Evokation: Draft for your valuable input please

MY EVOKATION - First Draft – (It has to be improvedin detail in the light of valuable input and suggestions from other members)

To be Submitted by Evoke Agent: Nangar Soomro, Pakistan, email: brain8work@yahoo.com

I am going to develop a resource centre for community which has been my dream to initiate. Evoke Network has provided me insight and encouragement along with very good opportunity to go ahead with my passion through Evoke and WBI support. The Resource Centre with the Name of Evoke Network Resource Centre would be established to achieve the following objectives;

1. Information sharing on different social development initiatives such as social safety nets, basic health, primary education programmes and skills development programmes etc started by Government and Non Government Organizations for less privileged and poor segment of the society.

2. Arrange Information sessions for the community in order to promote the indigenous knowledge and sources locally available.

3. Linking social development initiatives with its target group, developing social engagements among the community and different programmes.

4. Helping them to get registration with Government, recording the birth of their children and registering their vote record.

5. Assisting local women to participate in economic activity through providing them entrepreneurial skills and suggestions along with linking them with micro credit and like initiatives.

1. The Place. The resource centre has to be initiated from a poor and remote area of Karachi District at Pipri (Bin Qasim Town – Karachi- Pakistan). Pipri has population of around 80 thousand people (51% females and 49% male – around 23% of children among total population). Most of the population lacks basic education and have no access to information. The proposed initiative has to be resource centre for them.

Resource Centre would be started with the area mentioned and based on more funding and local resources these type of Resource Centers would be replicated in other less privileged areas.

2. The Challenge. Access to right information has been a challenge for the poor, vulnerable and less privileged communities. There are different programmes initiated by the Government, NGOs and private entities but lack of information on different programmes and projects have kept most of the deserving targeted population away/far. The proposed Resource Centre would play a role of bridge between right people and right initiatives. It would help to link the deserving target population to the different suitable initiatives. Secondly aim of resource centre is to provide technical and career counseling to the youth and women in the area. The indigenous knowledge has to be promoted and presented in a way that can make difference in the area. It would help to solve the local problems through the local solutions available with community. Expected beneficiaries are young and able bodied women who would be linked with technical skills programmes and micro credit, youth would be linked with the small enterprises development organizations and generally population would be informed about the basic services available and how to get benefit from those.

3. The Idea. The resource Centre would be run through the community. Community at the target area is willing to allocate two rooms portion of building initial without any rent to start the Resource Centre. This resource Centre would be a community centre/gathering place where sharing of ideas and information would be encouraged.

· The committee would be formed to look after and run the office of Resource Centre. It would include the Chairman of committee (office bearer) and supporting counselors for management of the resource centre.

· The list of volunteers would be prepared among community who have information and indigenous knowledge and Visiting fellows list would also be prepared who have technical and special knowledge and they have time to dedicate for the community.

· Weekly sessions would be planned for different segment of the society Children, Women, Youth and Elderly on variety of topics, social safety net programmes, methodology to apply for these programmes, education and health initiatives, basic requirements for each programme, micro credit and technical skill programmes etc.

· The special sessions on Environment, Gender Issues, Water and Energy etc would also be arranged to spread the right information among the targeted population.

· There would be few learned and educated people engaged for supervision of resource centre and planning for its development and expansion in terms of services and quality.

4. The Money. What would you do with your first US$1,000 given or invested in support of your vision?

First Community Centre would be established from first US $ 1,000. Office Furniture, office equipments and a computer would be purchased initially in order to start. It is said beginning is half done, once it is started more hands would join to support and strengthen it.

I think I have to start this initiative any how, I don’t know about funding but I know that It is going to be started very soon.