Stories from October, 2011
Ségou Villages: The Wisdom of Bambara Proverbs
Proverbs are short expressions of popular wisdom. In Mali, many of these sayings can be found in the Bambara language, which is the most widely understood language in the country, especially in the Ségou region. It is here where the Rising Voices grantee projects Ségou Villages Connection is teaching rural residents how to use the internet to share stories. However, these proverbs can also be found on various other blogs and Twitter conversations.
Languages: A Podcast of Champions in Warlpiri
The Lajumanu Champions is a classroom of young students in the Northern Territory of Australia. Together with their teacher, Adrian Trost, the students have been producing a monthly podcast, which includes a Warlpiri demonstration highlighting the language spoken by the Aboriginal people.
Ukraine: A Healthy Debate in the Comments Section
A popular Ukrainian internet website published an article that was critical of opioid replacement therapy programs. The online discussion that took place in the comments section shows that there is a healthy debate about the role of this programs in society. Some bloggers also took the discussion over to their sites.
Languages: Free Wi-Fi on Niue as a Catalyst
Now the island of Niue has free nationwide wi-fi for use by its residents and visitors, how can it be a catalyst to promote the use of the Niuean language at home and abroad? Emani Fakaotimanava-Lui has some ideas and will take part in the online dialogue co-hosted by Rising Voices.
HiperBarrio: Balloon Mapping La Loma Neighborhood
RV grantee alumnus HiperBarrio based in Medellín, Colombia continues its participatory media work in the neighborhood of La Loma. To build upon their previous work mapping their community with Open Street Maps, the ConVerGentes team decided to explore the world of balloon mapping.
Amadeyr Cloud: Bridging The Illiteracy Wall
An ambitious project has started in Bangladesh combining two popular concepts - cloud based computing, and multimedia contents in interactive tablet PCs. Amadeyr Cloud Limited (ACL) is the brainchild of four individuals who believe that being illiterate doesn’t mean that one should be uninformed as well.
Blogging Positively: The Challenge of Fighting Stigma in Egypt
Studies estimate that about 11,000 Egyptians are living with HIV, but that number could be much higher based on the fact that so many do not get tested or seek treatment based on the high degree of stigma against the disease. Ahmed Awadalla, a blogger with the Rising Voices grantee project Exploring Taboos wrote about “the price of stigma” in Egypt.
Using Citizen Media Tools to Promote Under-Represented Languages
There are communities emerging around the use of participatory citizen media and web 2.0 tools to promote the use of under-represented languages. Join New Tactics, Rising Voices, Indigenous Tweets, and other practitioners for an online dialogue on Using Citizen Media Tools to Promote Under-Represented Languages from November 16 to 22, 2011.
Ukraine: ASTAU Adds Blogging Workshop for Members
The Association of Substitution Treatment Advocates of Ukraine (ASTAU) started to offer blogging workshops to its member in 2011. In an email interview, Olga Beliayeva, the head of the Association, talks about how these workshops have helped its members express themselves and put a personal face to the mission of the ASTAU.
Ukraine: Learning How to Advocate for a Cause
To help further their mission, harm reduction activists in Ukraine understand that they need to deal with government agencies as part of their advocacy work. The leader of Chernivtsi NGO “Happy Future for You” Yulia Palagnyuk wrote a blog post about the tactics and activities of their advocacy project.
Januária: Making the City a Better Place to Live
The new citizen journalists from the Friends of Januária project have been starting to publish stories on the group blog about some of the issues of concern to city residents. In addition to documenting some of these problems, the bloggers have also been researching who is responsible and suggest solutions to make the city a better place to live.
Languages: Phil Cash Cash and Nez Perce
Phil Cash Cash is a linguist and a member of the Weyiiletpu (Cayuse) and Nuumiipuu (Nez Perce) Indigenous tribes of North America. He is also especially passionate about using the web 2.0 to preserve and revitalize the Nez Perce language, of which he estimates only 20-25 fluent speakers remain.
