October, 2009

Stories from October, 2009

Drop-In Center: The Anti-Methadone Backlash

  7 October 2009

Pavel Kutsev, a leader of the harm reduction movement in Ukraine, writes about a war against substitution therapy programs, which includes banning methadone programs in municipal hospitals, anti-methadone campaigns in the mass media and police searches of methadone sites.

[Video] Interview with Ramsey Tesdell of 7iber.com

  7 October 2009

Ramsey Tesdell is the founder of 7iber.com, a citizen journalism community and training project based in Amman, Jordan. We met up with him at the Strengthening Independent Media program in Austria, which aims to map the new era of international media development. Ramsey explains the goals and activities of 7iber, his latest training efforts in Gaza, and the current state of donor investment in participatory media projects.

Blogging the Dream: Mental Health and Healthy Communities

  2 October 2009

Here in Câmpulung Moldovenesc, a small city in northeastern Romania along the banks of the Moldova River, a group of inspiring activists would rather focus on their mental health than mental illness. They advocate for a community-based approach which integrates mental health service users into society, rather than the usual segregation and stigmatization. "Be interested and understanding with your neighbor," the homepage of their website declares, "do not ignore him, do not fear him, help."