1. Did you use community media to facilitate discussion on a local issue or development?

Yes

2. If yes, why? did you see an increased awareness? (some examples would be good to document).

I used Lourdes Community Television to discuss a number of topics, but there was no indication of increased awareness or interest within the community.

On the other hand, when community forums were organized for the entire peninsula, both with and without the use of community media, there seemed to be a favorable response to the events and their content. One example was the oil forum where there was a lot of information sharing and pertinent questions as to what this means to our area. Another example was the health care forum held at Lourdes. There weren't a lot of people in the audience, but it was very informative and thought provoking for those present. It gave people the opportunity to ask some tough questions about health care.

3. What is your definition or understanding of community economic development?

My understanding of what community economic development should be is the establishment of partnerships between volunteers, social agencies, funding agencies, businesses, and community members to explore and develop what they feel is necessary and possible within a community. It is more than developing business and infrastructure, it is also about celebrating and holding on to a way of life. We all share the responsibility.

It is a slow process, and is made even slower by the lack of resources being invested in rural areas. So, I guess my definition would have to include that CED changes continuously. Presently, it is regionally focused and does not concentrate on the rural population. Even though economics dictate, strategies developed must have backing of the global economy and the global economy must recognize the importance and validity of rural life. It is important that our government bodies and agencies incorporate this into the global network. (Talk about concepts from Outer Space eh!)

4. Do you see a relationship between participatory communications (the stuff you were doing) and economic development in the community?

Yes.

5 Did you gain an appreciation for this type of activity and role its plays in community development?

The concept of Sharing Our Future has been a catalyst for opening (or widening the opening of) the lines of communication and dialogue within the communities on the Port-au-Port Peninsula. It is not that communication didn't exist, but it was not consistent or on-going. There needed to be a "body" responsible for organizing events relevant to the discussion of economic and social development.

B. Participatory evaluation questions.

Part 1:

1. Describe what you have done (in point form not in detail).

€Organized an Oil Forum. This forum was the first web cast event from this area.
€Organized an Economic Development Forum
€Organized a Health Care Forum. This included a presentation to the Port-au-Port Peninsula/Bay St. George Volunteer Health Care Advisory Committee.
€Organized a Youth Activities Day
€Co-organized a Services/Career Fair
€Had regular Community Television Events. Some topics for shows have included vandalism; the Youth Activity Day and Get Connected Day; the importance of community communications; drug abuse; local area superstitious beliefs; the Economic Development Forum; etc.. Some guests (either live or pre-taped for shows) have included Gerald Smith, MHA and Minister, Kim Kendall, Youth Engagement Facilitator, Terry LaVallee, Principal of Our Lady of Lourdes; members of the RCMP; the Lourdes Fire Department; Bev Kirby (CEN) and Tracy Snow (CIS), Cpt. Henry Gaudon, Lourdes Lynx 3012 Army Cadets, Parents; Vanessa Glasgow, Development Officer with Zone 9 RED Board, etc..
€As was required, I set up a SOF/TV committee at Lourdes.
€Video taped the Long Range Red Board's Open House/AGM/Speakers Corner.
€Set up and break down of all equipment for Lourdes Community Television shows.
€Taped interview with Premier Roger Grimes and local MHA and Minister of Health Gerald Smith (he was the Minister of Human Resources and Employment when the interview was done).
€Video taped a "Climate Change Forum" facilitated by CED students from CONA.
€Attended a Community Economic Development Forum for Women in NB in partnership with the Bay St. George Status of Women.
€Organized a show at Black Duck Brook. Set up the equipment and taped the show there.
€Acted as Community Access Program (CAP) Regional Facilitator for Zone 9. This included a variety of responsibilities including monthly reports, contact with all the sites in the zone, visits to the "local" sites, promotion, dispersing materials and information, site interest assessments, attending conferences in Gander and St. John's, acquiring quotes for a provincial CAP brochure
€Acted as a resource for the RCMP in acquiring information for the area. i.e. population statistics, etc.
€Developed a partnership with L'Association Regionale de la Cote Ouest to use equipment for forums.
€Presently I' a co-facilitator with Understanding the Early Years which shares the principals of community communications and mobilization.
€Did interviews for my participatory evaluation video. Interviews were done with the media club, the school principal, the chair of PAPEDA, and the development officer with the REDB.
€Helped organize and chaperone after school activities at Lourdes elementary.
€Partnered with Lourdes Elementary to incorporate community media into the grade 7 and 8 language arts program.
€Organized the Lourdes Elementary media club.
€Presented to the Stephenville High Robotics team on video production
€Video taping in all communities on the peninsula highlighting all the businesses and attractions.
€Participated in round table discussion live on Stephenville community television, and participated in a Stephenville web cast/radio event.
€Video taping of local events, i.e. Lourdes comedy show, Port-au-Port Agricultural Fall Fair, etc.
€Acted as a resource for Lourdes Elementary in setting up school presentations.
€Attended Sharing Our Future conferences and training in Ramea and at Cape St. George.
€Televised the Bay St. George Sick Children's Telethon at Lourdes for 2001.
€Helped with some of the Sharing Our Future t.v events in Stephenville.
€Acted as liaison between local musicians and Fred.
€Partnered with the Community Action Committee to produce a program video evaluation.
€Attended and taped a forum in Stephenville around the issue of family violence and violence against women.
€Taped 10th anniversary meetings and celebrations of the CEN. Also taped the Pathfinder Graduation and 10th anniversary celebrations.
€Attended meetings around the "Youth Engagement Program". Kim Kendall, a Communities Studies student, did this as a work placement.
€Partnered with PAPEDA to work out of their office. I report to them and take direction from them regularly. At the PAPEDA AGM, I presented an annual activity report.
€Helped develop a pamphlet for the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association. It is sent out to approximately 2000 households bi-annually. Sharing Our Future is included as a program offered out of the PAPEDA office.
€Participated in a "The Youth, the Environment and the Economy" conference.
€Viewed, categorized and catalogued all the Lourdes Channel 9 archived video tapes.
€Attended meetings on development of "Emile Benoit House".
€Attended meetings with CEN, CIS, CYN, HRE, LLREDB, CONA and others to discuss issues around perceived youth inactivity.
€Taped "Speakers Corner" at the Communities In Schools Leadership Conference
€Made successful application to VolNet for computer
€Made a successful application for a SWASP student for 2001.
€Attended discussion around development of a "Community Leadership" project.
€Monthly reports for Sharing Our Future which are posted to the web discussion board and my web page. Also regular posting to discussion board.
€Worked with the Lourdes Fire Department to develop a video of the service they provide.
€Wrote SOF letters of support for the PAPEDA Outreach position.
€Video taped "Taking Our Kids to Work"
€Participated in discussions to plan events to host a visit from Irish Students. They spent a week in the area, and I video taped their adventure.
€Learned to develop my own web page.
€Promotion of Sharing Our Future by inclusion in the Lourdes Elementary School newsletter.
€Wrote newspaper articles on local events sponsored (or partnered) by SOF.

2. Describe what has worked really best in the SOF experiment.

I think that using youth volunteers for Lourdes was the only way to continue having regular community television events. Originally I approached the school, and we incorporated community television into the language arts program. I did a show with each of the grade 7 and 8 classes teaching them equipment use, interviewing skills, camera skills, etc..

From a peninsula perspective, Sharing Our Future worked well. It was to my advantage to work out of the Port-au-Port Economic Development Association office who have a base of information and contacts of which SOF could utilize. I also had the support of staff which includes the PAPEDA Employment Assistance Services and the Long Range Red Board Development Officer.

Also to the advantage of the SOF project is the vast network of contacts and resources that the sponsor, the Community Education Network, has amassed.

3. Describe barriers that you have come up against.

For Lourdes community television, all the volunteers were youth. I approached former volunteers with Lourdes Community Television, but they had no interest in volunteering again citing that there weren't enough people at Lourdes with cable to continue. I also made a presentation to the Lourdes Community Council about the benefits of local t.v, and received the same response. Nevertheless, I encouraged them to use the program to promote local issues and happenings, and did get representation from the council on my SOF/TV committee at Lourdes.

Another barrier was the lack of input from the SOF/TV committee at Lourdes. I had to re-arrange meetings numerous times, and didn't have a full committee for any meeting. It was impossible to meet on a monthly basis and sometimes took several attempts to arrange a meeting. I reported my activities to them, and asked them to identify community issues and content but this approach was not successful. The members of the committee also felt that the low number of cable subscribers made this type of tool ineffective for community communications. However, the committee stayed intact as they felt the program was very beneficial to the youth media club because they were developing skills.

There existed (and still does) a lack of communication and partnering among those responsible for economic development for this area. There also seems to be reluctance from "government" to deal with issues relating to rural NF, and for those attempting to help build confidence, it is an uphill struggle. Even if people talk about their (rural) economic future, it has to be an objective shared by everyone and cannot be taken in the regional or provincial context. Therefore the role for this type of development within communities is a major factor if communities are to survive and prosper, but only if everyone involved participates. SOF or Community Communication or Community Media can only provide the opportunity for discussion and dialogue. There needs to be a willingness to act upon what "needs" are being communicated. Until this is done in partnership with the "communications" component, rural NF will continue to die.

4. Describe what you would do differently.

Looking back over the last two years, I think that even though the target was Lourdes, I should have focused more on a medium that covered the entire peninsula, i.e radio. (I don't think that I would have had more success with radio at Lourdes than I did with TV. There is such an overwhelming sense of abandonment there.) Community radio (peninsula) would probably have worked in this area, although I do know that representatives from L'Association Regionale de la Cote Ouest have tried unsuccessfully to have peninsula radio. The only venues that included the entire peninsula population were forums.

Part Two: Detailed questions.

1. Describe what you see as your role in the community?

I think that my role is to bring people together and give them the opportunity to provide information and ask questions. I feel that I am in a position to help people get answers to the questions they have, and to help provide a venue for those needing to relay a message. I see myself as a resource for everyone.

I also feel it is my responsibility to look at community issues and try to deal with them in
any way that I can. Some examples of this are:

Youth inactivity. I set up a youth activities day at Lourdes which saw local people come into the school and do activities with the students. It was a huge success which had some follow- up after school activities.

High Unemployment Rate. I though that the people involved in economic development for this area should all be in the same room at the same time to promote their programs and discuss how they could all compliment each other and partner for the betterment of the peninsula, so SOF organized an economic development forum.

Lack of Unity. This is a big issue here and I tried to help the process along by being totally inclusive in my promotion of SOF events. I have, on several occasions, made contact with all of the local towns and local service districts for various reasons, especially for input or inclusion into community forums.

Lack of unity was partly the reason for my organizing the services fair at Piccadilly Central High. I felt that there were a lot of services out there that people didn't know were available, and there were a lot of dedicated professionals with programs to provide who would be more than happy to be given the opportunity to promote them.

2. Why do you think SOF is important?

Sharing Our Future provided the "body" to be able to organize dialogue events that would not otherwise have been organized. It provided the opportunity for information sharing and discussion on issues relevant to peoples lives.

3. What benefits do you see in having the community more involved in participatory communications?

When people have a way to communicate, they don't feel so isolated. People begin to recognize that they have some say in their destiny, or at least have the right to "ask why" things are the way they are.

4. How do you think you are helping the community?

I feel like my role is helping people find out more about what is here for them, and that things can get better if people talk about the problems that are affecting them and their families. Most of the topics for events or forums have come from other people, so I am recognized as a resource that can make these things happen. I am also recognized as a person with "contacts", and am approached by various organizations and individuals for information.

I also think that inter-generational programs like the Youth Activities Day and the Get Connected day, help our youth to appreciate that there are things here to be positive about. It also gives local people a chance to demonstrate what skills they have to offer.

Although not everyone will know "Sharing Our Future", most have heard of it. Because of the publicity for events by local media, posters, faxes, letters, school and PAPEDA newsletters, information about SOF has been in most homes in the area. People don't always recognize SOF but recognize my name as being a resource.

5. What are some of the projects you are working on and how do they fit with the basic principles of SOF?

I am presently working on two community television events - One in Stephenville and one in Lourdes that is highlighting the Communities In Schools Reading Made Fun summer program.

6. How do you know that what you're doing is working?

Mostly because of the comments I get from people usually after an event or forum. For the most part, people walk away after the events feeling good and looking for follow-up events or have ideas for another forum or another issue that needs to be talked about.

7. Why do you think it's working?

Again, because of the comments people make.

8. Have you come across any barriers?

Many of the obstacles noted in B: Participatory Evaluation #3 apply here as well.

9. What unique qualities about your community make a process like this work?

Although there is a lot of pessimism, we have some people who really would like to help things change for the better.

10. What unique qualities in people make a process like this work?

Leadership
A positive and caring attitude
Selflessness
Willingness to cooperate, listen and learn

11. What is one thing you have learnt since you became an SOF community communications facilitator?

I have learned so many things since I became a community communications facilitator. It has been a wonderful learning experience for me.

On the practical side, I can hook up and break down all my community t.v. equipment. ( I really couldn't hook up my tv to my VCR before I started this!)

I've learned how to do a web page and have my own which I post my reports to.

Although Sharing Our Future wasn't my introduction to e-mail, I had never used it more extensively.

I have met so many wonderful people and have a new appreciation for how things work.

I have learned that social and economic development are different but have to walk hand in hand to be effective.

I have learned that there are many people who have things to offer if given a chance.

On the down side, I have learned how red tape, over regulation, isolation and lack of resources can effect the soul of a community. And how, for those responsible for rectifying some of these problems, can actually add to it or not totally recognize the problem.

C. Personal assessment (please add comments to each question).

Community Media Facilitator YES/NO

Please note: Community communication facilitators should be familiar with the community media job description. See below.

WITHIN THE JOB

1. Participate in training necessary for implementation of the community media process.

Yes

2. Write monthly reports and post to the discussion board.

Yes

4. Be willing to learn practical technical skills in order to implement the community media process.

Yes

5. Post weekly messages to the discussion board.

Yes

6. Communicate by e-mail with the district coordinator and the other communication facilitators.

Yes

7. Participate in weekly, web board discussions with other community communication facilitators

No.