Instructors use YouTube to get new ideas

Sindh Tech Skill Development Centre in the Lyari area of Karachi offers classes in IT skills and English, as well as make-up and hairstyling for young women and girls. The teachers and the students are using digital media to empower themselves. Lyari was once marred by gang violence that made resident feel unsafe. And although things are normalising now, there are still few public spaces for women. This vocational training centre for young women is an exception. 

Nawal Zahid Hussain: IT instructor 
"I did not know how to use the Internet, but the mobile phone changed things for me. If I don't know something about Adobe suite or HTML, for example, I can quickly go to YouTube and look for answers. I get all the information I need. Sometimes it is as simple as copying and pasting. We wanted to arrange an activity for children in our center, but we didn't know how. We searched for 'activity' on YouTube and found a 'balloon activity'. So, we arranged the exact same activity for our children here, which also included a positive message for them."

Farzana Sarhadni: Beauty and hairstyling instructor 
"I don't use Facebook because there are bad people on it, but I use YouTube and WhatsApp and they're both quite useful. In my opinion, had there been no Internet, no one would be able to do anything. Even if you are not highly educated, you can surf using your voice. It has everything you need. It's like a friend to me. Even teachers get irritated when they are asked something again and again, but YouTube doesn't mind."

The #speakup barometer is a DW Akademie project that examines the connection between digital participation, freedom of expression and access to information. Learn more at www.dw.com/barometer