Talk Up Yout Community Outreach Project
PARTNERS: Digicel Foundation, NCB Foundation
THE CHALLENGE
Young community organizers lack the support they need to continue to improve their work in transforming their communities
THE SOLUTION
A series of outside broadcasts bringing together communities, youth organizations and community development resources to highlight and hack solutions to local issues
For this 6 month project I led the Talk Up Radio team in partnership with local youth organizations and youth leaders to produce a series of outside broadcasts highlighting the voices of and collaborating with youth in underserved communities in Kingston for the Talk Up Yout School Tour - powered by the Digicel Foundation and NCB Foundation.
In designing the project I wanted to recognize what the Talk Up Radio team had come to understand over years of highlighting youth innovation, ideas and action - that community young people not only have the potential to lead the development of their communities and transform Jamaica from the grassroots level, but that they are already doing so in a million ways and simply need support.
Each episode created space for intergenerational dialogue within communities about community issues, developed solutions and promoted civic action on the part of youth in the community.
Secondly as collaboration is a core aspect of Talk Up Radio, we also invited active youth groups and youth leaders making change in other communities and public and private sector stakeholders in community development to brainstorm with community leaders and share insights and ideas for consistent implementation of simple, low-cost, positive projects and activities that build community spirit and civic engagement. These partners also supported youth organizations in each community through longer term collaborations and highlighting available resources for community development.
Thirdly, each episode was broadcast live, covered via blogs, photography and uploaded to our YouTube channel to expand the reach of the project beyond the communities we could physically visit.
From the very first community we found ourselves highlighting major issues. In Allman Town, residents seized the opportunity to relay their concerns about a planned development project that they believed would displace them and result in loss of property and businesses to the government. Following the episode we did a follow up episode focusing on this issue in greater detail, and following that episode a government agency - The Urban Development Corporation reached out to us to speak with residents live on air and the CEO of the agency committed to no displacement of residents on air.
After such results, none of the other projects ended after one episode as residents listening at home in each community consistently decided to join the broadcast team on location resulting in townhall like conversations in each community.
“All the community organizations have been more active since Talk Up Yout came here. I’ve been going to the CDC meetings and Police Youth Club meetings.”
At the end of the project we had visited 7 communities, worked with over 50 youth groups, according to reports from these groups more than 15 new projects had been developed and multiple existing projects had been strengthened. Our report outlined major issues across the communities including lack of funding for community-based organizations, to crime and violence after an outbreak of shootings in August Town prevented us from visiting the community resulting in residents requesting that we host their session in studio.
“It was extremely amazing. I was one of the community leaders identified and now everybody considers me the face of the community. They call me ‘Talk Up Yout’ and they’re asking me how to get involved in community activities.”
