In a space where women have learned to self-censor, to not speak with another woman because of the negative perception that can be extended to them, the story circle takes on an unimaginable value. I am humbled by the courage shown by these women, women who continue to struggle against the onslaught of patriarchal discrimination, and not just discrimination, but unabashed violence. Here are women who face danger as soon as they step out from their homes, they risk it, because they have to survive. Yes, it is a survival issue. It has come to this. For the rest of us, in countries, where there are still spaces to be who we are, to claim control over our own bodies and to claim our human rights, we shy away from this struggle, and we find reasons to do so.

Training in using ICTs for advocacy and activism can be difficult when experience and confidence levels vary amongst the participants. Keeping the energy levels up, making sure that everyone is up-to-speed, engaged and following takes a deep focus and an ability to “read” the participants. Technology can be frustrating when it fails us or we miss one critical step in the process. Being a trainer, one needs (among other things) to be empathic and create an environment which encourages participants to ask questions. It is a constant process of learning for both trainers and participants.

It is day 2 of the 4 day FTX workshop here in Phnom Pehn

Cambodia. 18 participants are in the second workshop to build understanding of e-advocacy strategies in the context of anti-VAW advocacy. The first workshop focused on augmenting skills on advocacy strategies and this workshop is focusing on bringing the campaign online using social networking to build multi-media campaigns.

It's the last day of FTX-DS, and Lalaine is telling us how to use this site. The wonders of ICT: I don't have to wait till later to get an account, log in, and describe what's happening as it happens. God I love ICT.

Correct me if I'm wrong (I mean it), but I think that the default and most comfortable setting for any technology trainer is to expound on a topic through a lecture (mostly, with a presentation of slides) then field questions during and after. There is nothing inherently wrong with that. In fact, I have been lucky enough to witness tech trainers who are really good at it, who prepare really informative and interesting lectures, who allow for anyone to ask any question at any time, whose presentation slides are so brilliantly crafted that they are memorable enough for the learning to stick.

But still, some of the best learning experiences I have had have been spaces where learning is facilitated through interaction between participants, where more time is spent on facilitators asking questions, where participants are given the tools / resources to answer their own questions, where participants take the lead in knowing what they need to know.

I don't mean to make false dichotomies here. But I've also witnessed way too many tech trainers who do nothing but lecture and create one-way communication channels between them and their participants. Whenever I do, I always wonder if a learning opportunity has been missed because the trainer couldn't draft a better design for their session.