The Story Bank

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

Vision:

Africa is slowly reclaiming its right to its own knowledge, gathered over thousands of years in harmony with PLACE. This is the knowledge that is being recognised, both locally and globally, as situationally relevant in maintaining human connection to the land and thus fortifying the resilience of people and place against the challenges of poverty, food systems, climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, ocean acidification, etc.

Blockchain technologies and IPFS provide a new and novel way of recording and storing this deep rooted traditional knowledge and making it accessible to a wider global audience whilst at the same time providing a potential revenue income for the local communities that hold this wisdom in PLACE, in the form of NFTs on the Cardano blockchain.

Mision:

The Story Bank is seeking to bridge the gap between the local communities that are the wisdom keepers of these stories and the global audience that would greatly benefit from their knowledge.

As place plays such a crucial part in indigenous wisdom, The Story Bank is building partnerships with local projects already operating on the ground to record the stories in a respectful and mutually beneficial way through celebration and gathering.

Once recorded these stories are then forged into NFTs on the Cardano blockchain and are fully accessible to all forever. Should an individual be particularly moved by a certain story they can become one of its lineage holders through donation on The Story Bank market and in turn receive a unique lineage holder NFT. with all profits going to the local community from where the story originated.

Pilot:

The pilot project will take place in the Wild Coast of South Africa.

It will span a 6 month time frame and will employ the idea of radical trust, which is a value running through many Indigenous cultures, to allow the elders of the community to establish for themselves how best to present their stories. After deep discussion amongst themselves and the reaching of full agreement it will be accepted, as in the ways of old, that these are the correct pointers for our time and a full programme of action will be developed.

Once developed a gathering and celebration will be held in order to physically reinstate the rituals and practices and make them part of everyday living. At this time the chosen stories will be recorded and put onto the blockchain where they will be preserved and remembered.

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

How The Story Bank addresses Grow Cardano Grow Africa:

We understand the challenge ultimately to be how do we create more awareness about Cardano in Africa as well as develop mutually beneficial relationship between the 2. Every story recorded on The Story Bank solves this by exposing traditional and rural communities to the beneficial technologies of the Cardano ecosystem as well as the potential revenue streams they provide thus further increasing user adoption and knowledge of Cardano.

At the same time the lessons and wisdom of our shared human history is preserved on chain in a way that is both respectful and inspirational to all.

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

Risk: Project is not well accepted by the local community and does not meet their particular needs leading to the stories not being told in an authentic way.

Solution: Use local, already established organisations to build strong ties with the communities to ensure their needs and desires are addressed first and foremost.

Risk: There is little to no user engagement with the Story Bank itself and the initiative does not build any traction

Solution: Build strong ties with the local communities in order to establish a strong support base in turn leading to greater media coverage and a wider global movement not just limited to Southern Africa.

Risk: The Funds generated from the NFT sales and Catalyst funding do not reach the hands that need it most.

Solution: Once again by partnering with reputable organisations as the boots on the ground we greatly mitigate this risk.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

The Story Bank platform:

Month 1: Finalise website design and landing pages

Month 2-4: Smart contract development underway for a simple NFT marketplace to show The story bank NFTs, and mint "lineage holder" NFTs

Month 4-5: Smart contracts tested for MVP pilot program. Front end integration begun

Nami and Gero wallet integration of website

Month 6: The Pilot Program's stories listed on The Story Bank and successful user engagement experience

The Pilot Program:

Month 1: Select 3 villages central to the maximum number of Elders able to participate with regard to ease of access.

Month 2: Host a day-long Village Elders Council in each village where Elders gather to reclaim their wisdom which has been, at best eroded and, at worst negated by imposed Eurocentric approaches. Elders invited and hosted by Project Manager 

The collective energy of the Elders in PLACE (near where they have always lived) will manifest wisdom that is long forgotten individually. This must be a day of traditional music, song, dance, storytelling and food solely for the joy of the Elders to return their eroded self-esteem and agency. No ‘information’ is to be captured on this day. 

Month 3: Host 1 x day-long Wisdom Council with representatives from each (or all) of the 3 Village Elders Councils. Elders invited and hosted by Project Manager

We have found that one of the appreciated aspects of the work that Sustaining the Wild Coast does is that it BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER. It is important therefore to bring the Elders all together for a singular Wisdom Council. This will take them away from PLACE but it will be compensated for by being together. Here the wisdom will deepen even further as everyone stimulates each other’s remembering. This day will take the same format as the village days but will culminate in an agreement of a way forward. If the Elders agree the Project Leader could also be at this meeting.

Month 4: Host a day long Village Elders Council in each village where the Wisdom Council is discussed and youth from the area are selected to ‘carry and record’ the knowledge. Discussions begin as to what stories to be recorded and how and what celebration/ritual/practice to be supported. Hosted by Project Leader. One Elder is chosen to work alongside one youth in each village.

Month 5: A celebration/ritual decided by the Elders to be held in each area with the whole community. Where the stories will be told and recorded.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

The Story Bank platform:

25$ hr @ 20hrs a week over 6 months

Total $12000

The Pilot Program:

Budget:

Village Elders Meeting (6 in total)  

Including catering and expenses $ 200 x 6

$ 1 200

Wisdom Council Meeting

Transport     $ 300

Catering    $ 250

Stipend     $ 250

Venue   $ 80

$ 880

Follow-up Meetings (3 villages x 5 meetings each = 15)

Including Catering and expenses. $ 95 x 15

$ 950

Village Celebration (x3)  

Including Catering and expenses. $ 750 x 3

$ 2250

Project Manager (15 days) $ 120 x 15

$ 1800

Project Coordinator (6 months) $ 320 x 6

$ 1 920

Youth leaders (x3) (5months) $ 475

Village elder mentors (x3) (5months)

$ 475

Project transport $ 190

Project Administration $ 950

Total: $11 090

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

Bradley Heather: Plutus Pioneer Program second cohort, Atala Prism Pioneer, Active developer building on the Cardano blockchain for over a year. Fluent in both Plutus and Plutarch.

https://github.com/Bradley-Heather

Local Wild Coast Partner: SWC is an NGO that has been operating in the area for 20+ years with vast local knowledge and ties to the community. Successfully implemented multiple projects of a similar nature.

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

Yes. If the pilot project is the success we hope it to be we will return to fund future projects indigenous communities all over the world.

Catalyst will not be our only funding however as a portion of all NFT sales will go towards funding additional story gathering expeditions.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

The Story Bank Platform

All code will be open source and posted on a public github repository with a bi-weekly status report posted to the same repo.

User visits the The Story Bank website will be monitored and posted in the status report as well to ensure the project is gaining traction and staying on track.

The Pilot Program

Monthly status reports will be provided by SWC with regards to progress of the story gathering.

These reports will include but not be limited to:

• Number of community members engaged
• Attendance of public gatherings
• Number of people successfully employed part time by the project
• Minutes of all meetings held

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

The local communities of the Wild Coast will gain a global footing with which to tell their stories and traditions and earn a small passive revenue from the sale of their "lineage holder" NFTs. Whilst at the same time re-igniting the traditions of their own culture.

The Story Bank will become a integral part of the Cardano community reaching far into rural areas in multiple locations bringing knowledge of Cardano and blockchain technologies as a whole into these areas and in turn bringing the Stories of the communities onto the Cardano blockchain for the benefit of all.

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

No - This is a new proposal

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Rating

By reinforcing traditional wisdom and values as well as bringing revenue streams to rural areas The Story Bank aims to tackle many of the SDGs. However the 3 that we will focus our drive on are:

SDGs:

• End poverty in all its forms everywhere
• End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
• Reduce inequality within and among countries

SDG subgoals:

• 1.1 By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day
• 5.b Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women

Key Performance Indicator (KPI):

• 1.1.1 Proportion of the population living below the international poverty line by sex, age, employment status and geographic location (urban/rural)