The Routing for Communities podcast launched a special episode that brings together the voices of the participants in the Tz’ikin Radio Party – a live broadcast marking the end of the 2024 Bootcamp in Guatemala, which in turn marked the culmination of the 2023-2024 edition of the Training Programme for the Management of Information and Communications Technology Networks in Indigenous and Rural Communities in Latin America.
This hybrid programme includes one year of online training in technical knowledge for the installation, operation and maintenance of community communication initiatives, which is followed by a face-to-face “bootcamp” in which participants share training and practices in different aspects of network deployment. The latest edition was co-organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and a network of organisations linked to community and Indigenous communication including Redes por la Diversidad, Equidad y Sustentabilidad (REDES A.C.), Rhizomatica and the Association for Progressive Communications (APC).
The 2024 Bootcamp was held in Guatemala City and brought together 28 participants from 13 Latin American countries, closing with the Tz'ikin Radio Party, "a programme of sharing to gather stories that unite us," as its hosts defined it. The broadcast brought together voices and viewpoints in some of the region's multiple Indigenous languages and was produced by Bootcamp participants.
During the broadcast, reflections were shared on the experience of the Bootcamp, the different contents of the training programme and the relevance of community connectivity. Other voices highlighted central and sensitive issues for the management of networks by communities, including the participation of women in communication spaces and access to technology, and strategies to promote the policies needed to enable communities to connect themselves.
The importance of training was also highlighted during the radio party as an opportunity for “sharing spaces with so many other people and organisations that are working for another possible communication and world.”
Focusing on the host country, two milestones in the struggle for access to communication by communities in Guatemala were highlighted during the broadcast. One of them was the Forum on Indigenous Remote Telecommunications, which was held within the framework of the Bootcamp and was the first meeting between the Guatemalan government and Indigenous communities to address the issue of communication. The other was the ruling achieved by Guatemalan community radio stations before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) to get the government to recognise the violation of the rights to communication, education and culture of Indigenous and rural peoples, highlighting that today it is the community radio sector that is assuming the role of addressing these rights.
The podcast “Routing for Communities: An audio journey tracing community connectivity around the world” highlights the life stories of people who build inspiring community-led projects to connect the third of humanity that still lives offline.
The first season comprises 12 episodes that are available in English. Some episodes on Latin American experiences are also available in Spanish or Portuguese. This episode on Guatemala is available only in Spanish.
Read also: Weaving dreams, sharing voices and growing together: Experiences at Bootcamp 2024
The Routing for Communities podcast is an initiative from the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and Rhizomatica. Its production was supported by the “Connecting the Unconnected: Supporting community networks and other community-based connectivity initiatives” project with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and also by the project “Supporting Community-led Approaches to Addressing the Digital Divide” with support from the UK Government’s Digital Access Programme.