The ICT applications project

Is it true that young individuals in the Philippines do not want to be involved in rice farming? Not quite, I guess especially if we talk of indirect involvement in rice farming.

PhilRice is working with students of computer-related studies in universities in Cabanatuan City in a project called “Exploring potentials of ICT-based agriculture games in addressing rice production concerns in ricefields maintained by out-of-school youth Filipino farmers.” This is an interesting undertaking as it brings together two seemingly unrelated disciplines—development and computer-related studies. In information and communications technology for development parlance, it is called Development Informatics.

At the risk of being simplistic, development informatics recognizes that social issues cannot be resolved by solutions recommended by just one discipline alone. It recognizes that disciplines must converge to give a more holistic solution to an issue. Take the case of addressing the digital divide issue among farmers. Social scientists, very easily can point out that farmers cannot stand to benefit from all these high end technologies as they are confronted with a lot of technology issues—computer illiteracy, computer anxiety and others. There is a need to develop something, an ICT application, that will make ICTs more inclusive. Social scientists, however, will never be in the position to do that. We need computer programmers to develop these ICT applications. Computer programmers, on the other hand, should benefit from the strong social consciousness of social science people. Computer programmers and development studies professionals converging to give solution to an important concern—that is development informatics.

In this project, the computer programmers of the universities in Cabanatuan City are working with the information and communication technology for development professionals of PhilRice. We are exposing the students to areas that are probably known to them but they haven’t really touch based with—to the ricefields. We would like them to meet people who are slightly of the same age with them, but are spending their lives in the rice farm. The challenge: how can these university students make a difference in the lives of the out of school farmers? How can they help our young food producers do better in rice farming?

Through the agri games development project, the computer related studies students will be developing games that will promote the cost-reducing and yield-enhancing technologies in rice farming to students. It is an opportunity for them to indirectly contribute to the rice farm. In development communication parlance, what they will do is something called the “edutainment” approach—education and entertainment combined.

When we had the project briefing, everyone seemed excited. There was like the “this-is-an-opportunity-to-be-more-relevant” look on their faces. There was an air of enthusiasm. There was a strong desire to do something good.

I’ll write more after our participatory needs and opportunities assessment next week. 

How to behave in rural areas

Empathy is a must-have for development communicators. If you don’t have it, devcom is not for you. Go pick another course.

Often, even though we don’t intend to, we subconsciously put off others by our gestures, words, or simply by how we present ourselves. I’ve got a list of tips to remind us of how to behave when we are doing field work in rural areas. The setting is in the Philippines, but I’m pretty sure some of these will apply in other contexts.

• Ask about the area prior to going there. Is it conservative? Is it OK for the locals to see women wearing very short shorts? Are the locals accommodating? Mind you, it always helps to do this. It will help you pack the necessary outfit and other must-haves for your trip. My friend told me she had to cover her hair when she went to Sulu as the locals are not used to seeing girls showing off their hair. That was a strong gesture that she was respecting the culture in the area.
• Make sure you have a guide who knows the community very well. This is important as you cannot just go to the community and surprise everyone there about your coming. Chances are the locals will not entertain you, or they will give you a rather lukewarm response. It will also save a lot of time as you will be certain where to go and the people you need to give courtesy calls to.
• Courtesy calls. Don’t forget this. This is to, well, give courtesy to local officials that you will be doing something in the area. Remember you are a new face in the community. Often, in rural areas, everybody knows everybody. You can avoid creating a scene or anything if you will do courtesy calls prior to starting your activity in the area. Doing this will likewise widen your network.
• Dress down a bit. I know this is a difficult thing to do especially if you are from a college where every day is a fashion day. BUT YOU NEED TO DO THIS. DO NOT INTIMIDATE THE LOCALS! Try to wear flip flops, shorts, ordinary clothes. Remember you are not going to a party so dress down a bit. Be humble enough. You need to take this seriously as if you intimidate them, you will not get what you need. Often, when we interview farmers, we just wear simple clothing with minimal to zero accessories. They feel comfortable seeing us in that outfit.
• Manage your mobile phones. We know that cell phones are very important, but please don’t keep on showing them off when you are in rural areas especially if you have the high end phones. If you do this, they might think you are boastful—remember the conspicuous display of wealth. Avoid showing it off. Also, please put it in silent mode so it doesn’t interrupt interviews or any conversations later.
• Expect the worst. Rural areas are oftentimes not the place for your Starbucks, massage parlor, hang out areas. Many of our rural areas are still poor. Some don’t have access to clean water and latrines. So expect that some of life’s comforts will not be there. But this does not give you any right to be hostile to the locals. Don’t rant. Don’t be fastidious. Remember, they didn’t invite you to go there. You invited yourself.
• Don’t be complacent. Related to the previous point, try to make do with what is there. I’ve been to hotels with no electric fan, old and worn out bed cover, smelly toilets, etc. Take a deep breath. That’s a part of it. Hence, you are needed. Development communication is relevant because of said instances.
• Watch your words. People in rural areas are rather sensitive. So be very careful with the words you say. If you’re not sure, ask the guide.
• Take your time in asking questions and in listening to their stories. It’s very laid back in most rural areas. So don’t rush in asking questions and in listening to their stories. In fact, you will get more information if you are able to show that you are more like a friend, ready to listen to what they have to say.
• Have something for them. Whenever we go to rural areas, we make sure we have something for the farmers. Chances are these areas are rarely visited by extension workers, so we bring them publications on cost-reducing and yield-enhancing technologies. Tokens don’t have to be expensive. Just have something useful for them.
• Don’t feign affection. It is very easy to determine if you are not trying to fake it. The thing is be very sincere when you communicate with someone. If you can’t, don’t go to rural areas. The locals don’t need you in the first place.
• Enjoy the field work. Ask the guide and the locals themselves the best thing about their place. That will be a lengthy talk. They might bring you to a river or an undiscovered scenic place in their area— that will make you love this field even more.

Talk the walk

In 2007, I was deployed in PhilRice Midsayap in North Cotabato. I consider that as one of the highlights of my career thus far. It challenged me personally and professionally. So many things happened while I was there. One of them was when I hosted a radio program for farmers.

It is memorable for several reasons. First, I did not have formal training in broadcasting—I was a development journalism major. Second, I didn’t speak their language. It is a rule of thumb in community broadcasting that you should know the mother tongue in the area. Third, I thought I was too young for the job. I was 23 then.

But then, I was already there. And I knew that would happen. I should say though that I was so clueless with what I would do. I just knew that there should be a radio program for the station. The radio program was every Saturday, 5.30am.

It was funny because all I had was a 3-unit subject on Fundamentals of Community Broadcasting, some handouts from college—(so don’t ever lose your handouts), and guts. The first time when I appeared in the radio station, they kept looking for the next anchor as it was just a few minutes prior to the start of my program. They could hardly believe that I was the one they were looking for. There was like “you?” expression on their faces. But it worked! Several reasons could explain that. First is the fact that Midsayap is a melting pot so Filipino is widely spoken. Second, my colleagues at PhilRice Midsayap were very helpful and supportive.

There were times when I needed to record our episode especially if the expert could not go with me to the station for a live broadcast. So, then, I needed to learn Soundforge. That was a big accomplishment as I was (up until now actually) a technophobe. I learned to edit audio. Every successful recording was a big feat on my part.

The credibility issue likewise melted away. I think it was because of the good response on the program by the locals. I became too involved with it that when I was about to go back to the Central Office of PhilRice in Nueva Ecija, I found it really really hard. Some of the broadcasters in the station started to say that they would miss me, some farmers expressed the same. Very encouraging indeed.

I think one fulfilling thing for a development communicator is when you are able to touch other’s lives, and knowing that they felt your presence. The radio program in Midsayap was far from perfect. I probably messed up in a number of episodes. But I really like it. I’ve won so many friends, and somehow there was an air of accomplishment on my part. The radio program in one way or another provided ways on how we could better interact with our clients. It feels great.

What to expect

So, you are new to the job. Take a deep breath, as it is a totally different ball game. When I started working, I sort of got confused. I started asking questions like: is this the right office for me? Did I understand devcom well in college? It was tough. I don’t want the same thing to happen to you, so here are some things that might help you transition from being a university student to becoming a development communication practitioner.

• As I said, take a deep breath as it is a totally different ball game. In the Philippines, there are only very few institutions that practice the fullness of DevCom. PhilRice probably is one of them. The thing is unlike Mass Communication and Communication Arts, which are relatively older disciplines, Development Communication, I think, is not well understood by most institutions. Whilst it is very clear to us what we should be doing, we may not be on the same page with managers of institutions. This has several repercussions—favourable or unfavourable, usually unfavourable for us. 
• Related to my first point, the first repercussion is: it is quite seldom that institutions would have a separate office for development communicators. It is something that had been echoed a long time ago in several books (an example is the Communication for Social Change book by Jan Servaes). The thing with this is that corporate communication, public relations and other communication functions are gathered together in just one office. That is an injustice since what sets development communication apart from others is the brand of communication we are carrying.

• And since we are not understood well, it is quite often that development communicators don’t pay much—although I should say that it is starting to change a bit these days. The thing is companies, NGOs understand communication simply on its image building functions. The ‘paint- the-town-red’ function of communication—painting rosy pictures for projects with no visible impact, damage control if there are organizational crises etc. 

The list of negative repercussions goes on, so let me change gear by talking about other stuff… continuing the what-to-expect topic.

• In college, in UPLB, during my time we had different majors—development journalism, development broadcasting, science communication and educational communication. These majors have very unique identities although there are some overlaps, I should say. My point is when you work, these major streams disappear—entry point for most development communicators is knowing how to write. That’s the first question: Do you know how to write? Actually even though they are looking for videographers, the time will come that a videographer or a graphics artist will write! Writers’ crisis is oftentimes a gruesome phenomenon in most offices. So the lesson is, regardless of your major, practice writing. To some extent, devcom=writing.

• Now, the issue is what you are going to write. We know this; we have a bias on development issues. So, are we just going to write about them? Not quite. You will write everything—from image building articles, press releases, and even technical papers. Quite a lot? That’s how it is! There are pluses and minuses to it. The thing is, read widely so you will not be caught unawares when these things come. I remember my professor before told us that we should be very intelligent—that our IQ should not be lower than our body weight! So, read A LOT!

• While the entry point is writing, that doesn’t mean that you should forget the other important skills. The flip side of the point I earlier raised is that there will come a time when writers will be asked to take videos and lay out publications! In my case, I did not know how to layout when I started working. I was afraid of layouting softwares. InDesign intimidated me in the past. I just accepted it that layouting was not for me, but I knew very well that I should learn how to do it. So when I started working at PhilRice, I needed to do some overtime work to learn Corel, Photoshop and InDesign. Now, I am not a pro, but layouting doesn’t intimidate me anymore. In fact, I’ve laid out some of PhilRice’s publications.

• Communicators are also seen as good emcees. Even if you tell them that you are a devjourn major, they couldn’t care less about that. You are a communicator. So get out of your shell and release the master showman/woman in you! You can help yourself by watching telenovelas, television commercials and loosening up a bit. Back in college watching telenovelas would be the last thing I would ever do. It was like: Mula sa Puso? EWWWW!!!! But when I started working, the challenge was to communicate with your audience. We deal with farmers—they love radio and television drama. To communicate with them, there should be something that we can share in common. So, then I ended up watching Lazos de Amor :D

• Quite odd, but you will also be asked to chair the socials committee. You will plan events (you can use your skills from Doing social campaigns here)— practice some jokes et al. As for me, I already have the contact details of the dancers and standup comedians near PhilRice! I forgot to tell you—you will also do some intermission numbers! I remember I had to choreograph a dance number”Annie Batungbakal”. Sabi ko nga sa mga friends ko, “Ang hindi ko na lang nagagawa ay kumain ng apoy!”

• Also, prepare to become a writing/editing machine! In not one instance you would be asked to edit and/or write something. And oftentimes, they would think that these things are way too easy for you. It’s sort of : You’re-a-communicator?- Prove- it! Phenomenon! And mind you, some will look down on you if you don’t do it well.

Now, this entry is not meant to scare you off in any way. The reason why I am telling you this is for you to prepare yourself for the bigger world outside uni. Master the skills you can, and get some experience while still at uni. You can do this by either serving as student assistants or becoming a full-fledged project staff. Cheers!

Read, Surf and Text for your parents!

I am currently leading a campaign in two secondary schools in Aurora—Bayanihan National High School and Ma Aurora National High School. It’s called “Sagot ko ang magulang ko!: Isang kampanya upang hikayatin ang mga kabataang maging infomediary (I will help my parents!: A campaign to mobilise the youth to become infomediaries”).

The idea is plain and simple: for young individuals to search for information for their farmer-parents. In the Philippines, information on modern rice farming is no longer an issue; access to these information is. PhilRice, in collaboration with other agencies, has developed an information portal called the Pinoy Rice Knowledge Bank. The website contains basically everything one has to know about rice farming in the Philippines. PRKB contains handouts, technology videos, powerpoint presentations—we’ve got them all. Additionally, PhilRice also maintains the PhilRice Text Center, which answers all queries on rice production. In recent years, the Text Center has gained momentum. Our text center agents find it hard to stand as the inbox is always full—but, again, we need to do more to make sure we reach the marginalised farmers.

So why the youth?

When we did the “Assessment of e-readiness of the five top rice-producing provinces of the Philippines” in 2009, the farmers told us they wanted their children to teach them how to use the computer. I picked up from that finding and continued on with that line of inquiry for my master’s thesis. I then worked on how to mobilise the youth to become infomediaries for their farmer-parents. I analysed their activity patterns, which reinforced our findings in 2009.

The young individuals of Aurora and Albay who participated in my thesis all frequented computer shops on a regular basis. They went there to log on Facebook, watch videos in YouTube, some even watched pornographic movies. I got even more interested when I observed this phenomenon in Aurora. Some students from Bayanihan National High School frequented the computer shops in the town center even as they had to spend USD 1.75. That was a bit hard to reconcile with the fact that most Filipinos live on less than USD 1.35 daily according to a 2008 data by ADB. Additionally, which did not surprise me at all, was their texting behaviour. On average, they sent more than 200 text messages daily.

Having said that, many realisations surfaced.  First, the access issue will be solved. Whilst it is true that the young individuals do not have computers in their respective households, they make up for it by frequenting computer shops on a daily or weekly basis. Second, the computer anxiety (the feeling of discomfort when infront of the computer) being experienced by most farmers will also be addressed. There is wide recognition in the information and communications technology for development (ICT4D) discipline of the impressive ability of the young individuals to cope with new technology (see Thurlow and McKay 2009). Third, the language issue owing to the fact that most texts in the Internet are in English will likewise be addressed. Literacy rates of young Filipinos are among the highest in the developing world.   

There were a lot of apprehensions before as how could children who did not have any experience doing farmwork (not true in Aurora) serve as info seekers for their parents? We try to address this concern by adding the rice garden component, which is being maintained by the students. The rice garden component will give them extra confidence in discussing rice farming issues with their parents.

Right now, the campaign has already taken off. I got goosebumps when we had the Pinoy Rice Knowledge Bank tryouts. What we did was we gave them different questions, more like those that are likely to be asked by their parents, and they searched for answers using the offline (CD) version of the PRKB. They were very fast and accurate! Very impressive, indeed! The thing is they don’t have to be farmers themselves—not now that they are still in school. BUT, they can, by all means, search for rice farming information for their parents.

Last May, we’ve got good coverage when an article about the campaign appeared in Yahoo News. Many expressed interest to replicate the campaign or at least to be a part of it. We welcome similar suggestions. So if you want to replicate this campaign in your area, do contact me. I will write more about this campaign in the coming weeks! I’ll keep you posted.

Doing interviews

It took me some time to decide the first entry for this blog. Since most development communicators do a lot of interviews, let me share some practical insights on interviewing. Here are some tips.

• Come prepared. Don’t turn up for an interview unless you are prepared. First, you will just be wasting your time. Second, you are wasting your interviewee’s time. Third, you will be wasting your office’s resources. So be prepared when you do interviews. You can do this by reading about the topic for interviews, asking around about your interviewee, and by preparing your list of questions. BUT, make sure that you don’t look every so often at your interview questions. The interview must be very fluid—more like talking to a friend so the other party will be enticed to tell lengthy stories. 
  
• Listen very carefully. There’s a book by Ricardo Ramirez and Wendy Quarry called “Communication for another development: listening before telling”. The importance of listening can never be overemphasized. Remember that you are there to get their stories, understand their realities. See it more like you’re watching a movie, you will never appreciate it if you will be doing other things such as chatting with somebody or if you’re mind is in a trance. Listen, listen, listen.
• Step back, and suspend judgment. Related to the previous point, make sure to unlearn so many things. Listen to their stories very well. See their stories from their perspective. Their realities count, not yours.

• Be sincere in listening, they will know if you’re not. Just like when you are talking to your friend, your interviewees will know very easily if you are not sincere in listening. Remember nonverbal cues are far stronger than verbal ones. This is crucial as some interviewees are very sensitive. In my work, farmers are very sensitive with this one. They will not show it to you, but you will know it, as they will be less enthusiastic in telling their stories. Their sentences will be shorter—you will not get anything significant from them. Remember, respect begets respect.
• Explain your purpose for coming. Often, it is always very difficult to start interviews for several reasons. First, an individual, for instance a farmer, would always find it weird to be revealing so many things to someone s/he’s met for the first time. Second, it is true that it does take some time before you could establish rapport with someone. To at least overcome these things, you need to explain very your purpose for doing the interview. If you are a rather young development communicator, introduce yourself properly. Credibility is always an issue for young development communicators.
• Explain what’s going to happen after the interview. We don’t want our interviewees to feel robbed after the interview. We don’t want them to have “what’s-gonna-happen-next?” questions in their mind. The polite thing to do is to tell them what will happen after the interview. For instance, if you are writing for a magazine, say that a story based on the interview might appear in a magazine, and that you will send him/her a copy. Sending your interviewees a copy of your work is always pleasing to them. And it is also your way of expressing your gratitude to them.
• Don’t burn bridges. Many development communicators consider it a done deal once they’ve conducted the interviews. They don’t communicate with their interviewees; some even decide to forget that an interview ever happened. Don’t be like them. Be very polite, and interact with them whenever possible. If they have questions, be very helpful. In my case, some farmers still text me regarding good varieties they can plant come next planting season. While I don’t have the exact answer to their queries, I redirect them to our PhilRice Text Center (09209111398). It is not about having the answers to their queries all the time, but having the ability to link them to proper channels—those who may have the answers to their questions.
• Don’t make promises that are hard to keep. While the chance is high that your work will be published especially if you have been commissioned by your office to do the interview, don’t make promises such as they will appear on a widely read magazine, their pictures will be seen by many etc. Remember that your work will be subjected to scrutiny by your editors, and unexpected changes are likely to happen along the way. And not to mention, there are mean editors out there—your work might not see print.
• Play it by ear. For some reasons, you do need to play it by ear. There are a lot of things that cannot be taught in classroom. Behaviours that we thought are already OK in our society, but are actually being frowned upon in others. I was tasked one time to interview Sudanese in Australia. In my training as a development communicator, we should always look at the interviewee in the eye—or at least maintain a good level of eye contact. However, I learned later that in Sudan, younger individuals should never look at the old guys in their eyes—that is a sign of disrespect! I was so ashamed after doing the interview. Good thing they didn’t mind, and that they understood that I didn’t know much about their culture. Things like that should not happen.