September 28 2022, Africa Meetup
From TCU Wiki
| Africa Meetups |
Date: Wednesday, September 28th
Time: 3pm SAST / 1pm UTC / 4pm EAT / 9am EDT
Who: Facilitated by Mardiya & Tawanda
Where: BigBlueButton link will be shared in the following rooms on the IFF Mattermost one or two hours before the start of the meeting: Sub-Saharian Africa.
- Don't have an account to the IFF Mattermost? you can request one following the directions here.
Notes: Please put notes here: https://pad.riseup.net/p/africa-meetup
Notes
This month, the African community spoke on community building , and how we can collaboratively design a space that benefits all of us. We also shared our personal and regional updates, but mostly delved into points for collaboration and light-conversations.
Countries Present: Gambia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania , Ghana
Light Updates
- Community members are working on their IGF session coming up at the end of November in Addis Ababa
- Some members are championing online safety in their space in collaboration with Meta
- Digital Security trainers are working on safety and security project with Ghanaian LGBTQ+ activists and the ones who were arrested by the country’s law enforcement.
- South Africa Loadshedding issues: Some community members were unable to stay on the call because of the loadshedding. We also addressed some of the challenges regarding remote work, and living in a space that relies heavily on electrical appliances during this period. A community member called it “Power Gentrification”
Community Building Opportunities
- “WOULD THERE BE AN IN-PERSON IFF NEXT YEAR?”: The community members shared the importance of in-person meetings, and how the IFF created an amazing space for collaborations beyond online conversations. We are considering collaboratively defining sessions if there is an in-person IFF. Many people would also prefer to start planning ahead in case there is a possibility for it.
- Community support and collaboration: Various community members need support such as, but not limited to, working through funding proposals, designing sessions for conferences, ideas they would like to explore further and brainstorm, and general asks that other members could help with. There is an opportunity to build these networks of support, where we create a ‘mini-working group’ based on the needs within the community at the time. While leveraging informal conversations and connections to advance each others work.
- Our action: Always share you needs and asks in our signal and mattermost. Members who are available and have the means will support and the community lead will try to facilitate some processes.
