Afya Project

Link:
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/847/756

Abstract:
This paper presents initiatives taken in the Afya project towards bridging the digital divide through social and digital literacy, equitable access, training, and content initiatives at the community level. As a participatory action research project, Afya (Swahili for "health") is designed to engage African American women in assessing and increasing their access to quality health information and services. Based on principles of social justice, the project is geared towards redefining relationships and achieving constructive social change at a community-wide level.

Purpose:
Bridging the digital divide through social and digital literacy.

Problem:
Black women are not getting quality health information and services that address their specific needs.

Collaborators:
SisterNet is a local network of Afican-American women who promote better health by exploring the meanings of physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual health from a Black women's perspective.

Afya is about relationships and bridging the digital divide by marrying health activism to technology activism. They invited SisterNet to collaborate with them for change in the local community.

Prairienet (www.prairienet.org) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to contribute to community development by offering local digital content, Internet access, public access computers, and user training and support. Providing Kiosks

Project Goals (Community Action Plan):
Their approach to this work has three criteria to meet. It must be:
1. Community-wide, including SisterNet women, university affiliates, and local health information and service providers;
2. Committed to redefining relationships, especially as they relate to the balance of power between Black women and community-based institutions; and
3. Action/change oriented. This involves inquiry, not for inquiry's sake but toward some end such as resolving a problem, creating a new opportunity, or expanding a relationship.

The project goals for Afya's second year:
1. increase computer access and literacy among Black women;
2. improve the quantity and quality of health information from local providers;
3. establish and institutionalize ongoing information provision from Black women, in both digital and print formats;
4. improve relationships between providers and Black women; and
5.facilitate the further development of a strong social network - for the exchange of support and information related to both health and computing - among SisterNet women.

Actions Taken:
SisterNet Resource Centers (SRC) are community-wide in that host sites will exist in Black hair salons and, later, libraries and health clinics. Each SRC respresents a collaboration among various community partners. The host sites are contributing their facilities. SisterNet women are designing the SRCs and will serve as onsite volunteers for them. Prairienet and Parkland are contributing the expertise and computer technology needed to establish and maintain the public access computing stations at each SRC. Libraries and health services will also supply expertise and materials associated with the SRCs, such as recommendations for health books and videos, and equipment such as the models used to demonstrate self breast exams.

Through the Afya project, they offered computer training to SisterNet women (two cohorts have already completed the four workshops that precede acquiring their own computers). The computer training is community-wide, held at computer labs in the local Urban League, Workforce Prep Center, and Prairienet labs. The curriculum was designed and implemented by Prairienet staff, with input from SisterNet and University of Illinois students.

The SisterNet Health Fair will be devoted to Afya goals related to improving both health and technology capacities through its focus on alternative/complementary health and how to find and use information in that arena. The Health Fair will be held in a local public library and comprise booths and activities set up by a wide range of health and information providers across our community, and include SisterNet women as presenters. For example, the University of Illinois health sciences librarian will set up a booth that provides information on how to access and use their resources, such as an instruction sheet for searching the PubMed (Medline for the general public) database of medical literature. SisterNet women will present material from the SisterNet technology/Internet guide they helped develop.

Conclusion:
The digital divide is really a socioeconomic, cultural, and power divide that exists at both local and global levels. If we don't deal with the mistrust and inequities at their roots, we run the risk that technology access and use will simply perpetuate age-old patterns. Through the Afya project we are experimenting with ideas about how to close the digital divide through digital literacy, access, training, and content initiatives at the community level.

But modeling and practicing social justice and community engagement related to Black women's health is a much more difficult nut to crack. How do we bridge the social aspects of the digital divide? As members of diverse communities, we all must look to change in our social literacy, access, training, and content efforts. In terms of social literacy, we must learn how to read each other, how to grant respect and validity to diverse funds of knowledge and social capital. We need to be socially accessible, opening ourselves to new relationships. Social training must occur as stakeholders throughout a community model and practice a shared vision of social justice. And finally, we need new social content in the form of artifacts and structures - both online and offline - that embody constructive social change.

My Reflections:
I like the idea of finding an interest or need for information as a motivator for those on one side of the digital divide to be motivated to pursue the digital access. For some there is a need to have a “reason” to use a tool or resource and if they have that reason then they are more likely to use the tool or resource. I see this all the time with digital immigrants and those that are not really interested in computers or the Internet. Once they see that they can access information that helps them or entertains them, they are likely to return for other information needs. Others of us may be curious or like the technology and then look for “excuses” to use it.

I like the way the Afya project married the SisterNet network that was focused on health issues with the Prairienet organization that provides Internet access and training. I felt like this was a good example of combining resources to achieve the goal of bridging the digital divide while contributing to the common good of society.