About Project TOTO

Project TOTO is ActionAid Australia’s attempt to give poverty a voice through social media.

ActionAid plans to establish a number of blog outposts in poor communities around the world, with locals trained to use free social media tools such as Twitter and blogs to tell their stories.

We established our first blog outpost in Tanzania in June 2009, and launched our second in an urban slum in Bangladesh, in June this year.

Photo taken during training for first outreach blog in Tanzania

What will Project TOTO achieve?

Poverty is too often hidden from view, but through Project TOTO, ActionAid is helping to shine a light on issues of injustice and human rights violations on the world stage.

Ultimately, Project TOTO aims to:

• Provide a new medium through which people living in poverty can express themselves and raise awareness of their rights.
• Give Australians an intimate and powerful insight into the lives of people living in poverty and highlight the injustices and human rights violations that cause poverty.

In short, Project TOTO hopes to bridge the divide between people with important stories to tell, and Australians who want to listen.

Get involved in Project TOTO

You too can give poverty a voice through social media by getting involved in Project TOTO:

• Join the conversation on this blog and learn more about our outposts around the world
• Follow ActionAid on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates on Project TOTO
• Raise awareness of poverty and injustice through your own blog, Twitter account and other social media tools
• Visit the ActionAid website and learn more about our work