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Kutafsiriwa na kutumwa kutoka IDIN.org Imeandikwa: Deborah Tien (Executive Director) Imetafsiriwa: Fadhilina Mkalli (Administrator), Epifania Wilbard (Education Coordinator), Chris Mushi (Creativity Trainer) Sisi Twende tumekua tukiendesha mafunzo ya Ubunifu na uvumbuzi wa miradi ya mikono kwa zaidi ya miaka mitano sasa kwa watu wasiopungua 1,300 na kwa msaada kutoka IDIN pamoja na mashirika mengine. Mafunzo ya ubunifu wa teknolojia (CCB) yameigwa kutoka kwenye chuo cha MIT D_Lab, na washiriki wote wameshuhudia jinsi walivyofunguka kimawazo kila baada ya kupata mafunzo haya. Tunapenda na tunaona nyuso za furaha kila baada ya mafunzo haya yanayochukua siku 5 wakiwa na mfano wa mashine/mradi mikononi mwao. Lakini nitadanganya nikisema tumetimiza lengo letu la kuwezesha watu kuvumbua na kubuni teknolojia zao wenyewe kusuluhisha matatizo ya kujamii. Baada ya mafunzo ya muda mrefu,tumekua tukiangalia na kurejea tunachokifanya na kisha kutambua changamoto kadha wa kkadha:kama vilewatu kutomalizia miradi yao kipindi cha mafunzo ya CCB mpaka pale ambapo kifaa/mashine inaweza kutumika ili kuweza kuboresha maisha yao ya kila siku. We at Twende have been running hands-on design & creativity workshops for 5+ years with 1,300+ people and the support of IDIN, amongst other amazing partners. Our flagship Creative Capacity Building (CCB) workshop was adapted from a methodology developed at MIT D-Lab, and all participants exclaim how their ‘minds are opened’ every workshop we run. We love that, and we can see faces light up when they finish the five-day workshop with a prototype in their hands. But I would be lying if I said we found the magical silver bullet to accomplish our mission: empower people to design & create their own technology solutions to community challenges. After so many workshops, we have taken a critical eye to what we do and identified a big problem: people don’t often ‘finish’ technologies during CCB to the point where they can regularly use it to actually improve their everyday lives. Never fear, though, we are a team of problem-solvers and designers, so we have used the steps of the Twende design process to come up with a solution to test and get feedback.  Mzunguko wa ubunifu tunaotumia Kufundishia hapa Twende. // The design process we teach at Twende. Step One: Kusanye Taarifa / Gather Information Chris, mwalimu wa ubunifu, akikusanya taarifa kutoka kwa wanafunzi wa sekondari kuhusu changamoto zao wakati wa mafunzo ya CCB. // Chris, our Creativity Trainer, gathers information from secondary school students about their challenges during a CCB workshop. Tunakusanya taarifa kuhusu wabunifu wetu tunaofanya nao kazi, hasa vijana tuliogundua kwamba kwamba hawawekezi nguvu na muda wao kwenye miradi walioibuni kwa sababu wanatumia muda wao mwingi kufanya shughuli zingine za kimaisha. Vijana hawa wanakua hawana utaratibu wa kujitengea muda kwa ajili ya miradi yao kwa sababu wanaona kama mafanikio ya kuifanya miradi hii ni ya muda mrefu sana kwani wanaangalia faida za hapo kwa papo, pamoja na kwamba hatuonglei faida za kifedha , tunaongelea faida za kutengeneza na kuona mradi unafanya kazi ila angalau kufikia kiwango cha kuilipa muda na malighafii zilizotengeneza mradi huo mpaka ulipofikia kuita teknolojia. Tumehakikisha hii kwa kuulizia maisha ya kila siku ya watu na kuangalia maisha yetu wenyewe hapa Arusha. Tunajua wastan mkubwa wa wanajamii au vijana wanaamini kwamba kutumia siku moja kuja kwenye mafunzo ni sawa na kupoteza malipo ya siku hiyo au kupoteza siku hiyo bure. Hiyo inaweza kumaanisha tofauti ya kwamba ulikula chakula cha usiku au hukula (kwa kuwa utapatiwa chakula cha mchana) pia haijalishi kama watoto wana kitu cha kula au hawana( kwa kuwa Twende hatutoi fedha /posho za kikao ) Maendeleo ya teknolojia bila any interim zawadi kabla teknoloji haijakamilika itakua tumeharibu kizazi cha watanzania. When we gathered information about many of the potential innovators we work with, especially the youth, we found that many have trouble prioritizing technology development because they have so many daily time-consuming obligations. They don’t have the flexibility to take the risk of spending time on activities that only have a very small, long-term possibility (instead of certainty) to ‘pay off.’ We’re not even talking about running a profitable business; we’re talking about creating a working technology they can actually use enough that the benefits are worth the time and materials invested in said technology. We confirmed this by asking about the daily lives of people and looking at our own lives here in Arusha. We know that for an average community member or youth, taking a day away from work to attend a training means a loss of wages or an untended field for that day. That can mean the difference between whether or not you eat dinner (because Twende offers lunch) or whether or not your children or younger siblings eat any meals at all (because Twende doesn’t offer a ‘sitting fee’ traditionally offered). Technology development without any interim rewards before the technology works seems like too much sacrifice for many Tanzanians. Step Two: Fikiri Ufumbuzi / Think of Ideas Washiriki(vijana) wakijadili mawazo yao wakati wa mafunzo ya CLC pamoja na aliyekuwa mwalimu wakujitolea wa biashara, Liz. // Youth participants discuss their ideas during a Creative Livelihoods Challenge workshop with our past volunteer Business Trainer, Liz. Tulianza kufikiria mawazo mbalimbali ya namna gani tunaweza kuhimiza vijana kwa muda mfupi kuhusu kuweka kipaumbele kwenye Ubunifu:
We started thinking of ideas about how we could incentivize youth in the short-term to prioritize innovating:
Step Three: Jaribisha / Experiment Wanafunzi wa shule za sekondari wakifanya majaribio ya sakiti za LED na kuona zinavyofanya kazi kwa mafunzo ya awali. // Secondary school students experiment with how LEDs work during our Intro to Circuits STE(A)M Outreach. Kwa hiyo tulianza na majaribio ya mawazo tofauti kwa kuongea na wanafunzi wa shule za sekondari, walimu, na uongozi wa shule kuhusu ni kitu gani kinaweza kusaidia. Tunafanya utafiti wa masomo yanayoendana na mafunzo yetu na kisha kulinganisha na kuangalia kama tutaweza kupata tunachotarajia. Pia tunaangalia katika historia ya nyuma ya mafunzo yetu. Tuligundua kwamba felowship inaweza ikagharimu zaidi kwa sasa, tukaona kukutanisha wanunuzi na watengenezaji inaweza kumaanisha hatuhimizi zaidi ubunifu. Tukagundua pia kuhimiza zaidi miradi yenye soko kubwa watu wengi watatumia Alibaba.com au wanunuzi wengine wa kimataifa, kwa sababu huko ndipo chaguzi rahisi zilipo. Tumegundua tunahitaji kuhimiza vijana kutumia muda mwingi kuendeleza miradi yenye manufaa kwa maisha ya watu bila kujali kuwa mtumiaji ana fedha za ziada kutumia kununua mradi huo.Pamoja na yote wabunifu wanaweza kufanya miradi kwa kuboresha maisha yao binafsi, mbali na hilo mradi unapolenga kusuluhisha changamoto anayoippata anaebuni tunajua kuwa kila mmoja lazima ajihimize kufanya kitu ambacho ni rahisi kutumia, anaweza kukimudu na pia njia iliyo bora zaidi, lakini inaweza kuchukua muda mrefu. So we started experimenting with different ideas by speaking to secondary school teachers, students, and administrators about what would be best. We researched other similar programs and mapped their outcomes and took time to evaluate if that is what we also wanted to achieve. We also looked at the history of our past programs. We realized a fellowship would be prohibitively expensive for now. We realized matching makers with buyers might mean we preference less inclusive innovations. We realized a focus on market-driven technologies usually means people just use alibaba.com or other international dealers, because that is where the cheapest options are. We realized we need aspiring innovators to spend more time and effort on developing life-improving technologies, regardless of whether or not the user has a lot of disposable cash to buy the product. Ideally, innovators would even work on technologies to improve their own lives. After all, when problems are experienced by the person who makes the solution, we know they are more motivated to create affordable, easy-to-use, and appropriate solutions. But that can be a long path. Step Four: Chagua Wazo Bora / Choose the Best Idea Washiriki wa CLC wakichagua wazo bora la kufanyia kazi. // Participants of Creative Livelihoods Challenge choose an idea to pursue. Kwa maana hiyo basi tumechagua wazo la kuweka mashindano kwa vijana, kwa maneno mengine kwa kipindi cha muda mfupi na zawadi za kushawishi watu kutumia muda wao ikiwezekana hata wa ziada kuendeleza teknolojia zao ili kutumiwa na walengwa ambao ni jamii. Tunatoa zawadi kidogo kulingana na ada ya masomo kwa mwaka kwa washindi wa teknolojia na tunalipia usafiri na chakula kwa vijana watakaoshiriki ili wazazi nao wawahimize vijana wao kushiriki na hii itapunguza utoro wakati wa mafunzo. Washiriki watakaguliwa kwa vigezo na taratibu zilizowekwa, namna gani wazo linahusika, linafaa na namna ambavyo watumiaji wataweza kupata huduma kupitia mradi huo. Tutawekeza nguvu kidogo kwenye swala la masoko na tutatumia kanuni zote za ukaguzi na ushauri kama njia mbadala za kutoa maoni ya jinsi gani kila teknolojia ya mshiriki itaweza kuboreshwa ili kuhimiza muendelezo wa miradi hiyo kwa muda mrefu. Thus we choose the idea to create a competition for youth, in other words, a structure of shorter-term milestones and incentives to motivate people to take more of the needed time and effort to develop technologies closer to use by the intended user. We are offering a small reward equivalent to a year of school fees for a ‘winning’ technology, and we will pay for transport and meals for the youth participants so their parents will encourage their children to join and risk is reduced for the participants. Participants will be judged on, amongst other criteria, how relevant, desirable, and accessible the idea is for the intended user and how functional the prototype is. We will give far less emphasis on market potential, and we will use all judging and advising as opportunities to provide suggestions for how each participant’s technology can be improved to encourage all participants to continue long-term. Step Five: Fanya Uchambuzi / Work out the Details Wanafunzi wa sekondari wakitolea maelezo ya kina ya kifaa cha kuparua samaki wakati wa mafunzo ya Build it. // Secondary school students work out the details of their fish scaler during a Build It training. Je ni washiriki wangapi wanahitajika? Watatakiwa kuwa na umri gani? Tutawapataje?Twende itatoa msaada kiasi gani?Tutawezaje kufanya ukaguzi sahihi bila upendeleo?Kundi la watu wachache wametumia muda mwingi kutafuta muafaka wa mipangilio iliyo sahihi, ikiwa ni pamoja na muda,programu ya “beskope” kufadhili hawa washiriki, kanuni na taratibu za usimamizi na ukaguzi wa kumpata mshindi, Usimamizi na ukaguzi wa mfumo mzima wa mashindano ili kuona kama nguvu zilizotumika ni kwa faida,pamoja na bajeti ya kuwezesha yote haya kufanyika. But how many participants should we work with? How old should they be? Where do we find them? How much support should we offer as Twende? How do we keep the judging fair? A small group of us spent hours working out the details to make our overview plan, including a timeline, bespoke programs to support the participants, judging criteria to pick the winner, a monitoring & evaluation framework to see if the effort was worth it, and of course the budget to make this happen. Step Six: Tengeneza / Build It Mafundi kutoka Twende wakifanyia kazi Mashine ya kuchoma nyama iliyotengenezwa na malighafi zinazopatikana kirahisi. (Picha imepigwa na Laura) // Fundis (artisans) at Twende work on a smoker made from local materials (Photo courtesy of Laura Jana). Tunatengeneza huku tukiendelea kufanyia kazi maoni tunayokutana nayo kila hatua. Kipindi cha Novemba,tulitembelea shule za sekondari 11 kupeleka taarifa, zilizoambatana na maelezo ya changamoto ya kufanyia kazi, vipeperushi pamoja na fomu za kujaza wanafunzi . walimu na wasimamizi wa shule hizo Tumetoa nafasi hii kwa kidato cha nne waliomaliza kwani wana kipindi cha miezi 6 tangu wamalize mitihani mpaka wanapojiunga kidato cha tano. Kwa maana hiyo washiriki hawa watapata muda mzuri na wakutosha kufanya mradi huu bila kuharibu utaratibu wao wa kimasomo na pia kwa wale ambao hawatabahatika kuendelea kimasomo wanaweza kujitengenezea fursa za kujiendeleza. Tumeweka muda wa mwisho kurudisha fomu iwe 16 Disemba kwa hiyo mpaka sasa tunasubiri fomu hizi kurudishwa. Htuwezi kutabiri idadi ya watakaoshiriki kujaza fomu hizi na kuzirudisha, kwa hiyo kwa kipindi hiki tunaendelea na taratibu nyingine za maandalizi ya program hizi, kama vile jinsi ambavyo tutaweza kuweka mafunzo yetu ya CCB kuendana na mashindano na nani tunaweza kumwalika kuzindua rasmi mashindano haya. Ni lazima mipango hii ifanyike kwani itakuwa rahisi kwani tunajifunza hata kwa ajili ya manufaa ya baadae. Pia tunafanya taratibu za kutafuta fedha kwa ajili ya program hii.Kwa mfano wiki iliyopita tulianza kampeni ya, crowdfunding campaign na tumepata bahati ya kuwa miongoni mwa wahamasishaji mahiri wa crowdfunding inayofanywa na globalgiving ambao wanaunganisha watoa misaada, mashirika na makampuni karibu yote duniani. Wanasaidia wasiotengeneza faida kupata fedha, vifaa,mafunzo na misaada mingine wanayohitaji ili kufanya kazi ya uhakika. Tumetumia takribani wiki mbili tukiangalia wavuti kupanga mikakati ya crowdfunding na kutengeneza kampeni, na sasa tunategemea kupata wasaidizi. We are building while continuing to work out the finer details, based on what we find out during each stage. During November, we reached out to 11 local secondary schools to present the idea with small meetings and a simple flyer and application form to Form 4 Leavers, teachers, and administrators. We chose Form 4 Leavers because they have 6 months between their last exam and the first day of Form 5. This gives students enough time to work on our project without compromising the quality of their academic schoolwork and also provides an alternative opportunity for those who are not continuing their formal education. We set a deadline (16 December), and we are now waiting for the applications. We cannot predict how many applications we will receive, so in the meantime we’re working on other parts of the program, such as how we might adapt our classic CCB workshop and who we might invite to our scheduled mid-term motivational panel. We must both plan and remain flexible to the new things we learn. We are also figuring out funding. As of last week, we started a crowdfunding campaign. We’re lucky to be part of a great crowdfunding accelerator run by GlobalGiving, who ‘connect nonprofits, donors, and companies in nearly every country around the world.’ They ‘help local nonprofits access the funding, tools, training, and support they need to become more effective.’ We spent about two weeks watching webinars, planning our crowdfunding strategies, and building our campaign, and now, we’re actively looking for supporters ☺ Step Seven: Jaribisha / Test It & Step Eight: Pata Maoni / Get Feedback Bernard, mwanzilishi na mkurugenzi wa teknolojia, akijaribisha mradi wake wa umwagiliaji na kupata maoni kutoka kwa watazamaji. // Bernard, our Co-Founder and Director of Technology, tests his drip irrigation kit and gathers feedback from onlookers (Photo courtesy of Laura Jana). Kwa miaka saba ijayotutakuwa tukijaribisha njia zetu, ikiwa tutaweza kupata misaada ya kuendesha, tutaweza kupata taarifa ya watu gani wanatuamini na ni watu gani tuwaamini, kutoka kwa wanafunzi na walimu ambao ni miongoni mwa washiriki wa mashindano yajayo, kwa wazazi walioshiriki sherehe za kufunga kipindi cha uchangiaji wa kampeni za crowdfunding. Tutaunganisha majibu,na mawazo/matarajio yetu juu ya program kulingana na matokeo na stori na tutafanya kile ambacho mtaalamu mzuri wa kubuni anavyofanya: kurudia mzunguko wa ubunifu kuendelea kuboresha njia za kusuluhisha changamoto.
Una ushauri wowote kusaidia kuboresha mbinu zetu au mashindano yenyewe? Unataka kushiriki kwenye mashindano haya au kazi zetu?Unapenda kuendelea kupata taarifa ya mwendelezo? Unaweza kutupata kwa ukurasa wetu wa Facebook, Instagram, jisajili kwa newsletter upate taarifa zetu, na barua pepe kupitia twendeinnovation@gmail.com. Tunatarajia kusikia kutoka kwako, na kama ungependa kusaidia kazi zetu, tafadhali sambaza taarifa kuhusu crowdfunding campaign! For the next seven months, we’ll be testing our solution, provided we can raise enough funding. We’ll get feedback from a variety of people who we trust and who trust us, from the students and teachers who are part of the upcoming challenge to the parents who attend the closing ceremony to those who contribute to our crowdfunding campaign. We will synthesize this feedback, add our own perspective on the program based on outcomes and stories, and we will do what any good designer does: go again around the design process to continue improving our solution to our challenge. Have any suggestions for us to improve our methodology or the Challenge Prize itself? Want to get involved in this Challenge Prize or our work? Keen to stay updated? You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, sign up for our newsletter, and email at twendeinnovation@gmail.com. Hope to hear from you, and if you want to support our work, please spread the news about our crowdfunding campaign!
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