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Media development action with informed and engaged societies
Media
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Published 23 years ago
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Greenstar - an example

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Greenstar (click here for more info) "delivers solar power, health, education and environmental programmes to small villages in the developing world - and connects people in those villages, and their traditional culture, to the global community." They have designed a portable community center. Using solar power generated by large photovoltaic panels, they drive a water purifier, a small clinic, a vaccine cooler, a classroom, a digital studio and a satellite or wireless link to the Internet. They work with the people of each village to develop an ecommerce website, employing local musicians, teachers and art professionals to record the voice of the community.

The model:

Development of a Greenstar site is a collaborative process between Greenstar, several co-operating players, and the people of the village; the people of the village make the final decisions.
  1. Preliminary selection of a site click here for a description of the selection process
  2. Conduct a 1-2 day site visit with a qualified contact, to:
    • see if what was researched is correct
    • meet the intermediaries and key people in the village
    • let these contacts know the range of potential activities Greenstar might fund in their community, and
    • get the community started in thinking about digital culture activities, and about energy, telecomm, health and education needs.
  3. On the basis of this visit, and subsequent research and verification, decide whether Greenstar is going to invest in the future of the village and its people. This is what is called a "committed investment."
  4. 2nd site-visit. A 4-day trip: to identify the biggest hopes, problems and opportunities of the people of the village; to introduce the technical toolkit; and to introduce the platform potentials - other organisations, both local and international, which may contribute elements of the project. This is very informal, hands-on, very personal; a lot of this is done over meals, and Greenstar helps to sponsor music and artwork from the people, making some basic field recordings for reference, to create a festival atmosphere. Some of the meetings are with large groups; some with smaller subgroups (the school, the clinic, the elders, etc.), some with key individuals; some simply with families.
    • For these meetings, we have in hand a broad technical toolkit, and describe to the people what each piece can do in their village (showing them concrete examples of what has been done in other Greenstar villages, wherever possible) and what benefit it might have to them. They note and record the community responses.
    • They also introduce an even broader platform toolkit, showing the people what other groups, allied with Greenstar, might be able to supply if timing, budget and opportunity show themselves.
    • There is an effort to clarify that Greenstar is not the complete, final answer to all development needs in a community...but that they "can be the first step, the catalyst and the connector, and...can deliver some critical needed infrastructure."
    • The 4th day is spent absorbing, noting, organizing. At the end of this last day, Greenstar presents to the community what they think they've heard, and ask for community responses, confirmations, critiques and questions.
  5. After this site-visit, Greenstar is available remotely to answer any final questions, and figure out the practical realities of what the communities want...compared to what Greenstar can deliver in their budget.
  6. They present the community with a written plan, an agreement for everyone to endorse, a set of commitments Greenstar is making to the community and what the community is committing to with Greenstar, and a timeline. Everyone sees this short plan; it is summarized in a few high-level principles and made into a poster that is posted in and around the village. It is read aloud to a community meeting, to which everyone is invited.
  7. If all goes well, Greenstar and the people of the village now have a solid partnership, and a level of personal trust - a commitment to work together for mutual benefit, and a strong consensus by everyone to participate.

Click here for the full description of this plan online.