We ask everyone who receives copies of our toolkits and guides to fill out an online evaluation. And periodically we give out a prize for the most intriguing/interesting/ critical evaluation, judged by a review panel here at Tactical Tech. The latest winners, the Major Alliance Education Centre (MAEC), in Bukoba Kagera, Tanzania, received a flip cam. 

Founded in 2001, MAEC’s vision is a society free of poverty, AIDS and drug abuse. The region of Bukoba Kagera recorded the first three cases of HIV/AIDS in Tanzania in 1983 and has seen a sharp rise in the number of HIV/AIDS orphans and young people vulnerable to drug abuse.Drug abuse is still a taboo subject and MAEC have made huge efforts to overcome the stigma of drug addiction and open a dialogue through the use of technology and multimedia to show the effects of drug abuse to communities in the region through their campaign CADA (Campaign Against Drug Abuse).

Godfrey Innocent completed an evaluation for MAEC and we were impressed with their inventive use of limited technology resources and the integration of Tactical Tech’s toolkits into their work. Godfrey says: “It's not easy for us doing info-activism work in this region. Some of the barriers and challenges include the insufficient of power supply – in some remote areas there is still no electricity available. In addition we always face the problem of internet access. In our areas there are places with no internet access which hinder our activities. Where there is internet the costs are very high. But then again info-activism is very important for us. It's helping us get out information about the impacts of drug abuse in our communities.”

Despite technological obstacles, in May 2010 MAEC pulled together an informative and inspiring workshop that used 10 Tactics to inspire the use of new technologies for addressing drug abuse issues. The event attracted 30 activists and individuals from the surrounding areas. We hope the flipcam will be useful to MAEC in continuing to raise awareness about and de-stigmatise discussions about drug abuse issues in the region and across Tanzania. 

We regularly review the evaluation feedback people give us and make changes based on what people have suggested. Some toolkit users tell us about software we should include (or not); others mention good case studies we should include. Many people tell us specific ways they've used the toolkits and guides and this helps us document the outcomes of our materials and to get ideas for new info-activism stories. 

Here are some of the other ways people reported using our toolkits and guides this year: 

Message in-a-box:

"I use this book in my programs for women in technology in Iraq to help women and youth to develop their new media skills."

Hayder Fadhil - Hamzoz, Iraqi Alamal O.R.G, Iraq

"We used this as reference for a talk on using new media technology for environmental advocacy with students in the Phillipines."

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya, KABATAAN Partylist-Panay / College Editors Guild of the Philippines-Panay, Philippines

Mobiles in-a-box:

"I've used it to test messaging for marketing and campaigning."

Bijaya Satapathy, EORISSA, India

"I used it for the dissemination of information using mobile technology in advocating for children and women rights in the community I serve."

Paschal M. Nchunda, Tanzania Agricultural Modernization Association, Tanzania

Security in-a-box:

"We used your toolkit in our tailored workshops, for NGO's and media organisations."

Anonymous

"I'm now using KeePass to store different passwords of different account. This allows more secure access to different information."

Southeast Asian Centre for e-Media 

10 tactics for turning information into action:

“I used it as part of a comms/campaign training in China. The impact was huge and people are very motivated by the cards.”

Gina Sanchez, Greenpeace

“10 Tactics featured the use of maps to represent information. This has helped us think about how to use images to share our research findings, so that they are more accessible and useful to people than a typical research report.”

Oreoluwa Somolu, Women's Technology Empowerment Centre – W.TEC, Nigeria

If you have used our toolkits and guides, and want to stand a chance to win a prize, please tell us about your experience.