To attract sponsors it is always good to show them the benefits they will receive for sponsoring (I am referring to sponsors other than just funders - possibly local, national or international businesses). The more mediums that are available, the better. Some good examples are already listed - a website (so potential sponsors could have the links to their websites on this one - a link exchange); pamphlets (sponsors can have their logo as a 'proud sponsor'). Other ideas include:

-Exchanging links with organizations that share interests -posters
-radio announcements
-teaming up with or having a 'sister' school/centre in other parts of the world;
-attracting media attention (locally and internationally - this could be as simple as having a volunteer contact a local newspaper to run a story; sending in some photos to media organizations etc - or do a press release to the media)

Just a few to start!
Barb

I've already started to make radio announcments about Jinja Central on my station NBBTA Radio http://www.nbbta.org/radio Channel 18 O'Neal and company
I can continue to promote via public service announcements every week.

In addition, I would like to create an experts page for Paul
on ProfNet and pitch stories to journalists as well as feature Jinja central in my charity column.

I am awaiting the Experts form to be sent back to me so I can create the page thereby giving Paul and Jinja Central exposure to 80,000 journalists, bloggers etc who daily search the experts profiles.

Other ideas:
1) submitting BEHOD's blog to blog directories
2) creating a BEHOD banner to advertise on online publications. I can offer you space on Women's Online Magazine http://www.womensonlinemagazine.com
3) I think link exchanges were already mentioned

Jackie+

Hey all,

I am new to NABUUR, and new to this village.

First a bit about myself. I am a 29-year old Norwegian currently living in Copenhagen, Denmark. I work as a bookseller in an academic bookstore in Copenhagen, and in my sparetime, I spend a lot of time dealing with something called "videoblogging". My personal site is www.dltq.org and I am co-organizer of a European yearly conference about videoblogging called VlogEurope www.vlogeurope.com

I don't know much about Jinja Central, Paul's work or what BEHOD even stands for, but I decided to join this project because I liked the description of the village and I think I might actually be able to help in this area.

I have for a long time had a big frustration with how we now have all these tools for communication, the so-called "social media", but we use it so little for communication about things that "really matter". Of course, this is a harsh generalisation, and of course there are tens of thousands of great projects out there - - but how come we hear so little about them? How come we (as people from for instance a Scandinavian country) have these fixed ideas about what Africa is, or what Uganda is?

In my previous careers, I have been involved with politics, and I have always wondered how we can use ICT as means to share knowledge and know-how across borders.

Now, to get to the point of this thread:

I suggest that we create a group blog for the BEHOD where we have 2-3 people (neighbours) who write quite frequently. The blog should, of course, include pages with basic information about what BEHOD is, but it should also include updated information about current events and current challenges - and also current successes!

The blog should be in English, and we should aim at linking to other blogs and sites interested in development in this region of Uganda, as well as talk about general issues that affect the village.

The blog could be hosted on a service such as www.wordpress.com or it could be hosted on a domain such as www.behod.org or www.behod.com (which both seems to be currently vacant).

The blog could also include podcasting elements or maybe even video footage from Jinja if we have any.

This is just my approach, at least :) Any other ideas?

Dear Raymond

Welcome neighbour!

You arrive just as many new things are happening or potentially happening with th Nabuur concept.

I am in Australia and have been involved with Nabuur discussions since 2004. As everyone knows there have been problems securing results.

I recently assembled a review for Nabuur which was considered by the board - see the press release now here:
http://www.nabuur.com/modules/news/news_details.php?newsid=151&type=news

The actual review and possible roadmap are accessible from my web site www.aplaceof.info - you will see that it envisages an extensive process BEFORE and AFTER the actual work on a project as in the current Featured Villages.

My comments in discussion here reflect the kinds of ideas in that roadmap - of working to ensure communities build capacity and base their projects on strong organisational and management skills and feel positive, empowered and committed about what they do. The roadmap also envisages a situation where a village project 'graduates' from this workshop environment to something like a shop window, where they can continue to attract support and work on more projects.

These are ideas which any of us can develop anywhere on the internet. One of the decisions of the Nabuur board was

5: [a] That NABUUR move forward with determination to see process develop
outside NABUUR. [b] That NABUUR adopt a policy perspective that it is better to see evolution of
process widely in the internet than to have it all in-house. [c] That NABUUR's actions should be
shaped to bring that into effect.

I note your ideas for the future. These can be done anywhere, as you say. I take it from what you write that you find the boxes in which we write here restrictive - i also find that the reductionism of little tasks reduces synergies, limits thinking.

I am most involved with
www.aplaceof.info/acoke - some things happening off stage there at the moment
www.aplaceof.info/kiliba ... which I have been trying to migrate to www.ourcongo.net - wrestling with design and software issues. Am now very involved with www.womenof.ourcongo.net -- and the spontaneous formation of a SEN [self-empowering network] among three communities in DR Congo. To try to advance all that, I have, last night, set up:
http://groups.google.com/group/ourcongo
and
http://ourcongo.blogspot.com/

Look forward to your thoughts!

cheers

Dennis
home page www.newzof.us

Hi There,
Thank you so much my dear neighboughs and all the new people who have come along side to give ideas this has opened my heart and Jinja Central has come up to the people.
I want to thank Jackie for the heard work done the intiative that you have put in to see that Jinja Central can be heard.
Reymond thank you so much for the ideas forwarded and my dear sister Barb.
Dennis i like your comments they help me to put things together for the good of Jinja i truly appriciate for any questions please i would be very glad to answer them you can send me a massage on my mobile phone +256 752 655 943 then i can rush to the cafe' and we chat paulbulenzi@yahoo.co.uk on the massenger i think it will be easy for me to answer most of your questions.
Thank you all of you

Hi all,

Just got back from a short trip last week... and have been busy with arranging the computers. I'll go through all the ideas over the weekend.

Raymond, welcome on board!
Jackie, if I'm right Paul has sent you the expert form?

:-)

Pelle

Hi Pelle:
I have recieved the Experts form and am working on the page set up.

I having a community blog is an excellent idea and especially with mult-media. In fact, creating a commercial on You Tube about Jnja Central would surely draw trafic to the blog and website.

Dear all, thanks for sharing your ideas.
I've tried to summarize them below:

Website or blog
Richard suggested that we create a group blog for the BEHOD where we have 2-3 people (neighbours) who write quite frequently. The blog should, of course, include pages with basic information about what BEHOD is, but it should also include updated information about current events and current challenges - and also current successes!

The blog should be in English, and we should aim at linking to other blogs and sites interested in development in this region of Uganda, as well as talk about general issues that affect the village.

Multi media elements / video content would be great.

Then we could:
• submit BEHOD's blog to blog directories
• create a BEHOD banner to advertise on online publications. Jackie can offer space on Women's Online Magazine http://www.womensonlinemagazine.com
• Exchange links with organizations that share interests

Other ideas:
- Write a pamphlet
- Posters
- radio announcements
- Team up with or having a 'sister' school/centre in other parts of the world
- Attract media attention (locally and internationally - this could be as simple as having a volunteer contact a local newspaper to run a story; sending in some photos to media organizations etc - or do a press release to the media)
- A YouTube video could also attract attention & draw traffic to the website/blog

What has been done already
Jackie has already started to make radio announcements about Jinja Central on my station NBBTA Radio http://www.nbbta.org/radio Channel 18 O'Neal and company
I can continue to promote via public service announcements every week.

In addition, she is creating an experts page for Paul on ProfNet thereby giving Paul and Jinja Central exposure to 80,000 journalists, bloggers etc who daily search the experts profiles. She’d like to pitch stories to journalists as well as feature Jinja central in her charity column on http://www.bellaonline.com/site/charity.