Bangladesh and one from Zimbabwe - that explore local communication approaches to addressing HIV/AIDS. Based on these examples, she advocates here for a holistic, participatory approach to the AIDS epidemic, worldwide.

I have included the full text of Amanda's piece here below and you can also find it within issue #454 of The Drum Beat on The Communication Initiative website - http://www.comminit.com/drum_beat_454.html

Do you agree with Amanda's assessment and suggestion? Do you have similar examples from other contexts? Do you have alternative suggestions?

Please either reply to this email or send your thoughts to ');document.write('drumbeatchat');document.write('@');document.write('comminit.com');document.write('');//--> - we look forward to hearing from you.

Many thanks,
Deborah Heimann
Moderator - Drum Beat Chat


***


A WORLD WITHOUT AIDS: Bangladesh to Zimbabwe


The spread of HIV has meant personal and national health crises in many countries. The disease has strained many poorer countries' health care budgets and has challenged scientists, medical professionals, and those in social services affected by it. But despite the devastation it leaves in its wake, some activists confronting HIV also appreciate the opportunities it provides to rethink, reimagine, and revision a host of social, political, and medical engagements.

In two vastly different countries, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, HIV advocates are taking advantage of these opportunities, and using them to inspire proactive engagement and positive attitudes. The approach and analysis in each country is surprisingly similar, one more reminder of the many ways in which HIV/AIDS is a global problem in need of local solutions.

Zimbabwean Lynde Francis contracted HIV 21 years ago, when little was known about the disease and people were not expected to live more than five years. She founded The Centre [1] at the back of her house in 1991, with the vision “to give hope to the hopeless.” Sixteen years later, Francis is still determined to demonstrate the power of hope and she advocates a proactive, holistic approach to health.

The Centre's Wellness Philosophy promotes a change towards health-seeking behaviour. It urges both individuals and the health care system to change their approach to both wellness and disease. Francis has a dream of 'wellness clinics' instead of illness clinics where "people could go to learn to be and stay healthy and could celebrate their health."

Similarly, Francis believes a holistic approach to the AIDS epidemic is essential. "HIV rights are human rights," she says. "Women's rights are human rights, children's rights are human rights, and you cannot deal with this pandemic unless you look at all of these areas." Francis has come to value the ways in which the reality of AIDS is transforming perspectives on gender, sexuality, health, and development. She believes AIDS is forcing people to look at the interconnectedness of different issues, and to confront topics which were previously difficult to tackle.

"My name for HIV is the great revealer," says Francis. "It is a vehicle that is enabling us to put onto the table things which were taboo, the things that were there but nobody talked about. It is enabling us to find a platform for moving those issues."

Because of this perspective, The Centre engages in a broad array of activities which reach out to a cross-spectrum of society. It believes in the meaningful involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS - not only as recipients of projects, but in the design, implementation, and decision-making elements of these projects. The Centre's youth programmes target both students and school leavers, creating spaces where HIV-positive young people can take charge of their future. They focus on living positively, not only in one's attitude towards HIV, but also more generally. They support youth to take leadership positions in their communities and in society, and develop youth health advocates. The Centre engages businesses to take a holistic approach towards health, providing: welfare support for staff; nutritional and herb gardens; counselling and training to management, staff, and family members; and overhauling company canteens so that they offer healthy food to all staff members. At an international level, Francis engages with health workers, women's rights organisations, environmental justice activists, housing advocates, development workers, and others.

A world away from Zimbabwe, Bangladesh reports low instances of HIV, despite the spread of the disease in neighbouring countries. The CARE-Bangladesh HIV/AIDS programme [2] was developed with the intention of handing it over to its participants, and consciously involved primary stakeholders from the inception of the programme onwards. Bangladesh Truck Driver's Federation union members have become implementers of health care services, including the prevention and care for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

This active involvement of union members enabled the programme to quickly take on a national character. It involves some 300,000 transport workers, with 45 drop-in centres across the country, which provide 300 outreach workers and 25,000 peer educators. Approximately 4,000 transport workers receive care at the drop-in centres each month.

The programme is rooted in a holistic approach to HIV/AIDS education, prevention, and treatment. But its success is also due to its deliberate identification of key stakeholders - such as transport workers - and its conscious involvement of these sectors in decision-making from the very beginning of the programme. This stakeholder involvement facilitated the creation of educational programmes and strategies targeted specifically at these sectors.

In the case of the transport workers union, CARE-Bangladesh devoted a great deal of time to nurturing trusting relationships with the union leaders - through discussion, advocacy, and sharing information. CARE-Bangladesh held meetings at the union offices to demonstrate their commitment to building partnership. During this initial process, they conducted a baseline survey to inform the foundation of the project, and made a note of areas that the union already wanted to strengthen, such as leadership and participation.

As CARE-Bangladesh deepened its relationship with the transport workers, the organisation gained respect and trust from the union membership and leadership. It helped the union build roles in providing quality, affordable, and accessible health care services for its members. This assured members that the union was not only concerned about their welfare, but was actively committed to doing something to improve it.

The involvement of the transport workers enabled CARE-Bangladesh to make greater inroads in taking on socially challenging issues, such as promoting condom use. Despite initial resistance, condoms are now available at tea stalls and mechanic shops frequented by truck drivers.

The union established drop-in centres in the union offices to build a sense of ownership over the centres. Peer counsellors and educators were recruited and trained from the union membership, so that workers would be able to go to people who readily understood them. The programme has a national standard whereby all service providers receive the same training, so that they can easily interpret the confidential, coded information each client receives. This means that a transport worker can receive continuing care on a daily or weekly basis - even if their transporting schedule means that they are never in the same town for more than a day. The union charges a nominal fee for the services it provides in order to build ownership of the programme, and also so that it can move towards self-sustainability in time.

Zimbabwe has been hard-hit by HIV. As much as a quarter of the population is infected, and the disease has a national character - with everyone affected across social and economic lines. In Bangladesh, infection rates are much lower and isolated. But despite the differences in how HIV has manifested itself, the two countries' response to HIV has much in common. A holistic approach to health, the involvement of key stakeholders, the active engagement at all decision-making levels, and the selection and implementation of relevant, targeted tactics are essential elements of successful programmes in both countries.


Amanda Atwood
The Kubatana Trust of Zimbabwe and The NGO Network Alliance Project
');document.write('admin');document.write('@');document.write('kubatana.org.zw');document.write('');//-->


References:

[1] The Centre, described on Kubatana.net at: http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://kubatana.net/html/sectors/cen003.asp?like=C&details=Tel&orgcode=cen003 (retrieved June 3 2008).
[2] "Engaging Key Stakeholders: Ensuring the right to HIV/AIDS education and health care services," The Centre for Victims of Torture, New Tactics in Human Rights Project, 2006. See http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.newtactics.org/sites/newtactics.org/files/resources/Chowdhury_Stakeholders_update2007.pdf [PDF] (retrieved June 3 2008).


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Director, Editorial Policy & Content
The Communication Initiative
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]

CDATA[Author: Deborah Heimann
Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 6:07 am (GMT -8)
Topic Replies: 1

This is a contribution to the Drum Beat Chat discussion forum. For information on how to participate or unsubscribe to this forum, please see the footnotes below.
***

Welcome to our August 2008 Drum Beat Chat discussion.

This month we focus on a piece in which Amanda Atwood, of The Kubatana Trust of Zimbabwe and The NGO Network Alliance Project, takes a look at two case studies - one from Bangladesh and one from Zimbabwe - that explore local communication approaches to addressing HIV/AIDS. Based on these examples, she advocates here for a holistic, participatory approach to the AIDS epidemic, worldwide.

I have included the full text of Amanda's piece here below and you can also find it within issue #454 of The Drum Beat on The Communication Initiative website - http://www.comminit.com/drum_beat_454.html

Do you agree with Amanda's assessment and suggestion? Do you have similar examples from other contexts? Do you have alternative suggestions?

Please either reply to this email or send your thoughts to ');document.write('drumbeatchat');document.write('@');document.write('comminit.com');document.write('');//--> - we look forward to hearing from you.

Many thanks,
Deborah Heimann
Moderator - Drum Beat Chat


***


A WORLD WITHOUT AIDS: Bangladesh to Zimbabwe


The spread of HIV has meant personal and national health crises in many countries. The disease has strained many poorer countries' health care budgets and has challenged scientists, medical professionals, and those in social services affected by it. But despite the devastation it leaves in its wake, some activists confronting HIV also appreciate the opportunities it provides to rethink, reimagine, and revision a host of social, political, and medical engagements.

In two vastly different countries, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, HIV advocates are taking advantage of these opportunities, and using them to inspire proactive engagement and positive attitudes. The approach and analysis in each country is surprisingly similar, one more reminder of the many ways in which HIV/AIDS is a global problem in need of local solutions.

Zimbabwean Lynde Francis contracted HIV 21 years ago, when little was known about the disease and people were not expected to live more than five years. She founded The Centre [1] at the back of her house in 1991, with the vision “to give hope to the hopeless.” Sixteen years later, Francis is still determined to demonstrate the power of hope and she advocates a proactive, holistic approach to health.

The Centre's Wellness Philosophy promotes a change towards health-seeking behaviour. It urges both individuals and the health care system to change their approach to both wellness and disease. Francis has a dream of 'wellness clinics' instead of illness clinics where "people could go to learn to be and stay healthy and could celebrate their health."

Similarly, Francis believes a holistic approach to the AIDS epidemic is essential. "HIV rights are human rights," she says. "Women's rights are human rights, children's rights are human rights, and you cannot deal with this pandemic unless you look at all of these areas." Francis has come to value the ways in which the reality of AIDS is transforming perspectives on gender, sexuality, health, and development. She believes AIDS is forcing people to look at the interconnectedness of different issues, and to confront topics which were previously difficult to tackle.

"My name for HIV is the great revealer," says Francis. "It is a vehicle that is enabling us to put onto the table things which were taboo, the things that were there but nobody talked about. It is enabling us to find a platform for moving those issues."

Because of this perspective, The Centre engages in a broad array of activities which reach out to a cross-spectrum of society. It believes in the meaningful involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS - not only as recipients of projects, but in the design, implementation, and decision-making elements of these projects. The Centre's youth programmes target both students and school leavers, creating spaces where HIV-positive young people can take charge of their future. They focus on living positively, not only in one's attitude towards HIV, but also more generally. They support youth to take leadership positions in their communities and in society, and develop youth health advocates. The Centre engages businesses to take a holistic approach towards health, providing: welfare support for staff; nutritional and herb gardens; counselling and training to management, staff, and family members; and overhauling company canteens so that they offer healthy food to all staff members. At an international level, Francis engages with health workers, women's rights organisations, environmental justice activists, housing advocates, development workers, and others.

A world away from Zimbabwe, Bangladesh reports low instances of HIV, despite the spread of the disease in neighbouring countries. The CARE-Bangladesh HIV/AIDS programme [2] was developed with the intention of handing it over to its participants, and consciously involved primary stakeholders from the inception of the programme onwards. Bangladesh Truck Driver's Federation union members have become implementers of health care services, including the prevention and care for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

This active involvement of union members enabled the programme to quickly take on a national character. It involves some 300,000 transport workers, with 45 drop-in centres across the country, which provide 300 outreach workers and 25,000 peer educators. Approximately 4,000 transport workers receive care at the drop-in centres each month.

The programme is rooted in a holistic approach to HIV/AIDS education, prevention, and treatment. But its success is also due to its deliberate identification of key stakeholders - such as transport workers - and its conscious involvement of these sectors in decision-making from the very beginning of the programme. This stakeholder involvement facilitated the creation of educational programmes and strategies targeted specifically at these sectors.

In the case of the transport workers union, CARE-Bangladesh devoted a great deal of time to nurturing trusting relationships with the union leaders - through discussion, advocacy, and sharing information. CARE-Bangladesh held meetings at the union offices to demonstrate their commitment to building partnership. During this initial process, they conducted a baseline survey to inform the foundation of the project, and made a note of areas that the union already wanted to strengthen, such as leadership and participation.

As CARE-Bangladesh deepened its relationship with the transport workers, the organisation gained respect and trust from the union membership and leadership. It helped the union build roles in providing quality, affordable, and accessible health care services for its members. This assured members that the union was not only concerned about their welfare, but was actively committed to doing something to improve it.

The involvement of the transport workers enabled CARE-Bangladesh to make greater inroads in taking on socially challenging issues, such as promoting condom use. Despite initial resistance, condoms are now available at tea stalls and mechanic shops frequented by truck drivers.

The union established drop-in centres in the union offices to build a sense of ownership over the centres. Peer counsellors and educators were recruited and trained from the union membership, so that workers would be able to go to people who readily understood them. The programme has a national standard whereby all service providers receive the same training, so that they can easily interpret the confidential, coded information each client receives. This means that a transport worker can receive continuing care on a daily or weekly basis - even if their transporting schedule means that they are never in the same town for more than a day. The union charges a nominal fee for the services it provides in order to build ownership of the programme, and also so that it can move towards self-sustainability in time.

Zimbabwe has been hard-hit by HIV. As much as a quarter of the population is infected, and the disease has a national character - with everyone affected across social and economic lines. In Bangladesh, infection rates are much lower and isolated. But despite the differences in how HIV has manifested itself, the two countries' response to HIV has much in common. A holistic approach to health, the involvement of key stakeholders, the active engagement at all decision-making levels, and the selection and implementation of relevant, targeted tactics are essential elements of successful programmes in both countries.


Amanda Atwood
The Kubatana Trust of Zimbabwe and The NGO Network Alliance Project
');document.write('admin');document.write('@');document.write('kubatana.org.zw');document.write('');//-->


References:

[1] The Centre, described on Kubatana.net at: http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://kubatana.net/html/sectors/cen003.asp?like=C&details=Tel&orgcode=cen003 (retrieved June 3 2008).
[2] "Engaging Key Stakeholders: Ensuring the right to HIV/AIDS education and health care services," The Centre for Victims of Torture, New Tactics in Human Rights Project, 2006. See http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?cimo=1&r=http://www.newtactics.org/sites/newtactics.org/files/resources/Chowdhury_Stakeholders_update2007.pdf [PDF] (retrieved June 3 2008).


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CDATA[Author: lawhite_carimac
Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 10:17 am (GMT -8)
Topic Replies: 9

This is a contribution to the Drum Beat Chat discussion forum. For information on how to participate or unsubscribe to this forum, and to view the discussion forum online, please visit the following link: http://forums.comminit.com/viewforum.php?f=49&style=2
===

As I read Professor Hassan's comment, I am reminded of the work of Hans Rosling at the Gapminder Foundation. The website gapminder.org shows animated graphs of development indicators of countries around the world - highlighting general trends. Will it ever be possible for us in communication for development to make presentations using animated graphs, like the ones at gapminder, to policymakers and funders? What would we need to do to get to that stage?

Livingston White

shassan wrote:

Dr Livingston White's comments i feel hit the right nail in this forum.

It is readily admissible that cross-cultural measurement hence evaluation
are daunting if not an exercise in invalid (?) analysis and synthesis.
Norms in one's culture mat be extremes in others. Short term effects in
one socio-culture may be translated to long impacts in others.
Nevertheless in many societies superficial (?) evidence, from media,
indicate the pervasive diffusion and spread of digital acceptance. In
some cases, even the really way out secluded natives, are capable of
embracing and relishing the digital media. The e-Bario project in Sarawak
is an excellent example. To this day, it certainly impacts on the
peoples' lives.

Thus there is certainly a justification to find a standardized format,
albeit methodology, to evaluate impacts across cultures and norms. At the
very least, generic patterns and trends may be discernible.

Syed T S Hassan.
2350h, 28 July 2008.

--
Professor in Biostatistic, Biology(Ecology,Entomology).
B.Sc(Hons First Class) Univ New England.
M.Sc. Univ of Queensland.
Ph.d. Univ of Queensland.
Laureate in Science WCASC, Cambridge.
Adviser in Science to DG IBC, Cambridge.
FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR.
Royal Military College.

On Mon, July 28, 2008 20:47, lawhite_carimac wrote:
Quote:
The paper does not provide a compelling impact case partly because it has
a publication bias. One can understand that published articles were
subject to peer-review and therefore present evidence based on rigorous
methodologies. The paper also makes it clear that the articles selected
from journals published in the last five years. What about studies that
did not get published for whatever reason but still has some useful
finding to share about the role of communication in development? What
about evaluation reports submitted to donor agencies that were not
intended for an academic journal audience but nevertheless may have
contained evidence of the impact of communication for development?
I have always seen “impact” as a long term phenomenon and I do not believe
some of the reviewed published studies – given the need to urgently
publish research findings soon after a project is finished – would have
been able to capture the real impact of the projects studied.
Did the studies actually report on “impact” or were they only about
short-term “outcomes”. On page 25, a list of examples of evidence of
behavior change is given. Shouldn’t the impact of adopting family planning
as a result of listening to a radio soap opera be an overall reduction in
population growth, or reduction in unwanted pregnancies? We need to start
linking our interventions to overall goals (such as MDGs maybe?)and
utilize country level indicators (not necessarily collated by the
interventions implementing agency) as evidence of our success – it may not
be directly linked but one could build a case that the intervention
contributed.
While the paper covers content from a defined time period, one does not
get a sense of place. References are made to the geographic location of
some studies but the paper would have benefited from a discussion
regarding the cultural context or location of the evidence. I can almost
hear policy makers and funders saying that the fact that a certain
communication approach worked in a particular country for targeting a
particular issue does not mean it will work with equal success in another
place. The paper is presented with much academic jargon and may need to be
further translated in a mainstream, accessible, vivid way to be of any
appeal to policymakers. If kept in its present state, an additional
discussion on how to use the data presented in the paper to help make a
case to policymakers would be helpful.

The paper has its strength in achieving something that needs to be done
more often in our field. Congratulation to Nobuya for completing this
review! More systematic reviews would help us to identify trends relating
to what has worked and has not worked in communication for development.
The weakness I think relates to the presentation of the data. Some of the
tables such as 4 and 8 were not clear at first glance. Also the evidence
presented emphasized more a description of various approaches used rather
than the actual impact. One recognizes that many studies used qualitative
data and therefore it would not be possible to quantify the impact being
reported in many cases. This is not necessarily a weakness of the paper
but a reality of evaluation mechanisms used in our field. Nobuya’s paper
begins with introduction that discusses the UN MDGs. While reading the
rest of the paper, one wondered how the projects reviewed were linked to
specific MDGs and if such a linking wouldn’t
also help to convince policymakers that the work being done in our field
is actually being done within the context of the MDGs.

The fact that a more rigorous systematic review could not be done suggests
that we need to be creating a common metric of how we report or present
evaluation data. This metric would help us to compare studies across
differing cultural contexts and help us present more convincing data for
the impact of our work. I have no doubt that many communication for
development projects succeed at what they set out to do. The real
challenge now is to be able capture these successes in a systematic way
and present them to policymakers and funders in formats that would
convince them that communication for development does work.
Livingston White




]

CDATA[Author: shassan
Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 8:52 am (GMT -8)
Topic Replies: 9

This is a contribution to the Drum Beat Chat discussion forum. For information on how to participate or unsubscribe to this forum, and to view the discussion forum online, please visit the following link: http://forums.comminit.com/viewforum.php?f=49&style=2
===

Dr Livingston White's comments i feel hit the right nail in this forum.

It is readily admissible that cross-cultural measurement hence evaluation
are daunting if not an exercise in invalid (?) analysis and synthesis.
Norms in one's culture mat be extremes in others. Short term effects in
one socio-culture may be translated to long impacts in others.
Nevertheless in many societies superficial (?) evidence, from media,
indicate the pervasive diffusion and spread of digital acceptance. In
some cases, even the really way out secluded natives, are capable of
embracing and relishing the digital media. The e-Bario project in Sarawak
is an excellent example. To this day, it certainly impacts on the
peoples' lives.

Thus there is certainly a justification to find a standardized format,
albeit methodology, to evaluate impacts across cultures and norms. At the
very least, generic patterns and trends may be discernible.

Syed T S Hassan.
2350h, 28 July 2008.

--
Professor in Biostatistic, Biology(Ecology,Entomology).
B.Sc(Hons First Class) Univ New England.
M.Sc. Univ of Queensland.
Ph.d. Univ of Queensland.
Laureate in Science WCASC, Cambridge.
Adviser in Science to DG IBC, Cambridge.
FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR.
Royal Military College.

On Mon, July 28, 2008 20:47, lawhite_carimac wrote:
Quote:
The paper does not provide a compelling impact case partly because it has
a publication bias. One can understand that published articles were
subject to peer-review and therefore present evidence based on rigorous
methodologies. The paper also makes it clear that the articles selected
from journals published in the last five years. What about studies that
did not get published for whatever reason but still has some useful
finding to share about the role of communication in development? What
about evaluation reports submitted to donor agencies that were not
intended for an academic journal audience but nevertheless may have
contained evidence of the impact of communication for development?
I have always seen “impact” as a long term phenomenon and I do not believe
some of the reviewed published studies – given the need to urgently
publish research findings soon after a project is finished – would have
been able to capture the real impact of the projects studied.
Did the studies actually report on “impact” or were they only about
short-term “outcomes”. On page 25, a list of examples of evidence of
behavior change is given. Shouldn’t the impact of adopting family planning
as a result of listening to a radio soap opera be an overall reduction in
population growth, or reduction in unwanted pregnancies? We need to start
linking our interventions to overall goals (such as MDGs maybe?)and
utilize country level indicators (not necessarily collated by the
interventions implementing agency) as evidence of our success – it may not
be directly linked but one could build a case that the intervention
contributed.
While the paper covers content from a defined time period, one does not
get a sense of place. References are made to the geographic location of
some studies but the paper would have benefited from a discussion
regarding the cultural context or location of the evidence. I can almost
hear policy makers and funders saying that the fact that a certain
communication approach worked in a particular country for targeting a
particular issue does not mean it will work with equal success in another
place. The paper is presented with much academic jargon and may need to be
further translated in a mainstream, accessible, vivid way to be of any
appeal to policymakers. If kept in its present state, an additional
discussion on how to use the data presented in the paper to help make a
case to policymakers would be helpful.

The paper has its strength in achieving something that needs to be done
more often in our field. Congratulation to Nobuya for completing this
review! More systematic reviews would help us to identify trends relating
to what has worked and has not worked in communication for development.
The weakness I think relates to the presentation of the data. Some of the
tables such as 4 and 8 were not clear at first glance. Also the evidence
presented emphasized more a description of various approaches used rather
than the actual impact. One recognizes that many studies used qualitative
data and therefore it would not be possible to quantify the impact being
reported in many cases. This is not necessarily a weakness of the paper
but a reality of evaluation mechanisms used in our field. Nobuya’s paper
begins with introduction that discusses the UN MDGs. While reading the
rest of the paper, one wondered how the projects reviewed were linked to
specific MDGs and if such a linking wouldn’t
also help to convince policymakers that the work being done in our field
is actually being done within the context of the MDGs.

The fact that a more rigorous systematic review could not be done suggests
that we need to be creating a common metric of how we report or present
evaluation data. This metric would help us to compare studies across
differing cultural contexts and help us present more convincing data for
the impact of our work. I have no doubt that many communication for
development projects succeed at what they set out to do. The real
challenge now is to be able capture these successes in a systematic way
and present them to policymakers and funders in formats that would
convince them that communication for development does work.
Livingston White




]

CDATA[Author: lawhite_carimac
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 8:53 am (GMT -8)
Topic Replies: 9

This is a contribution to the Drum Beat Chat discussion forum. We are currently discussing the issues brought up in Drum Beats 445, 446, and 447, which focus on World Bank Working Paper (#120), "Communicating the Impact of Communication for Development: Recent Trends in Empirical Research" by Nobuya Inagaki. For the opening note of this discussion, please see: http://forums.comminit.com/viewtopic.php?t=104018&style=2 For information on how to participate in or unsubscribe from this forum, and to view the archives of the forum online, please visit the following link: http://forums.comminit.com/viewforum.php?f=49&style=2
===

The paper does not provide a compelling impact case partly because it has a publication bias. One can understand that published articles were subject to peer-review and therefore present evidence based on rigorous methodologies. The paper also makes it clear that the articles selected from journals published in the last five years. What about studies that did not get published for whatever reason but still has some useful finding to share about the role of communication in development? What about evaluation reports submitted to donor agencies that were not intended for an academic journal audience but nevertheless may have contained evidence of the impact of communication for development?
I have always seen “impact” as a long term phenomenon and I do not believe some of the reviewed published studies – given the need to urgently publish research findings soon after a project is finished – would have been able to capture the real impact of the projects studied.
Did the studies actually report on “impact” or were they only about short-term “outcomes”. On page 25, a list of examples of evidence of behavior change is given. Shouldn’t the impact of adopting family planning as a result of listening to a radio soap opera be an overall reduction in population growth, or reduction in unwanted pregnancies? We need to start linking our interventions to overall goals (such as MDGs maybe?)and utilize country level indicators (not necessarily collated by the interventions implementing agency) as evidence of our success – it may not be directly linked but one could build a case that the intervention contributed.
While the paper covers content from a defined time period, one does not get a sense of place. References are made to the geographic location of some studies but the paper would have benefited from a discussion regarding the cultural context or location of the evidence. I can almost hear policy makers and funders saying that the fact that a certain communication approach worked in a particular country for targeting a particular issue does not mean it will work with equal success in another place. The paper is presented with much academic jargon and may need to be further translated in a mainstream, accessible, vivid way to be of any appeal to policymakers. If kept in its present state, an additional discussion on how to use the data presented in the paper to help make a case to policymakers would be helpful.

The paper has its strength in achieving something that needs to be done more often in our field. Congratulation to Nobuya for completing this review! More systematic reviews would help us to identify trends relating to what has worked and has not worked in communication for development. The weakness I think relates to the presentation of the data. Some of the tables such as 4 and 8 were not clear at first glance. Also the evidence presented emphasized more a description of various approaches used rather than the actual impact. One recognizes that many studies used qualitative data and therefore it would not be possible to quantify the impact being reported in many cases. This is not necessarily a weakness of the paper but a reality of evaluation mechanisms used in our field. Nobuya’s paper begins with introduction that discusses the UN MDGs. While reading the rest of the paper, one wondered how the projects reviewed were linked to specific MDGs and if such a linking wouldn’t also help to convince policymakers that the work being done in our field is actually being done within the context of the MDGs.

The fact that a more rigorous systematic review could not be done suggests that we need to be creating a common metric of how we report or present evaluation data. This metric would help us to compare studies across differing cultural contexts and help us present more convincing data for the impact of our work. I have no doubt that many communication for development projects succeed at what they set out to do. The real challenge now is to be able capture these successes in a systematic way and present them to policymakers and funders in formats that would convince them that communication for development does work.
Livingston White
]

CDATA[Author: siminyx
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:44 am (GMT -8)
Topic Replies: 9

This is a contribution to the Drum Beat Chat discussion forum. For information on how to participate or unsubscribe to this forum, and to
view the discussion forum online, please visit the following link:
http://forums.comminit.com/viewforum.php?f=49&style=2
===

I maybe late....but I have to add my two cents worth!!!
ah development world and its endless yards of paper trails probably going
many times around the world........the rhetoric about communication that
says nothing the endless stream of ideas that are written in donor friendly
language......all this communicates nothing to the people who are actually
in need of help.......we communicate and design for people like us..
there are however people who are in touch with the reality of others lives
and their lives are all about communication these are the people who are not
owned by agendas or organizations and their passion is humanity.
lets not design elaborate programs lets just each of us really truly realize
why we do what we do.........are we looking for self
gratification........for larger platforms....for funding......or are we
looking to create a safer ,peaceful cleaner world for our children?
how can there not be development????!!when we look around what do we
see??........but human morality suffers from severe apathy and though we may
become literate and effluent we as a people have chosen to be apathetic.
do any of you have ideas and programs to kick start the morality of
humanity??

simi raheal
r-vision international
pakistan



Quote:
----- Original Message -----
From: "Warren Feek" <drumbeatchat@comminit.com>
To: <drumbeatchat@comminit.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 10:53 PM
Subject: [DrumBeatChat] Impact of Communication and Media Development Interventions

My best wishes to everyone.

I wanted to quickly follow up on Deborah's recent note for this Drum Beat
chat which is based around the three recent Drum Beats derived from the
joint World Bank/CI paper ""Communicating the Impact of Communication for
Development: Recent Trends in Empirical Research" by Nobuya Inagaki


Those of us in the Communication and Media Development Field are so often
criticized for not having impact evidence - failing to demonstrate the
impact relationship of a communication/media intervention on a development
issue [from HIV trends to freedom of expression].

Working with The World Bank, we took this initiative to address that
issue.
Nobuya was asked to identify recent PEER REVIEWED [and hence legitimate]
journal articles on this theme and to assess, based on that review, the
state of play for the impact of this field. The relevant links follow.

We are very interested in your assessment and response to the knowledge in
Nobuya's paper. Building on Deborah's overall questions [see her previous
email] I would pose these specific questions for response:

- Is this a compelling impact case?

- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the papers/data he has
identified
and summarised?

- Is his contextual [eg modernization] and category [eg behaviour change]
approach helpful and accurate?

- Did he miss any important journal articles?

- What does this analysis tell us about where and how we need to
strengthen
the impact data to support he claims of our communication/media field?

- Do the data and arguments in this paper [links below] help you to make
your case to policy makers and funders?


Thanks - we look forward to your contributions - Warren


***

LINKS

"Communicating the Impact of Communication for Development: Recent Trends
in
Empirical Research" by Nobuya Inagaki:

* The Drum Beat 445 - Background Studies: Trends in Impact Evaluation of
C4D
[Part 1] Now archived at http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_445.html
reviews the peer-reviewed articles which served as background evidence for
Mr. Inagaki's analysis.

* The Drum Beat 446 - Trends in Impact Evaluation of C4D [Part 2] Now
archived at http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_446.html focuses on
Chapters 1-4 of the actual analysis, looking at theory, trends, and
evidence.

* The Drum Beat 447 - Trends in Impact Evaluation of C4D [Part 3] Now
archived at http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_447.html focuses on
Chapters 5 and 6, looking at discussion of the trends and evidence and
presenting conclusions.


Warren Feek
Executive Director
The Communication Initiative

');document.write('wfeek');document.write('@');document.write('comminit.com');document.write('');//-->
1-250-658-6372 - office
1-250-588-8795 - mobile
www.comminit.com




]

CDATA[Author: Javed
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 5:32 pm (GMT -8)
Topic Replies: 9

This is a contribution to the Drum Beat Chat discussion forum. For information on how to participate or unsubscribe to this forum, and to view the discussion forum online, please visit the following link:
http://forums.comminit.com/viewforum.php?f=49&style=2
===

Dear Warren,
 
I am particularly interested to get your feedback on my comments on Inagaki's paper. I wrote those comments specially in response to your e-mail. Any agreement or disagreement? I welcome all! I will be happy to correct my views if there are better arguments.
I realize that these days, not many people have time to read long papers, even if they are about their job. Most people carry out their jobs without consulting literature, so long their bosses and donors are satisfied. Those who write papers, are also doing their job. Right?
Regards. Javed

 
On 6/24/08, Warren Feek <drumbeatchat@comminit.com (drumbeatchat@comminit.com)> wrote: Quote:
My best wishes to everyone.

I wanted to quickly follow up on Deborah's recent note for this Drum Beat
chat which is based around the three recent Drum Beats derived from the
joint World Bank/CI paper ""Communicating the Impact of Communication for
Development: Recent Trends in Empirical Research" by Nobuya Inagaki


Those of us in the Communication and Media Development Field are so often
criticized for not having impact evidence - failing to demonstrate the
impact relationship of a communication/media intervention on a development
issue [from HIV trends to freedom of expression].

Working with The World Bank, we took this initiative to address that issue.
Nobuya was asked to identify recent PEER REVIEWED [and hence legitimate]
journal articles on this theme and to assess, based on that review, the
state of play for the impact of this field. The relevant links follow.

We are very interested in your assessment and response to the knowledge in
Nobuya's paper. Building on Deborah's overall questions [see her previous
email] I would pose these specific questions for response:

- Is this a compelling impact case?

- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the papers/data he has identified
and summarised?

- Is his contextual [eg modernization] and category [eg behaviour change]
approach helpful and accurate?

- Did he miss any important journal articles?

- What does this analysis tell us about where and how we need to strengthen
the impact data to support he claims of our communication/media field?

- Do the data and arguments in this paper [links below] help you to make
your case to policy makers and funders?


Thanks - we look forward to your contributions - Warren


***

LINKS

"Communicating the Impact of Communication for Development: Recent Trends in
Empirical Research" by Nobuya Inagaki:

* The Drum Beat 445 - Background Studies: Trends in Impact Evaluation of C4D
[Part 1] Now archived at http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_445.html
reviews the peer-reviewed articles which served as background evidence for
Mr. Inagaki's analysis.

* The Drum Beat 446 - Trends in Impact Evaluation of C4D [Part 2] Now
archived at http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_446.html  focuses on
Chapters 1-4 of the actual analysis, looking at theory, trends, and
evidence.

* The Drum Beat 447 - Trends in Impact Evaluation of C4D [Part 3] Now
archived at http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_447.html  focuses on
Chapters 5 and 6, looking at discussion of the trends and evidence and
presenting conclusions.


Warren Feek
Executive Director
The Communication Initiative

');document.write('wfeek');document.write('@');document.write('comminit.com');document.write('');//--> (wfeek@comminit.com)
1-250-658-6372 - office
1-250-588-8795 - mobile
www.comminit.com






--
Javed S. Ahmad
Health Communication Consultant
Fresh Meadows, New York
(718) 969 6202
]

CDATA[Author: shassan
Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 5:34 pm (GMT -8)
Topic Replies: 2

This is a contribution to the Drum Beat Chat discussion forum. For information on how to participate or unsubscribe to this forum, and to
view the discussion forum online, please visit the following link:
http://forums.comminit.com/viewforum.php?f=49&style=2
===

Dear All

Just wondering if there's an elegant (?!) statistical approach in
dealing wi