Sisi ni Amani

March 1, 2011

Sisi ni Amani Newsletter
In This Issue
Baba Dogo & Korogocho
Narok County
Organizational Developments

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Greetings! 

Sisi ni Amani is making exciting progress in 2011, and we hope you'll enjoy following along with us. We are happy to announce that, based on evaluation and input from local parters, we are now working with local groups to create new mobile phone-based programs for peace promotion. Sisi ni Amani equips its local chapters with mobile phone-based technologies to facilitate rapid SMS (text message) communication between groups and with the overall community, and provides facilitation for its local chapters to plan appropriate usage of these technologies for peace promotion and conflict monitoring and response. 

 

This newsletter briefly profiles our continued work in Baba Dogo and Korogocho, as well as new implementation in Narok, South Rift Valley. Additionally, we are focusing on comprehensive monitoring and evaluation to test our new models for conflict prevention. Finally, we've left Digital Democracy to incorporate as a Kenya-based NGO with the mission of supporting and engaging Kenyan peace leaders with technology-based possibilities for peace promotion.

 

Our work has become increasingly relevant as the political situation in Kenya shows signs of tension, and many of Sisi ni Amani's partners have emphasized to us the importance of new methods of creating peace, and specifically the importance of using mobile phones to reach large audiences.

 

We continue to appreciate your support as we pioneer new uses of mobile technologies for conflict prevention, and look forward to keeping you updated on our progress.

 


Baba Dogo & Korogocho

Moving forward in Baba Dogo & Korogocho slums, Nairobi   


Baba Dogo Launch
At the end of last year, the local Sisi ni Amani team for Baba Dogo and Korogocho, neighboring slums and hot spots for violence in the eastern part of Nairobi, worked to understand how violence happens in their communities and how our SMS system could help prevent violence at each stage. In addition to the baseline use of the number to advertise peace events, the team identified civic education, monitoring, and polling of community needs as potential uses of the number. 

The team is now working on mobilizing community members to subscribe to the number, and has shown its commitment through high levels in engagement in door-to-door outreach. The group has also focused on understanding and implementing ways to monitor and respond to peace and conflict in the community. If you missed the video and pictures from the Baba Dogo and Korogocho launches and teambuilding activities last year, check out our Youtube channel and Facebook page.

 

Narok County

Getting Started in the South Rift Valley     

Narok County

 Sisi ni Amani has started work in 

 Narok, a historical hot spot for  violence in the South Rift Valley.  The Narok leadership team  organized a focus group attended  by representatives from eight  local groups, which enabled us to  make conclusions about how the  technology could best be used to  support the work that groups are already doing. The system will, as a baseline, be used for sending the community information about peace events, and for local peace groups to communicate with their own networks and communities via text message. 

 

The groups that attended the focus group expressed excitement at the idea of being able to send one message to reach their entire networks, and saving time and cost of mobilization. The groups will engage in outreach in four key areas for the month of March and will plan additional uses of the technology in early April. Current plans include using the platform for civic education as well as monitoring and calming tensions.


 

Organizational Developments

Incorporating on our own; Monitoring & Evaluation

Incorporating on our own: Sisi ni Amani officially left Digital Democracy in January to incorporate as a Kenya-based organization with a new mission to support and engage Kenyan peace leaders with technology-based possibilities for peace promotion. We are in the process of registering as an NGO in Kenya. We have also incorporated a second organization, Sisi ni Amani International, a U.S. based organization dedicated to funding technology for peace promotion, and currently focused on fundraising and supporting Sisi ni Amani's work in Kenya.


Monitoring & Evaluation: Sisi ni Amani is currently engaging in a process to design a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation strategy that will test our model for working with local communities to use technology as a tool to enhance efforts to prevent violence. We recognize the importance of testing our model in a comprehensive manner in order for Sisi ni Amani to continually improve, and so that we can offer lessons and new strategies for the use of technology in community-based violence prevention. 

 

We're excited to keep you updated as the Narok and Baba Dogo-Korogocho chapters of Sisi ni Amani continue to create and implement innovative uses of mobile technologies, and we couldn't do it without your support.

Sincerely,

Rachel Brown
Director, Sisi ni Amani