What is Aswatona?
Our voices is a scholarship and a mentoring program that aims to connect and support podcasters within the WANA (North Africa and West Asia) region and Germany. We are committed to to build a transnational network for Arabic speaking podcasters to exchange and learn from one another. We achieve this through a series of workshops held online and in person. Each workshop has a thematic focus, which is the main topic of an audio podcast series produced by the participants in transnational teams.
Keeping you updated
Call for Participation is Now Closed
We’d like to thank everyone who applied for the Aswatona-program 2023. We received an incredible response – a total of 780 applications! We’re excited to review them all; You’ll hear back from us in February 2023. If you are not selected, please don’t be discouraged to apply again for upcoming activities. Please stay in touch and follow us on our different social media platforms. We will be offering many opportunities throughout the coming months!
Once again, thank s to everyone who applied. We’re so inspired by your enthusiasm and can’t wait to start this program.
We’re Working on a New Website – Stay Tuned
More about what happened in the last project phase – you can find on this page. We are currently working on a new Webpage where you will find more information about our ongoing and upcoming activities. In the mean time, make sure to follow our socials for the latest updates
The project was supported and implemented by:
The Podcast
The WANA Podcast Map
Curious to discover more interesting podcast about West Asia and North Africa?
If yes we have a handy tool for you! We created the first searchable Podcast Map for the region, where you can find podcasts talking about Westasia and North Africa and/or podcasts located in this area. Our goal is to increase the visibility of the diverse podcast scene in the WANA region and to make it more accessable for people from outside this part of the world.
The Workshops
In 2021, three workshops and network meetings with 18 podcasters from North Africa, West Asia and Germany were held online (#Covid-19) and in Albania. The aim of the workshops was to exchange knowledge and to share experiences on the topics of environment, power dynamics, and gender. The focus lay on female* podcasters and their prospects and influence in society.
In addition to exchanging ideas and experiences, we wanted to encourage and empower podcasters in their future endeavors.
Peer to Peer Learning
We are all experts in what we do and can learn from each other’s experiences and skills.
Strengthening women’s* voices
Our voices is a platform which promotes women’s* voices to be heard and taken seriously.
Space for Exchange
We want to listen to each other and exchange our experiences and visions concerning global and regional challenges in different societies. From Iraq to Morocco – we want your opinion.
Breaking stereotypes
We want to reach a diverse audience all over the world and question our patterns of thought.
Language diversity
We will publish the podcast in Arabic, English and German.
Our Timeline
Workshop and Network Meeting
Getting to know each other
Space for networking and exchanging
Further developing know-how on podcast production
Podcast Production No. 1
Online Barcamp
Peer to peer skill sharing
Knowledge exchange
Podcast Production No. 2
Workshop and Network Meeting
Celebrating our podcast
Evaluation of the podcast series and workshops
Next steps and future plans
Podcast Production No. 3
Closing Event
Introducing our project to the public
discussing the podcast scene in WANA
networking
Our Participants
We were thrilled to welcome 18 participants from Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, Palestine, Germany, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Egypt and Libya to the Our Voices workshops and podcast.
Favorite Podcast: Business Wars
Interest: Skating, Playing Ukulele, Song writing, Polaroid photography and Motor cycling
Secret Talent: Emotive Speaker; I believe I can strongly convey my feelings through speech
Favorite Podcast: Impact Theory
Interest: Music, Politics, Boxing
Secret Talent: Dancing swing
Favorite Podcast: Masaha (on Sowt)
Interest: Travelling, Walking, Swimming
Secret Talent: Singing
Favorite Podcast: Burnout
Interest: Coding and art in general
Secret Talent: Painting
Favorite Podcast: Podcast that focus more on the lives of people and their experiences
Interest: Meeting new people, learning new things, working on myself to become a better version
Favorite Podcast: This American Life, Kerning Cultures, Zeit Verbrechen and many more
Interest: I am interested in ideas and projects that advance and improve society
Secret Talent: Dancing
Favorite Podcast: Abajora
Interest: Reading, writing, movies, Gym, food, music, traveling
Secret Talent: “Acting” and sometimes I use this secret talent to help me get through difficult situations
Favorite Podcast: Podcasts of Kerning Cultures (like B´Hob, Jasadi, Eib), Aljazeera podcasts, Aswat and many others
Interest: Writing and reading
Secret Talent: Dubbing
Favorite Podcast: Dom Tak and Eib (of Sowt), This American Life, The Guilty Feminist
Interest: I love music, books, movies, food. I also like sports and yoga.
Secret Talent: I can sing, sometimes 🙂
Favorite Podcast: Blank Maps
Interest: Social Justice, Equal Opportunities, Identity issues and women’s rights in the Arab world
Secret Talent: Finding shortcuts to avoid Amman’s traffic (sometimes ending up in worse traffic)
Favorite Podcast: Aljazeera Podcast, Masaha, Podcasts related to philosoph
Interest: Social issues, especially women’s issues
Secret Talent: Photography, Analysis, Coaching
Favorite Podcast: Dom Tek, Great Women of Business
Interest: Gender equality, arts and new technologies
Secret Talent: Djing
Favorite Podcast: Lately I’ve really enjoyed My Favorite Murder and Taqat Hob
Interest: Watching movies, music, gardening, craft-making and camping
Secret Talent: I’m organized, observant and strong attention to detail
Favorite Podcast: Aljazeera Podcast
Interest: Politics, Cinema, Women’s sports, Literature, History
Secret Talent: Dance
Favorite Podcast: Nas Daily’s
Interest: Exploring places, taking risks & learning new things every day. I love camping & (hitch) hiking
Secret Talent: I am a WRITER UNDER WRAPS, I write poems speaking of the daily Moroccan social issues.
Favorite Podcast: Bhob (from Kerning Cultures network)
Interest: Writing, Blogging
Favorite Podcast: Kerning Cultures (if I have to choose one)
Interest: Podcasts & cultural stuff like cinema, theatre, books, stories, food, language
Secret Talent: Creative ways of climbing on trees & Feminist Anger
Favorite Podcast: Rihamiat, Jasadi, Min El Akher, Eib
Interest: Acting, Reading, Psychology, Observing people’s reactions
Secret Talent: Playing Piano
About us
Rasha Aldeeb
is at the hub in Alexandria, Egypt. She has a lot of experience in distributing podcasts and building networks. As a podcaster and feminist herself, Rasha is a great asset for our PR and Communication.
Svenja Suhre
lives and works in Mainz, Germany. She has experience in Web Design and IT management. She guides us through all technical matters and keeps our online communication running.
Katrin Schäfer
lives in Berlin. Together with Linda, Katrin is project coordinator of Our voices and responsible for our data security. In addition, she is a passionate photographer and takes care of our technical equipment.
Linda Frankenthal
chose Berlin to settle down for a while. She and Katrin are the project coordinators of Our voices. Linda is also responsible for our finances. She is always on top of things and keeps close track of our schedule.
