Very amazing how the ‘SMILE PROJECT’ has been not only transformative to the organization but the community as well. The impact the project has created through Warm Hearts Foundation is considerably life-changing. Like the Founder of Digital Royalty said, “Social media is the ultimate equalizer. It gives a voice and a platform to anyone willing to engage.” The internet data given to us on a monthly basis by WOUGNET has enabled us to harness the positives of technology – especially for sensitive issues like GBV. The project has amplified our voice, as well as giving a voice to anyone willing to engage with us.
We were able to host many online spaces and a number of engagements with the community, to discuss various topics in line with the elimination of any forms of violence, with an emphasis on Gender-based violence. These spaces have been hosted on different social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Zoom. We have not only educated the masses but had the opportunity to learn, unlearn and relearn from our audiences. We definitely could not achieve this without internet data which is extremely expensive for most of us.
The success of these online spaces has been realized through the feedback from the audience that is always during and after the sessions. “Can we please have these online sessions on a daily! Because how else would one get to know all this information from…!” one of our Twitter followers exclaimed.
We cannot ably express our gratitude to WOUGNET, the support they have rendered us through their partners is immensely valuable.
Figure 1 One of our Twitter online engagements
By Carol Nyangoma, Warm Hearts Foundation
