Rising Voices Farewell Messages for David Sasaki

Over the past 3 years as Director of Rising Voices, David Sasaki's travels have taken him to every corner of the globe. According to the travel log information provided by Dopplr, he has visited 97 world cities, while logging more than 550,000 miles. The purpose of many of these trips was to visit, support, and mentor the 21 Rising Voices grantee projects around the world. Perhaps you might have followed along with his Flickr account to see the images of the people and places that make up our Rising Voices community in places like Dhaka, Bangladesh; Monrovia, Liberia; or Kolkata, India, among many others.

Now, as David moves on to the next chapter of his professional life, it becomes increasingly clear the legacy that he has left behind as the first Director of the Rising Voices outreach project. Seeing the profound changes in many of these emerging blogging communities is proof of this impact.

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This is also evident based on the outpouring of well-wishes from the various Rising Voices projects, who created the following parting messages via text, photo, and video, putting into practice what they have learned over the past several years.

Patrick Randriamboavonjy and Théophile Marolahy from the FOKO project in Tamatave, Madagascar posted a photo montage that shows David and Global Voices Managing Director Georgia Popplewell during their visit to their town in 2008 (posted above) In addition to the images, Patrick writes about their visit:

It helped us very much because you gave us a courage and strength to go further on blogging. So, David: You did a wonderful job for all of us, and I wish you a very GOOD LUCK for your new job, may God bless you.

This is their video:

Members of HiperBarrio in Medellín, Colombia gathered one afternoon to create this video with messages of gratitude and best wishes in Spanish.

In Nakuru, Kenya, the members of the magnet theater project Repacted took the following video to wish David the best of luck:

A member of the Voces Bolivianas project, Cristina Quisbert wrote this in her blog Bolivia Indigena [es]:

La letra de una cantante argentina muy conocida dice: “cambia todo cambia…”, y bueno, hace unos días atrás me enteré que David toma nuevos rumbos en sus actividades. Desde las alturas andinas´, desde las calles en las que también caminó cuando llegó hasta El Alto, le mando saludos.

Muchas gracias David por tu apoyo a las causas más nobles. Que los caminos que tienes que recorrer sean siempre plenos de éxitos y que las manos amigas estén siempre listas para apoyarte, así como las tuyas han estado siempre dispuestas para ayudar a otros.

The lyrics of a well-known Argentinean singer say: “changes, everything changes…” and a few days ago I found out that David was taking a new path in his activities. From the Andean highlands to the streets where he walked in El Alto, I send greetings.

Thank you David for your support to the noblest of causes. May the paths that you still have to travel be filled with success and may the friends’ hands always be ready to support you, just as your hands have always been ready to help others.

In addition, two of the original coordinators of the project in Bolivia, Mario Durán and Hugo Miranda post these messages in Spanish [es]:

Jessica Olivares from Santa Cruz adds this note in her blog.

Gabriela Tanasan of the project Blogging the Dream in Romania, used a photo editor to create the following photograph:

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Even though David did not visit the project Nomad Green in Mongolia, he was able to meet the editor of the site, Otgoo at the Global Voices Summit in Santiago, Chile. She recorded the following video in the capital city Ulaanbaatar.

Other citizen journalists like Shinee, Mongoljingoo, Batzul, Ariunbulag, Tsatsral, and Bum-Yalagch all recorded and uploaded video messages for David.

Pablo Flores of the Blogging Since Infancy project in Uruguay sends this note:

It's not easy to find people supporting good ideas and helping them come true. They need to have open ears but also open minds. They must have the knowledge but also be sensitive and have the vision. That's exactly what I found in you, David. Not only a professional passionate for making a better world, but also a good friend.

The best for you, wherever the passion drives you to!

Update: We'll be adding more Rising Voices grantee messages as they come in.

Update 1:

Ghaida'a al_Absi from the Yemen-based project Empowerment of Women Activists in Media Techniques sends this farewell card:

Click on the image for a larger size.

Click on the image for a larger size.

From Liberia, Nat Bayjay of the Ceasefire Liberia project sends this picture taken of the two during David's visit to Monrovia.

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He adds:

It was because of David’s training and courage that I was able to cross the mighty Atlantic Ocean for the first time ever in my life as I headed for the recent Global Voices Santiago 2010 Summit in the South American country Chile. It is because of his never-ending willingness to help and support desirous persons like me on blogging and its related activities that I too have been able to render such in return to my fellow challenged compatriots.

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