Making Waves : INFODES
Stories of Participatory Communication
for Social Change
TITLE: Sistema de Información para el Desarrollo Urbano Rural (InfoDes)
COUNTRY: Peru
MAIN FOCUS: Community development
PLACE: Cajamarca
BENEFICIARIES: Rural and urban population
PARTNERS: Red de Bibliotecas Rurales de Cajamarca, Universidad de Cajamarca, Servicio Nacional de Adiestramiento en Trabajo Industrial, Peru (SENATI), SONOVISO, Asociación y Desarrollo Forestal, Peru (ADEFOR)
FUNDING: Intermedia Technology Development Group (ITDG), INFODEV/World Bank
MEDIA: Internet
We were visiting the Chanta Alta village, talking with people, explaining the advantages of the Internet and the computerised information system, accessible to everyone. When the meeting was over a group of women approached and told us with a soft voice: "Nice, really nice; but do you think there is anything similar for those that do not read and write, the illiterate like us?"
Marisol, a colleague that is involved in education for environmental projects, also visited Chanta Alta and while she was strolling the street of the village she met a woman knitting. Marisol learned that the woman was illiterate and asked her if she would like to read and write. She replied with a tender smile: "What for, my dear? Is there anything to read that can be of use for me?"
We did encounter those reactions when we just started with the InfoDes project, but things have changed since. Now the project offers tailor-made information, which is especially designed for the needs of the community.
In the process of appropriating new technologies the local users have a great capacity to invent their own words to rename the hardware. For example, instead of "ratón", which would be the straight translation to Spanish for "mouse", they opted for "cuy" (a small rabbit), which is a common domestic rodent in the Andes. The mouse is not an animal they would like to be much in contact.
When peasants come to our office and sit in front of the computer, their hands used to labouring on their land take the "cuy" and start searching for the information they need on agriculture and livestock. Sometimes the cursor doesn't stop easily on a particular link on the screen they have selected: "This cuy doesn't want to stand still; it keeps running off my hand".
Compiled by the I NFODES project team.
InfoDes is an ITDG pilot project that promotes local and rural development by means of effective systems of information and communication. The end objective of the project is to contribute to the subregional development of Cajamarca by increasing the production levels of small farmers and the management skills of local governments, through the provision of information and communication tools.
The project has designed and established a subregional information system that integrates conventional local libraries, research on local knowledge, and the use of modern information technologies. It also aims to test a methodology that can be later adapted to other rural areas of Peru and Latin America.
After a period of two-and-a-half-years the project will be transferred to a consortium of local organisations. InfoDes counts on local governments, workers' unions, community-based organisations and NGOs to expand its network.
The Information System is an integrated approach that includes various levels of contact with the local population and the availability of many services. All levels are interrelated as follows:
InfoDes has established a Provincial Coordinating Centre in Cajamarca and several subsystems that are independent from each other. In the immediate subsequent levels are the CIDUR (Centros de Información para el Desarrollo Urbano-Rural) located in district capital towns, and the CIDER (Centros de Información para el Desarrollo Rural) in smaller villages and hamlets. The CIMDUR (Centros de Información Móvil para el Desarrollo Urbano-Rural, Peru), or mobile units articulate both structures, urban and rural.
The Provincial Coordinating Centre maintains the Web server and all external links. Other than coordination, its task mainly consists of building the system database with the information that all local partners are gradually providing. It also promotes the services of the information system.
The CIDUR combines the pre-existent town libraries with the high-tech electronic services: free access to e-mail and the Internet. Each user has its own e-mail account. The CIDUR coordinates the Alforja Rural service for rural librarians, and links with other institutional information initiatives at the local level, on issues of health, social security, legal advice, etc. The coordination of the CIDER in their zone of influence also falls under the responsibility of the CIDUR. Closer to the rural communities, the CIDER also offers a traditional library service, low-cost video technology, and links to the local information initiatives of other development institutions, but it differs from the CIDUR because it lacks computer technology and access to Web services. On the other hand the CIDER are very important in terms of collecting local knowledge for the database.
The CIMDUR guarantees physical periodic exchanges between the other levels. It is comprised of a traditional library and some books for sale, and facilitates institutional interactions and exchanges of information including video between local organisations. It coordinates technical supervisory field visits, training activities, and back up for the rural librarians.
Acknowledging the need to facilitate access to computers and Internet users that may not yet be associated with the CIDUR, InfoDes has established telecentres in key areas of Cajamarca. These do not follow the model of the "public cabins", which are spreading in many provinces of Peru. The InfoDes telecentres provide services to people of scarce resources and are not commercial ventures.
The Department of Cajamarca contains 15 percent of the total rural population of Peru. Because it is underdeveloped both socially and economically, living conditions are among the hardest in the country; unemployment and insufficient land are constantly forcing people into the cities, where the misery belts that surround urban areas absorb them.
The development of rural areas requires a series of improvements in the way small and medium-sized agricultural projects are managed; these include a rational use of natural resources, the introduction of new technologies, and the enhancement of the quality of products to ensure higher levels of profitability. These measures should be accompanied by decentralisation and an increasing role of local governments in development.
The other aspect that may contribute to bettering the quality of life in rural areas is better information delivery systems. In the provinces of Peru access to information is sporadic and of low quality. Both district capital cities and smaller towns suffer from the same lack of information channels, although community radio has been filling the gap for decades. These stations face the same problem to get hold of data that can be useful to the rural population. Peasants and small entrepreneurs lack vital information on the prices of their products at provincial markets, on the availability of credit and tools, on technical innovations, on potential external markets, etc.
The Intermedia Technology Development Group is developing a system that may bring important positive changes to rural life in Cajamarca. Based on the traditional rural libraries that were created three decades ago, the ITDG is introducing new information technologies, which will facilitate communication exchanges, diminish isolation and alleviate poverty by propitiating new forms of rural andurban development.
The Information System for Urban and Rural Development thatInfoDes (with support from ITDG) has established in Cajamarca is too new less than two years in existence to offer any important results in terms of affecting social change. Most of what has been done up until now is related to organising, setting in place and accumulating information that will be the bases of the services provided by the CIDER and the CIDUR, commonly known as"information centers".
The initial impact can be seen in the way the local governments are operating, improving administration systems and giving more attention to new technologies that can help them to better perform.
In terms of providing the services of the Internet and e-mail, it is too soon to evaluate any impact, although the fact of having generated increased interest among the general population is already a step towards social change. People have shown particular interest in the information on farming techniques that can be obtained through the database that is in the process of being compiled.
The rural population has already been exposed to (and developed an appreciation for) similar approaches to rural development through the use of video in the exploration of cultural values and community identity.
Rather than continuing the fashion of spreading computers and Internet access to rural areas formerly deprived of these gadgets, and which have no conceptual framework to support them, InfoDes has opted for a scientific approach. The team incorporates the existing resources, facilitates networking among local institutions and expands the information services on the basis of user demand and community participation.
The methodology that InfoDes is gradually developing is comprised of various services and features aiming to stimulate participation of local urban and rural communities.
Apart from the traditional Library the CIDUR offers a number of printed materials to help rural librarians through the Alforja Rural service. The Inforápido is a service that finds quick answers to questions posed by the users, on topics that do not require extensive research. The printed materials available at the CIDER and CIDURare usually sufficient, however those questions that require further research are channelled through another service, the Preguntón, which uses the computerised database and the Web to answer the queries.
Acknowledging that Internet access will expand gradually but at a slow pace, the Rural-Urban Information System set up by InfoDes relies heavily on books and videos to disseminate valuable information among users. A specific service, the Videoclub arranges video shows on topics previously agreed upon by the community.
One of the most promising services is Saber Campesino (Peasants Knowledge), which collects traditional knowledge from the peasants on topics related to the areas undertaken by the project.
In the original structure, the main partner at the central level of the project was the Municipality of Cajamarca. It is at their headquarters that InfoDes had initially planned to establish the Coordinating Centre. However after almost two years this institution didn't show any progress, or respect for the agreements that were made or any organisational continuity. Repeated staff changes, often replacing qualified people with friends of the Mayor, and the fact that the libraries were left with no budget, resulted in a rupture of the agreement. InfoDes had to find a new place to locate the Coordinating Centre, currently housed at InfoDes offices. In order to leave an open door for potential Internet users, InfoDes created a telecentre in Cajamarca.
InfoDes has faced a big problem when trying to sell the idea of a self-sustaining Information System for rural development. Most of the programmes and projects in Cajamarca, as in most of rural areas of Peru, are the result of donations and receive continuous support from international or bilateral development agencies. Local institutions, NGOs, and the population-at-large are so used to development driven by external funding, that they are not very enthusiastic about a project that aims to generate funds locally. In response to this, InfoDes has decided to establish telecentres that will offer services to the general population.
Most of the information for this chapter is available at the InfoDes Web site.
Additional data provided through e-mail by Luis Fernando Bossio, project librarian.
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