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International Youths Development Network connects impactful Community projects of disadvantaged youths groups, rural schools and local Skill acquisition centers in West Africa to volunteer mentors and donor agencies.Volunteer with us and help transform the future leaders
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Digital Inclusion for communities - IYDN
- 2024/03/29
- 11:57 AM
Project summary
Rural farmers communities in Plateau State face various challenges, including lack of access to drinking water, access to modern farming techniques, inadequate infrastructure, and the impact of climate change, also lack of electricity makes night learning and nightlife impossible.
Although most have decent school buildings but lack skilful educators, 80% of educators, students and youths are unaware of recent technological advancements, especially AI and how it supports learning.
In recent years, the state has experienced frequent ethnic and religious conflicts within the farmer’s communities, leading to the displacement of communities and loss of livelihoods. This project shall be an annual rotational event to be organized and hosted in different farmers communities each year to help bridge the energy and digital divide and engage young future farmers in peacebuilding activities, using sports as a unifying force which can help form a cohesive community identity.
The Challenges
As we were busy preparing for Christmas, we never knew what awaited us, until late in the evening when we started hearing gunshots from all directions. As narrated by Awfuil, a survivor of the 2023 Christmas Eve Massacre in the Plateau Village of Bakkos, a rural farmers’ community that lives at the mercy of gunmen. According to the Nigerian Red Cross Society, the Christmas attack affected 84 communities, caused 161 deaths, and 29,350 persons displaced. The Nigerian government has struggled to find a lasting solution to the conflict, which continues to pose a serious threat to peace and stability in the country.
After the Christmas Eve massacre, Our Skill Builders Community (IYDN-SBC) team partnered GlobalGiving to skill up 300 survivors and reintegrate them into a peaceful society, which is presently ongoing.
This new initiative is conceived to manage the future reoccurrence of this deadly ethnic clash to change the mindset of the future generation by using the outlined project activities to strengthen social bonds, through joint learning, team-building and exercise, it will also bridge the knowledge gap, providing access to educational opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach for rural farmers kids.
Project Activities
International Youths Development Network and her Skill Builders Community (IYDN-SBC) Plateau State Chapter shall be organising these 2 weeks events annually, involving new communities with the following activities:
Installation of two solar street lights at the community centre to enhance nightlife and help secure lives and properties
Train rural educators, students and youth farmers, using videos to show them the latest technologies and how to use them in teaching, learning, and crop production.
Train community members on basic use of mobile phones and the internet, e.g., financial inclusion, digital marketing for their farm produce and how to be safe and responsible online.
Train community youths on renewable energy skills, and link them to partners where they can acquire these gadgets at affordable and with instalment payment options.
A two-day peacebuilding workshop for the entire community members, security agencies and the local government representatives.
To wrap up the event, we shall organise a day sporting event, for both males and females and all religious and ethnic groups residing in the community.
Long-Term Impact
With the proposed Annual Digital and Energy Inclusion, Peace Building and Sports Bootcamp for Rural Farmers Kids, International Youths Development Network and her partners hope to change the mindset of future farmers by using the outlined project activities to strengthen social bonds among participants through team-building exercise and competition, to reduce farmers ethnic conflicts.
