In October 2010, we visited a village deep in the rural parts of Olmoran in Laikipia, where we met an old woman, whom we asked her to show us the direction to Dam-Samaki where the field day was held.
The jovial old woman showed us the direction, and encouraged us that we were almost getting there. She was also attending the field day. We left her behind because she was on foot as we were riding on a motorbike.
The woman arrived and found us talking to other farmers who had gathered around our stand. She listened intently, frequently nodding in agreement. When i took out the ipod to demonstrate how we package and disseminate information, she was the first one, to stretch her hand wanting to hold one. She obviously did not know what it was but out of curiosity she wanted to learn.
An ipod is a portable audiovisual player from Apple Inc. iPod players range in sizes from the iPod shuffle player to iPod players that support video playback.
The gadgets are designed to work with iTunes, an application available on both Macintosh and Windows computers. It’s capable of importing music from Apple's iTunes Store and from CDs.
The village woman could not believe her eyes; she kept wondering how the beetle tiny gadget shows pictures, videos, and sounds. The whole crowd gathered around, us each wanting to catch a climps of what was in the ipod. Without the ipod, the curiosity of the whole village could not have been aroused.
At the end of the field day, I had learned not to underestimate the power of ICT tools in spicing up the spreading of knowledge among the rural communities.
At the Ngarua maarifa center, we packaged audiovisual information and disseminate using CDs, DVDs, Ipods, and the Internet. Community members collect the ipods and take it home for overnight viewing and return the following day so that other people can take them in turn. It has become a very powerful tool for disseminating information to women who rarely have enough time to sit and access information at the Maarifa center.
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