Latest posts by David Sasaki
Ukraine: Harm Reduction and Law Enforcement
The Drop-In Center based in Kiev, Ukraine has opened a LiveJournal blog to share their experiences of working at a harm reduction facility aimed at meeting the health needs of Kiev's injection drug user community. Veronica Khokhlova translates a recent post by one of the Drop-In Center's staff.
Rising Voices Bloggers on Obama's Victory
Rising Voices bloggers joined the global chorus this week as several responded to Barack Obama's victory in Tuesday's presidential election in the United States. We hear comparisons with elections in Colombia and Bolivia, and a blogger in Kenya shares his worries about the security of Obama's grandmother living in Kogelo, Kenya.
Pati Rakotomalala on the need to listen to the youth
Pati Rakotomalala represented FOKO Madagascar at this year's Interdependence Day in Brussels, Belgium about the importance of listening to youth. Pati later gave a presentation about her experience in Brussels at Madagascar's first-ever Barcamp.
Porro Music and Dance in La Loma, Colombia
Catalina Restrepo from the HiperBarrio project in La Loma, a small hillside town on the outskirts of Medellín, Colombia, produced this video to show the importance or porro music in her community.
Serbian Web Journalism School Joins Rising Voices Grantees
Rising Voices has provided funding to support the outreach work of the Serbian Web Journalism School. Founded earlier this year in Belgrade by Serbian citizen media enthusiast and veteran blogger, Ljubisa Bojic, the Serbian Web Journalism School gathers local new media experts like Danica Radovanovic and Lidija Kujundzic to teach the fundamentals of citizen media to traditional journalists and everyday Serbians.
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.
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.
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.
South African Seniors Speak: Age Demands Action
Elders, traditionally revered as society's storytellers, have been largely excluded from the benefits of social media and online publishing. Today 600 million people are over the age of 60, and by 2025 this figure is expected to double. Using blogs, the Muthande Society for the Aged in Durban, South Africa is ensuring that elders can advocate for their own rights in today's media ecology.
FOKO Puts Madagascar on the Map
Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island, is much more than a Disney movie. By training Malagasy bloggers how to publish online and interact with the wider world of Web 2.0, Foko is helping put Madagascar on the map.
Creativity Leads to Sustainability
Rising Voices microgrants provide citizen media training projects in the developing world with just enough funding to get off the ground. Many of these projects, however, have become so successful that they are now attracting the interest of more local community members who want to learn how to communicate effectively online. In order to continue their training workshops and outreach activities, they have had to come up with creative strategies for financial sustainability.
Rising Voices at Interdependence Day in Brussels
The sixth annual Interdependence Day in Brussels brought about 20 youth from around the world to discuss issues of global interconnectedness and interdependence. Rahool Goswami from the Neighbourhood Diaries project in India and Patricia Rakotomalala from Foko Project in Kolkata represented Rising Voices at the four-day forum.
Nari Jibon: Using Blogs to Give Bangladeshi Women New Skills
The words "Nari Jibon" should be familiar to regular Rising Voices readers. The Dhaka-based project which has integrated blogging and citizen media into its English and computer classes has been covered frequently on Rising Voices in the past. In this video, we hear directly from the students and staff to get to know the individuals behind the blogs.
