Saturday, September 16, 2006

First Post

I began work as Research Manager of the i-REACH Project on August 7, 2006. That was a year after I first met the team during their pre-project workshop in Phnom Penh and after a series of panel interview and written test that followed.

As the title suggests, my work is to make sure that all research activities are implemented according to schedule and documented for project evaluation purposes. To me it sounded vague, there was no further information to fill me with details but, at the same time, I thought it covers a huge scope.

So tomorrow, I will be moving to Kep to commence the research and community work there while negotiations are still on-going between the i-REACH Management Team and a prospect NGO. I will leave friends and the comforts of Phnom Penh behind to live in the community.

The district authorities in Damnak Chang'eur, through its Governor Tep Yuthy, generously provided us with two rooms (in the district office where he is holding office) for our use. These rooms will be renovated soon to accommodate an office, a community hub for computer, internet and VoIP use, and a community radio.

I will be staying temporarily in a guesthouse in Kep town. The project doesn't support my accommodation, but will provide for transportation expenses. That should be okay. But between the guesthouse and the office in Damnak Chang'eur is about 25kms of well-paved roads and hectares upon hectares of rice fields, so I'll have about 50kms of traveling distance to and from work. Add to that several kilometers more of travel from the office to the other project areas. It sounds tiring, but we will see how I will cope with the work and the traveling.

I am preparing to meet with the district officials, and fortunately for me, my Project Manager had given me a name to talk to when I reach Damnak Chang'eur. It is important that I meet with authorities as they are important actors in our project. Sometimes, it's good to be on the side of these authorities, especially when the project is just in its early stages.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Staff Introduction - Kamchai Mear Pilot Coordinator

Mr Long Dimanche gained a degree in agriculture for Rural Development in 2002 from Maharishi Vedic University in Cambodia and a Masters degree in Rural Development from the International University. He lectured in MVU on rural and community development, moving to head of the Department of Rural Development in January 2004, and later worked for Centre for Study and Development Agriculture of Cambodia (CEDAC). He joined iREACH in August 2006, where he heads the Pilot Team in Kamchai Mear.

Staff Introduction - Research Manager

Ms Zarah Jane Almeida has a primary degree in Mass Communications from the University of the Philippines Cebu College in 1994, and spent several years working in media organisations as producer and feature writer and in NGOs before moving to Cambodia. There she has worked for NGOs including Swiss Interchurch Aid, the Association of Buddhists for the Environment, and Mlup Baitong, where she was Grants and Radio Advisor since January 2004. She was recruited by iREACH in August 2006, where she is Research Manager, working very closely with the e-community pilots in all aspects of their work.

Tuesday, September 5, 2006

Som Savakum.

Welcome to the iREACH Project Blog. This blog, along with our other web-based communication system, will serve to document and record project communications and processes and methodologies employed in the project.

What is the iREACH Project all about?
The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) has been awarded a three year grant of US$1.2 million by the IDRC to conduct a pilot project called the Informatics for Rural Empowerment and Community Health (i-REACH) in the field of information and communications technology (ICT).

The project runs from May 1st 2006 to April 30th 2009.Three sangkat (communes) of Kamchai Mear district in Prey Veng and another three in Damnak Chang’eur district in the municipality of Kep were selected as pilot areas.

The MoC has contracted the Maharishi Vedic University (MVU) and the Center for Social Development (CSD), to run the pilots in Kamchai Mear and Kep, respectively.

The overall objective of iREACH is to build evidence and capacities to help inform Cambodia’s ICT and telecommunications policies and to mainstream the ICT project to all provinces throughout Cambodia. The specific objectives are:
(i) to establish and nurture the pilot e-communities in the rural locality of Kep and Kamchai Mear,

(ii) to pilot-test a community-driven system of blended technologies as contributing to social, economic and cultural development by deploying wireless technology, solar energy, wind power and community radio,

(iii) to facilitate community capacity-building by training in ICT use, developing service content and enterprise, and

(iv) to document in details the activities and process for research purposes.