The Orizonturi Foundation’s “Blogging the Dream” project is well into its hands-on practicum phase, and some participant blogs are already up and running.
Through the “Blogging the Dream” project, funded by a Rising Voices micro grant, a blogging club was created last year for mental health service users. The club's members are being trained on how to create and maintain blogs, with the eventual goal of developing one collaborative blog. The Orizonturi Foundation, based in Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Romania, has been helping those with mental health issues for almost 15 years, and hopes that this blogging club will help decrease the stigma that people with mental health issues face in Romania.
The project began with a technical training period, where participants learned how to blog, use digital cameras, and upload pictures. Since January, however, the project has moved into the practicum phase, where participants have been able to review and practice what they've learned so far. During this time, blogging club members are also becoming more familiar with the Internet, and have been able to work on their blogs and get comfortable with blogging on their own.
Blogging the Dream's project blog shares a few excerpts from their members’ blogs, where participants were asked to reflect on their involvement in this project. For example, 13-year-old Andrea says:
I learned about this program [Blogging the Dream] through Mirela, who I want to thank very much. Together with the Orizonturi Foundation, she has taught me how to use the computer. I always come to this course with pleasure and willing to learn something new. I joined the program because I enjoy writing and playing games on the computer but here I learn how to work on the computer. My gains from this program are the friendships with those I study and the lessons I learn from them.
Geta, a 46-year-old blogging club member, also shares her views:
I got involved with this program [Blogging the Dream] to learn new things, and now I’m able to slowly navigate my own way on the computer. Communicating with more people is what participation in this program means to me. I already feel closer to people since starting this program. The theoretical training was interesting and I learned new things. I will use the knowledge gained to create my blog and communicate with more people.
Here are some of the participants’ developing blogs (in Romanian):
And it's not just the blogging club members that are benefiting from the Orizonturi Foundation's access to the Internet. The project blog explains how the organization's literary circle and English club often use the Web for research, and that some mental health service users have set up email accounts and received a crash course on the Internet during social hours. The project blog elaborates:
A number of the blogging participants are also active in these groups and take pride in showing off their blogs to fellow organization members. In turn, spreading curiosity and interest within their immediate social networks. We can only hope this continues to branch throughout our entire community.
3 comments
Thanks for the update and it’s great to see some of the text translated to English. Will there be more translation? Perhaps a 1-2 line summary of some of the posts?
Respected Sir / Madam,
I am the President of Sohni Dharti Social Development Organization Muzaffargarh. Currently we are working for awareness in field of sexual and reproductive health and right include HIV-AIDS prevention through sex workers and clients, youths, gay, and harm reduction for Drugs users. We also promote the sexual health and right issues, reproductive health and right to the poorest women in rural areas and villages. We are working with local CBOs to train community to actively participate in local community awareness. We are providing awareness materials i.e. videos, local news paper, TV channels, for capacity building, advocacy and empowerment and raise their local voices to the government & other departments in the country & in the world.
We are also working for Girls Education also. City Muzaffargarh is the poorest area of southern Punjab province of Pakistan. We have started from Last year a Computer Lab. of Three Sets with our own efforts. For this purpose we acquire a room from Causeway Public School where we are providing Free Computer Education to the poorest Girls Students of this poor area. Due to lack of financial resources these poor student have no way to get coaching / Training from any Institute at Muzaffargarh. The cost of a computer is not in the range of these poor students whose parents are from laborious poor community. They can not afford their children to get to even normal level of education at primary level. Last year April 2008. So we have decided to provide these poorest Girls Students free of cost Computer Education at their Door Steps.
Our organization a group of seven devoted and hard working people working on volunteer basis, this group consists of Doctors; Lady Doctors; Nurses, Laboratory Technician; and community activists. We are providing health facilities and specially we are working hard to “ Fight against Hepatitis, AIDs and TB. We are also working hard to stop violence against women and innocent children. As we do not have any funding sources before, we humbly requested in your honour to guide & grant us the funding for this noble cause.
We need your guidance & full support to work for poor deprived peoples where their eyes are expecting our action to help them and provide them an affirmative support in this regard.
AN EARLY ACTION WILL BE THE RAY OF HOPE FOR OUR PEOPLE,
Thanks,
Abdul Qayyum
asadqayyum4u@yahoo.com
PRESIDENT
SOHNI DHARTI SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION MUZAFFARGARH