| Free Digital Community Notice Board & Resources - 03/04/2020 |
| Zenzeleni community networks |
| Technical Community and Civil Society | Africa | South Africa |
| One of the biggest challenges we experience in the rural communities during COVID-19 is access and to reliable, relevant and applicable information (specially in the local language isiXhosa). As most of the information published nationally and internationally used urban case scenarios, many of the preventative measures were not applicable to the rural context. This translated into heightened risk for communities which had to deal with measures they could not apply, while at the same time also needing to filter with mass misinformation. In response Zenzeleni launched its digital Community Notice Board and access to Resources on Health & Education. Anyone connecting to the Zenzeleni Community Networks wifi nodes has access to information for free. The Notice Board adapts verified information to the local context and language. There are also guidelines to help people discern true information, from fake news. Furthermore, we have also zero rated Education and health websites which are valuable to the community. As we are community based the information is adapted to peoples real, immediate needs going beyond affordable, reliable access to information into enabling people to take ownership and control of the how they access valuable information. Lastly, our community network is the most reliable telecommunication network in the area ensuring that access to information in this crucial time is uninterrupted. |
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Source Link Keywords: Community networks; relevant access to information; valuable information. |