Here at UWASNET we are a network of slightly more than 200 NGOs working in Uganda in the WASH sector.
We are organized in thematic working-groups and circulate internal newsletters and quarterly news publications with case studies from out members. We also organize regular "learning forums" in the regions of Uganda (if funding permits) and closely coordinate our activities with the Ugandan Ministry of Water and Environment.

While we also have a website and a twitter ( twitter.com/uwasnet ) etc. I feel that internet communication (even emails) is still not fully taken up by most people here in Uganda (and I am talking about sector professionals that do have internet access). Generally phone-calls (that suffer from bad voice quality of the carriers) and face to face meetings are still the much preferred option, however the latter is expensive and one could argue that is is preferred because of the "facilitation" money that always has to be given :(

Never the less we are currently pre-testing a sort of mix between facebook, linkdin and an online yellow-pages of WASH NGOs on our website as an improved communication and knowledge sharing platform: www.uwasnet.org/Elgg
Uptake is slow though, but feel free to register if you are interested in WASH work done in Uganda. It is based on the open-source Social Media platform Elgg, so anyone can set up a similar site if they want for free (not counting webhosting costs obviously).

We also did some videos in the past: www.youtube.com/user/uwasnet and ran them on local television. However, participating in radio-shows and doing interviews on radio seems like the more cost efficient and wider reaching option.

Last but not least, we recently supported the creation of a "media network" of print, radio and television journalists interested in issues related to WASH and environment, through which we hope to be able to place more relevant information in the media without having to rent expensive advertisement space. It's yet to become fully operational though.

Dear SuSanA members,

I am curious to know more about the communications activities that each of you are engaged in for your respective projects. As the communications lead for Project Sammaan, it'd be interesting to hear what, if any, dissemination efforts are either planned or currently being utilized.

For those interested, we have a project website and blog (ProjectSammaan.com), produce a monthly newsletter, have a presence on Facebook and Twitter, attend and present at sector-related conferences, actively push out press releases, create various pieces of print collateral (e.g., one-off summary workbooks for conferences), and document project activities using video and still images which are then used to create photo essays and short-form documentaries.

With the amount of great work being done, I'd love to hear what people are doing to help their projects "break through the clutter" to build awareness for their initiatives.