Stories from October, 2008
Nari Jibon: Empowering women of Bangladesh
Empowerment of women in Bangladesh is a important social issue and the citizen journalists of the Nari Jibon project from Bangladesh are trying to do so learning valuable computer, business, and language skills besides learning about citizen media tools such as blogging, photography and video. With these skills they are able to empower themselves with more opportunities. Nari Jibon bloggers also celebrated the Blog Action Day 2008 and discussed about poverty in their country.
Rising Voices Nominated World's Best Blog
Global Voices' citizen media outreach project, Rising Voices has been nominated for a "Best of the Blogs Award" (B.O.B.) in the category "Best Weblog". More than 8,500 weblogs were suggested for nomination and a jury selected the final 11 in each of 16 categories. Anyone can cast their votes online for their favorite blogs until November 26, 2008.
Voces Bolivianas: Blogging social unrest
Bolivia's recent social unrest was covered by the Voces Bolivianas Bloggers. They posted reports, photos and videos of the march and other protests by tens of thousands of peasants, miners, coca-growers, and other supporters of the government of Evo Morales.
Liberian Journalists Become Bloggers
Liberia's national image has been defined by parachute foreign correspondents for nearly its entire history since it was first founded as an independent republic by freed Black slaves from the United States in 1847. Today, Liberians are able to tell their own stories to an international audience by taking advantage of participatory media tools like blogs and photo-sharing sites. After a morning workshop at the US embassy in Monrovia, nine Liberian journalists have begun sharing their lives and stories with us on their newly created blogs.
Blog Action Day: Poverty and citizen media
On the eve of the Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty Rising Voices discusses how citizen media can raise awareness and initiate actions to eradicate poverty.
FOKO: A successful Barcamp in Madagascar
A BarCamp was held in Madagascar on October 4, 2008 in the capital Antananarivo. Organized by the Rising Voices Grantee FOKO it was the first event of such kind in Madagascar.
Hospice Casa Sperantei: Preserving Patients’ Stories
Hospice Casa Sperantei will be training its nurses, doctors, and staff in the upcoming months to use audio recording and photography equipment to collect the stories of their patients, who are all suffering from life-limiting illnesses such as cancer.
Meet the Bloggers: Kwa Mashu, South Africa
Kwa Mashu, the largest of Durban's three townships, is known for its high levels of crime, HIV infection, and poverty. But Kwa Mashu is also well known throughout the region for its thriving cultural scene, which is well represented by the new bloggers and videographers from the Ekhaya Multi Arts Centre.