October 19, 2010
Jason Hahn is the Information and Communication Technology Innovation (ICTI) Development Manager at Grameen Foundation.
Grameen Foundation’s Community Knowledge Worker (CKW) program, based in Uganda, is dedicated to bringing life-changing information to farmers. Through a network of CKWs empowered with mobile-phone technology, we provide tips to farmers on preventing crop disease, raising livestock, and getting the best prices for their goods.
[caption id="attachment_1026" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The recruitment team crossing a river after the team ran into a washed-out bridge "]
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Grameen Foundation’s Community Knowledge Worker (CKW) program, based in Uganda, is dedicated to bringing life-changing information to farmers. Through a network of CKWs empowered with mobile-phone technology, we provide tips to farmers on preventing crop disease, raising livestock, and getting the best prices for their goods.
As we roll out this network of CKWs across rural Uganda we’re looking for farmers in the most rural and difficult-to-reach corners of Uganda, to ensure that information is available to everyone, not just those close to a road or in a populated area. Sometimes that requires taking extreme measures – sometimes it even requires crossing a river swollen with rainwater.
Recently, our team ran into a washed-out bridge when recruiting new CKWs in the Okidi region of Northern Uganda, not far from the border of Sudan. Without hesitating, they jumped into a boat to get across the river and recruit on the other side. In the words of Simon Okut, one of the members of the team, “Not even the washed-away bridges will stop Grameen Foundation from reaching our target communities. In this photo, the recruitment team is getting on a boat to cross to Okidi parish in Atiak sub-county, which hasn’t accessed services for a while due to collapsed bridge. Bravo GF!"