Dear All,

It is a great weekend to take a break from the same old headlines and listen to some new voices that are rarely featured in mainstream media. Here are some of the most recent updates from Rising Voices grantee projects:

Giving a Voice To The Women Activists In Yemen

The new Rising Voices grantee from Yemen “Empowerment of Women Activists in Media Techniques” will organize new media training courses for female politicians, activists, and human right workers. The trainings will give the targeted community the ability to use Internet in order to publish their point of views, documenting their activities and will give them the space to voice their opinions about issues they are fighting for. Learn more about the leader of the project Ghaida'a Al Absi, her work and her goals.

Kazakhstan: Pilot Substitution Therapy Projects Launched

Ukrainian HIV/AIDS public awareness Web site “ZAPYTAY,” which was developed and is maintained by Rising Voices grantee Drop-In Center, has published an article about a pilot harm reduction project in Kazakhstan. The Kazakh Internet community has mixed feelings about implementing such substitution therapy programs in their country.

REPACTED: Budding Bloggers In Training

Faith Muriuki got her first brush with blogging thanks to a recent training session hosted by REPACTED. Here she shares her insights on the session, its challenges and successes.

Voces Bolivianas: Augmenting Digital Literacy In Bolivia

The Rising Voices grantee Voces Bolivianas has been featured in the Canal Solidario-One World media project recently. In this feature we have Voces Bolivianas bloggers discussing how Bolivians are dealing with the new Web 2.0 learning, portraying their indigenous culture, national days, rock scene and many more.

And don't forget to check our Rising Voices’ Bookmarks Page for links to funding opportunities, award competitions, and training resources.

Have a great weekend,

David