DIGITAL MARKETING COURSE

Digital Dada Program
According to research conducted by Global Digital Insights, there were 23.35 million internet users in Kenya in January 2022. Kenya’s internet penetration rate stood at 42.0 percent of the total population at the start of 2022. For perspective, these user figures reveal that 32.25 million people in Kenya did not use the internet at the start of 2022, meaning that 58.0 percent of the population remained offline at the beginning of the year. As in all other areas, women with disabilities still have very limited access to the internet. The high cost of internet connectivity and availability coupled with the cost of connection devices translates to grim realities for access to internet among women with disabilities in Kenya. Ensuring that women with disabilities are digitally included supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ensures existing inequalities are not accelerated as connectivity becomes increasingly important. Technology remains one of the most powerful tools in breaking down barriers to participation as well as bridging the existing gaps to education and opportunity for young women with disabilities.

Our Approach

We designed  our Digital Dadas program for young women with different disabilities, as a strategy to empower them from a holistic approach on the use of new technologies. 

Digital Marketing was selected as a pilot area based on their own need and interest. However for us Digital Marketing is the starting point of our journey together.

The learning process is fully online and we use several platforms to ensure all Dadas have access to the content and information. The Skills eLeaning platform is where they have access to digital marketing content. There are also weekly sessions on zoom facilitated by young women with disabilities that have already completed the course. We also have a Whatsapp group where all Dadas can share questions, information, learning resources, among others

Methodology

Training

  1. We open a call for young women with disabilities who are interested in becoming DigitalDada. We then conduct a pre-selection based on: access to devices, county of residence and diversity of disability. 
  2. Once this selection is ready we apply an online needs assessment  to all the selected candidates, to better understand their needs and interests. A needs assessment is conducted to establish topics of interest, disabilities to take into consideration as well as hardware gaps that need to be addressed for participants to be able to effectively utilize the platform. 
  3. A Needs Analysis report is generated and an orientation schedule is drawn out to guide each participant based on their unique disability and effectively train them on how to navigate the platform, access content and download and complete tasks and assignments.
  4. The participants undertake the course which consists of various topics such as Digital Marketing Fundamentals, Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Advertising, SEO, Display Advertising, Email Marketing, Google My Business and Google Analytics.

As a result of our processes over 60 young women with disabilities have completed their digital skills program successfully. For more information about them, please check out #DigitalDada on our social media

Internship

To enhance their hands-on experience, we created an internal internship process where the young women rotate through This Ability Trust’s projects, media and finance departments to gain practical tips on how these departments operate, and work within the respective departments to strengthen their projects.

Mentorship

During the duration of the program, the young women go through an internal mentorship process on empowerment, leadership and life skills. This space provides the opportunity to have in depth conversations on employability, self esteem, sexuality among others.

Desired Outcomes

  1. This Ability Trust is actively engaged with multi stakeholders to expand the elearning platform and include more youth with disabilities in access to job and internship opportunities.
  2. Young women with disabilities from Nairobi, Mombasa, Kajiado, Kisumu, Uasin Gishu and Kakamega counties are actively using the eLearning platform to enhance their employment and entrepreneurship skills
  3. A strong movement of young women with disabilities agitating for change and increased accountability through social media.

Short term Goal

Through the Digital Dada program, the Skills platform provides employment and life skills for women with different disabilities.

Long term Goal

To empower communities of women with disabilities on their rights through the use of new technologies.

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