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Showing posts with label Think3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Think3. Show all posts
Friday, April 8, 2011
Monday, November 1, 2010
Bloggers Stir the Globe
From Th!nk4: Climate Change:
This article was written as a request from Social Education Victoria for the October edition of their journal Ethos, during the Th!nk3: Developing World blogging competition. SEV (formerly VASST) was my first teacher subject association in the 1970s when I taught Social Studies and senior secondary Politics. Headings and links have been included for easier use online.
As one Australian Labor leader used to say, "It's the journey not the destination".
Blogging on a global stage
What do the World Cup and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals have in common? Search the Th!nk3: Developing World blogging competition website or blog search ‘world cup poverty’ and you’ll find countless connections.
Bloggers pounced on the opportunity of a global event staged in the developing world to raise awareness of the UN targets and the issues faced in meeting them. This was helped by a plethora of websites linking the two. African Progress’ ‘Alternative Guide to the World Cup’ typified sites that focused on the host continent. Former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan and United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador and football star Didier Drogba made, ‘a call for the spirit of fairness embodied by the World Cup to be applied broadly to continent’s relations with the rest of the world’.
It hasn’t just been feel good stuff. For example, 1Goal was campaigning to bring education to 72 million children who don’t have access now by 2015.
People blog about everything: weaving class, nappy changes, kitchen cuisine, the paranormal, taxi driving, magic, to name just a few. For most regulars, it’s harmless fun or a chance to follow a passion. Most never mention the dreaded p-word but politics is ubiquitous. Even blogs with totally unrelated themes will stray into the political arena once in a while. It was certainly true when Barack Obama and Julia Gillard became leaders of their respective countries.
Onliners who debate social and political issues are not always mere armchair warriors or casual commentators. Bloggers face harassment, imprisonment and even death in repressive regimes around the world. Inevitably there is a website, ‘The March 18 Movement’, that commemorates the first blogger to die in prison in 2009 in Iran. ‘Reporters Without Borders’ also document persecution of what they call ‘netizens’. Their last count was 111 in prison.
Citizen journalist
My only intimidating moment as a citizen journalist happened in the National Tallyroom on election night as part of an online citizen journalism project, YouDecide2007. John Howard had just conceded defeat. My request, to his close friend Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan for a video comment, brought a less than civil reply. At least he didn’t push me as he had done to the Chaser’s Craig Reucassel earlier that evening. Perhaps Hefferan suspected that my personal blog was called ‘Labor View from Broome’. Objectivity is an ongoing issue.
Many people doubt the veracity of so-called citizen journalism because of the possible bias of the author. It is a thin line between reporting and opinion but one that is more likely to be overlooked in the mainstream media.
Since then my blogs have expanded to three, including a cinema site. Their scope has widened to a global one through involvement as an author with Global Voices, the international community of bloggers who report on blogs and citizen media from around the world.
Th!nk3: Developing World
Much of my recent online time has been taken up with a blogging competition, Th!nk3: Developing World, run through the European Journalism Centre. Its role is to promote the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and their targets for 2015. Winners will be attending the UN General Assembly Review Summit in September in New York. By early July 100 bloggers had generated 850+ posts and 4800+ comments so far. There have been over 3 million page visits since the end of March.
As a retired English and Studies Of Society and Environment teacher I really enjoy the writing part. Full time teachers rarely get the time to reflect in depth on the world around them or share their personal interests and ideas. But for me the best part of citizen media is making videos. Have Sony, Will Travel. In fact I use two cameras now, as the larger one and a Mac laptop are too bulky together. The downside of being retired is affording the hardware and software. There are no tax deductions – ‘citizen’ is a euphemism for ‘unpaid’. An upside is the occasional paid trip. Youdecide2007 flew me from Broome to Canberra for the weekend of the election and even organised a media pass. In addition, I’ve been to Brussels for the Th!nk3 launch and Santiago Chile for the GV Citizen Media Summit 2010 in May. Next stop Kuala Lumpur in August and then hopefully the Big Apple.
Global Voices
Global Voices is one of the most exciting cyber places. Its community of mostly unpaid authors document the work of bloggers from their home country or region. Translators bring these posts to much of the non-English speaking world. It also supports projects such as Rising Voices and Advocacy. Its Citizen Media Summit in Santiago Chile earlier this ear was an inspiring gathering.
HiperBarrio
One stirring Rising Voices project is called ‘HiperBarrio’. The following is brief introduction to this amazing community.
Teenage gangs and Internet social media are two very popular tabloid targets. It is even better when these bogeys intersect through bullying, violence or racism. It’s boyz in the ‘hood, off their facebooks, organising rumbles via tweets.
A South American project is challenging these shallow depictions. A combination of youth, libraries and the blogosphere has shown that there can be alternative storylines. It’s an unlikely setting. The city of Medillin in Columbia has been better known for drugs, theft, intimidation, kidnapping and murder, with lashings of political and police corruption thrown in. A group of young people in the La Loma de Javier neighbourhood are confronting this bleak picture.
Their blogging collective HiperBarrio aims ‘to promote community use of the Web by the responsible exercise of citizen journalism and the recovery of historical memory’.
They are not only documenting their history and preserving their culture. They face the fear that permeates their communities by telling their stories. More importantly they are focused on building a better society where paramilitaries do not rule and violence does not draw “invisible borders” between local neighbourhoods. They are working for a participatory, free, open democracy.
They are defending their culture and their future with ideas, with words. Their weapons include multi-media tools such as blogs, video, audio and podcasts. As a result, training is a crucial part of their mission. I was chuffed to see an article ‘On Grammar’ on their central blog ‘ConVerGentes’. It explores the need for precision and accuracy in online journalism.
Their virtual pens generate both stark prose and impassioned poetry. Try to fit that into the usual stereotype.One of the key bloggers, Yesenia Corrales, writes at ‘Angelgoth’. Her presentation to a packed auditorium at the recent Global Voices Citizen Media Summit, was a stirring experience. Fittingly it took place in the Santiago Public Library. The original collective has more than twenty individual blogs with names like ‘Lunatico’ and ‘Mental Product’ whose gaol is to reach out to the community.
These are original voices, dare I say authentic at a time when the word has been hijacked for political spin in Australia. They think before they write, despite the heat of their daily moments. Their prose and poetry broil with urgent purpose for very real audiences. Their youthful idealism defies the ever-present reality of their lives with energy and hope.
The Medillin Pilot Public Library is both the oasis where young people can access computers and the centre for citizen media training. This amazing initiative has recently spread to three other libraries in the city. In the good old days this would have been called the beginnings of a movement.
Global Voices is unique. Its authors do not present their own ideas. Their posts present a roundup of what bloggers from a particular country have been writing about a topical issue. The Lingua people choose the English language articles that they translate. There are currently nearly twenty languages including many European, Asian and African languages. It is a real buzz to be translated into Swahili, Bangla, Chinese and many more.
Local Goes Global
Immediately after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, the Global Voices editor asked me to write a post. I was surprised as I thought that our disaster would not be of interest to the rest of the world which experiences floods, earthquakes, and tsunamis that kill thousands or tens of thousands. Much to my surprise ‘Australia: Bushfires devastate Victoria’ was one of the more popular posts of the year.
Another topic that generated a lot of interest was ‘Australia: Indian Homicide Reignites Racism Ruckus’ following the death of Nitin Garg in Melbourne in January this year. The sometimes heated debate generated 39 comments from a broad range of people.
The future
The challenge by the Web to the traditional print and electronic media has grown exponentially. The initial response of the mainstream media was to publish blogs by their professional journalists on their websites. This has exploded in the last couple of years, partly because ‘new media’ organisations like ‘Huffington Post’ gave voices to a broad range of non-journalists. In Australia, News Limited’s ‘Punch’ and the ABC’s ‘Drum’ are very healthy examples where a wide cross-section of opinion is aired everyday.
Essentially, blogs are just web pages but they have many advantages for teachers and their classes. Firstly, they are usually free. Secondly, their use and access can be restricted to registered members, plus posts and comments can be moderated. A lot of the blogosphere use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to share their blog posts and to maintain contact with their online networks. Organisations and others are making increasing use of Facebook pages to get the message out and to recruit for their causes. Most Non-Government Organisations now have blogs on their websites as well. Oxfam Australia is a good example.
Before retirement in 2007 at 60, people used to ask me if it would be difficult to fill in the time. Now there is never a spare minute, except when we jump in the 4WD and head bush and enjoy the pleasures of reading. There the only net is for mozzies.
This article was written as a request from Social Education Victoria for the October edition of their journal Ethos, during the Th!nk3: Developing World blogging competition. SEV (formerly VASST) was my first teacher subject association in the 1970s when I taught Social Studies and senior secondary Politics. Headings and links have been included for easier use online.
As one Australian Labor leader used to say, "It's the journey not the destination".
Bloggers Stir the Globe
(or Blog is not a Four-letter Word)
Blogging on a global stage
What do the World Cup and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals have in common? Search the Th!nk3: Developing World blogging competition website or blog search ‘world cup poverty’ and you’ll find countless connections.
Bloggers pounced on the opportunity of a global event staged in the developing world to raise awareness of the UN targets and the issues faced in meeting them. This was helped by a plethora of websites linking the two. African Progress’ ‘Alternative Guide to the World Cup’ typified sites that focused on the host continent. Former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan and United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador and football star Didier Drogba made, ‘a call for the spirit of fairness embodied by the World Cup to be applied broadly to continent’s relations with the rest of the world’.
It hasn’t just been feel good stuff. For example, 1Goal was campaigning to bring education to 72 million children who don’t have access now by 2015.
People blog about everything: weaving class, nappy changes, kitchen cuisine, the paranormal, taxi driving, magic, to name just a few. For most regulars, it’s harmless fun or a chance to follow a passion. Most never mention the dreaded p-word but politics is ubiquitous. Even blogs with totally unrelated themes will stray into the political arena once in a while. It was certainly true when Barack Obama and Julia Gillard became leaders of their respective countries.
Onliners who debate social and political issues are not always mere armchair warriors or casual commentators. Bloggers face harassment, imprisonment and even death in repressive regimes around the world. Inevitably there is a website, ‘The March 18 Movement’, that commemorates the first blogger to die in prison in 2009 in Iran. ‘Reporters Without Borders’ also document persecution of what they call ‘netizens’. Their last count was 111 in prison.
Citizen journalist
My only intimidating moment as a citizen journalist happened in the National Tallyroom on election night as part of an online citizen journalism project, YouDecide2007. John Howard had just conceded defeat. My request, to his close friend Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan for a video comment, brought a less than civil reply. At least he didn’t push me as he had done to the Chaser’s Craig Reucassel earlier that evening. Perhaps Hefferan suspected that my personal blog was called ‘Labor View from Broome’. Objectivity is an ongoing issue.
Many people doubt the veracity of so-called citizen journalism because of the possible bias of the author. It is a thin line between reporting and opinion but one that is more likely to be overlooked in the mainstream media.
Since then my blogs have expanded to three, including a cinema site. Their scope has widened to a global one through involvement as an author with Global Voices, the international community of bloggers who report on blogs and citizen media from around the world.
Th!nk3: Developing World
Much of my recent online time has been taken up with a blogging competition, Th!nk3: Developing World, run through the European Journalism Centre. Its role is to promote the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and their targets for 2015. Winners will be attending the UN General Assembly Review Summit in September in New York. By early July 100 bloggers had generated 850+ posts and 4800+ comments so far. There have been over 3 million page visits since the end of March.
As a retired English and Studies Of Society and Environment teacher I really enjoy the writing part. Full time teachers rarely get the time to reflect in depth on the world around them or share their personal interests and ideas. But for me the best part of citizen media is making videos. Have Sony, Will Travel. In fact I use two cameras now, as the larger one and a Mac laptop are too bulky together. The downside of being retired is affording the hardware and software. There are no tax deductions – ‘citizen’ is a euphemism for ‘unpaid’. An upside is the occasional paid trip. Youdecide2007 flew me from Broome to Canberra for the weekend of the election and even organised a media pass. In addition, I’ve been to Brussels for the Th!nk3 launch and Santiago Chile for the GV Citizen Media Summit 2010 in May. Next stop Kuala Lumpur in August and then hopefully the Big Apple.
Global Voices
Global Voices is one of the most exciting cyber places. Its community of mostly unpaid authors document the work of bloggers from their home country or region. Translators bring these posts to much of the non-English speaking world. It also supports projects such as Rising Voices and Advocacy. Its Citizen Media Summit in Santiago Chile earlier this ear was an inspiring gathering.
HiperBarrio
One stirring Rising Voices project is called ‘HiperBarrio’. The following is brief introduction to this amazing community.
Teenage gangs and Internet social media are two very popular tabloid targets. It is even better when these bogeys intersect through bullying, violence or racism. It’s boyz in the ‘hood, off their facebooks, organising rumbles via tweets.
A South American project is challenging these shallow depictions. A combination of youth, libraries and the blogosphere has shown that there can be alternative storylines. It’s an unlikely setting. The city of Medillin in Columbia has been better known for drugs, theft, intimidation, kidnapping and murder, with lashings of political and police corruption thrown in. A group of young people in the La Loma de Javier neighbourhood are confronting this bleak picture.
Their blogging collective HiperBarrio aims ‘to promote community use of the Web by the responsible exercise of citizen journalism and the recovery of historical memory’.
They are not only documenting their history and preserving their culture. They face the fear that permeates their communities by telling their stories. More importantly they are focused on building a better society where paramilitaries do not rule and violence does not draw “invisible borders” between local neighbourhoods. They are working for a participatory, free, open democracy.
They are defending their culture and their future with ideas, with words. Their weapons include multi-media tools such as blogs, video, audio and podcasts. As a result, training is a crucial part of their mission. I was chuffed to see an article ‘On Grammar’ on their central blog ‘ConVerGentes’. It explores the need for precision and accuracy in online journalism.
Their virtual pens generate both stark prose and impassioned poetry. Try to fit that into the usual stereotype.One of the key bloggers, Yesenia Corrales, writes at ‘Angelgoth’. Her presentation to a packed auditorium at the recent Global Voices Citizen Media Summit, was a stirring experience. Fittingly it took place in the Santiago Public Library. The original collective has more than twenty individual blogs with names like ‘Lunatico’ and ‘Mental Product’ whose gaol is to reach out to the community.
These are original voices, dare I say authentic at a time when the word has been hijacked for political spin in Australia. They think before they write, despite the heat of their daily moments. Their prose and poetry broil with urgent purpose for very real audiences. Their youthful idealism defies the ever-present reality of their lives with energy and hope.
The Medillin Pilot Public Library is both the oasis where young people can access computers and the centre for citizen media training. This amazing initiative has recently spread to three other libraries in the city. In the good old days this would have been called the beginnings of a movement.
Global Voices is unique. Its authors do not present their own ideas. Their posts present a roundup of what bloggers from a particular country have been writing about a topical issue. The Lingua people choose the English language articles that they translate. There are currently nearly twenty languages including many European, Asian and African languages. It is a real buzz to be translated into Swahili, Bangla, Chinese and many more.
Local Goes Global
Immediately after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, the Global Voices editor asked me to write a post. I was surprised as I thought that our disaster would not be of interest to the rest of the world which experiences floods, earthquakes, and tsunamis that kill thousands or tens of thousands. Much to my surprise ‘Australia: Bushfires devastate Victoria’ was one of the more popular posts of the year.
Another topic that generated a lot of interest was ‘Australia: Indian Homicide Reignites Racism Ruckus’ following the death of Nitin Garg in Melbourne in January this year. The sometimes heated debate generated 39 comments from a broad range of people.
The future
The challenge by the Web to the traditional print and electronic media has grown exponentially. The initial response of the mainstream media was to publish blogs by their professional journalists on their websites. This has exploded in the last couple of years, partly because ‘new media’ organisations like ‘Huffington Post’ gave voices to a broad range of non-journalists. In Australia, News Limited’s ‘Punch’ and the ABC’s ‘Drum’ are very healthy examples where a wide cross-section of opinion is aired everyday.
Essentially, blogs are just web pages but they have many advantages for teachers and their classes. Firstly, they are usually free. Secondly, their use and access can be restricted to registered members, plus posts and comments can be moderated. A lot of the blogosphere use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to share their blog posts and to maintain contact with their online networks. Organisations and others are making increasing use of Facebook pages to get the message out and to recruit for their causes. Most Non-Government Organisations now have blogs on their websites as well. Oxfam Australia is a good example.
Before retirement in 2007 at 60, people used to ask me if it would be difficult to fill in the time. Now there is never a spare minute, except when we jump in the 4WD and head bush and enjoy the pleasures of reading. There the only net is for mozzies.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
MDG Summit Lying Low Down Under
Cross post, Global Voices/Th!nk3:
The Australian media seem distracted from this week’s UN Millennium Development Goals Summit. Our Federal election with its hung parliament and the football finals season are among the causes. Nevertheless, deposed Kevin Rudd has received a lot of attention for his current overseas trip. Unfortunately it has been mainly for local political reason.More: Australia: MDG Summit Lying Low Down Under
Thankfully the Oz blogosphere has plenty of MDG traffic, though most of it is confined to NGOs and church groups.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Working To Protect Children
My latest Think3: Developing World post:
Jess Allen worked in Thailand with ECPAT International on their program to stop child sexual exploitation, trafficking and abuse. She is currently in Melbourne as the advocacy and communications officer with Child Wise helping to organise their Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People.
Jess’ Story: Working To Protect Children
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Employing Traditional Climate Knowledge
My latest post for Th!nk3: Developing World:
Aboriginal rangers in Australia are helping to combat global warming in an innovative project by applying traditional indigenous knowledge.
Indigenous Australia #4: Employing Traditional Climate Knowledge
Aboriginal rangers in Australia are helping to combat global warming in an innovative project by applying traditional indigenous knowledge.
Indigenous Australia #4: Employing Traditional Climate Knowledge
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Crisis Reporting: Food Insecurity 2010
I hadn’t visited the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting until it joined forces recently with Global Voices. It is an amazing website overflowing with online journalism about international issues. GV health editor Juhie Bhatia is leading the Global Voices on Food Insecurity project.
Crisis Reporting: Global Food Insecurity 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Stop Sex Trafficking of Children: Child Wise Campaign Launch
My latest post at Th!nk3: Developing World: Stop Child Sex Trafficking!
Includes video of the Melbourne campaign launch at The Body Shop, featuring music group Blue King Brown.
Includes video of the Melbourne campaign launch at The Body Shop, featuring music group Blue King Brown.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Stand Up to End Poverty 2010
STAND UP 2010
"When world leaders gather at the United Nations for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Review Summit in September, the voices of their citizens will follow them, telling them, loudly and clearly: "We will no longer stay seated or silent in the face of poverty and the broken promises to end it!'
The demands and expectations of citizens across continents and countries, made visible and audible throughout 2010, will culminate in the "Stand Up 2010" mobilization. Stand Up 2010 will take place over three days beginning Friday September 17th, through Sunday the 19th."
United Nations Millennium Campaign
Join us at Th!nk3: Developing World for the ongoing conversation.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Video Scandal Threatens Indonesian Sex Education
Crosspost from Th!nk3: Developing world:
Sex education is not a formal part of the national curriculum in Indonesia but apparently it does happen in a haphazard way in many schools.More
...it can be highly contentious in this secular nation with its deep religious roots. This is especially true when the universal obsession with celebrity encounters sexual scandal.
Viral Video Scandal Threatens Indonesian Sex Education
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Family Planning: The Population Elephant
My latest Th!nk3: Developing World post:
Population growth is the elephant in the room when assessing the progress of the UN Millennium Development Goals. Indonesia has a long history of in this area through effective family planning programs. There have been recent concerns that the world's fourth most populous nation faces many challenges in maintaining its achievements.
Family Planning: Gunning for the Population Elephant
Friday, June 18, 2010
Our Generation: Indigenous Australia Today
Crosspost from Th!nk3: Developing World:
Much of indigenous Australia fits too readily into the developing world category. It's a national disgrace in one of the world's wealthiest countries. Poor health, low participation rates in education, very crowded housing, unemployment, and substance abuse are among the major problems, especially in remote and regional communities.
A friend and former teaching colleague in Arnhem Land's Maningrida Community, Sinem Saban, has just directed a film addressing these issues head on. She is co-writer and producer of Our Generation with Damien Curtis. The preview gives background to the current struggles to 'close the gap', in the government's words.
Indigenous Australia #1: Our Generation
Thursday, June 10, 2010
African Alternative Guide to the World Cup
Crosspost from Th!nk3:Developing World:
The Africa Progress Panel has launched the Alternative Guide to the World Cup. Former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan and United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador and football star Didier Drogba have made:
Please click here to download the Complete Guide.
The kick off is the first game for South Africa against Mexico.
Featured, in Group order, are: South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Côte d'Ivoire.
We'll be watching from Australia with great interest! The Socceroos won't play any African countries until the 2nd Round.
More
The Africa Progress Panel has launched the Alternative Guide to the World Cup. Former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan and United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador and football star Didier Drogba have made:
Thanks to kabissa space for change in africa for the links. If you haven't been there yet, pay them a visit.... a call for the spirit of fairness embodied by the World Cup to be applied broadly to continent’s relations with the rest of the world
Please click here to download the Complete Guide.
The kick off is the first game for South Africa against Mexico.
Featured, in Group order, are: South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Côte d'Ivoire.
We'll be watching from Australia with great interest! The Socceroos won't play any African countries until the 2nd Round.
More
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Developing World: View from Peru
Latest post at Th!nk3 Developing World blogging competition.
Julio Padilla is a tour leader with Intrepid Travel. He discusses the changes in Peru over the last 20 years and South America's overall progress. He shares his hopes for the future with infectious optimism.
View from Peru: The World is Awesome
Julio Padilla is a tour leader with Intrepid Travel. He discusses the changes in Peru over the last 20 years and South America's overall progress. He shares his hopes for the future with infectious optimism.
View from Peru: The World is Awesome
Saturday, June 5, 2010
World Environment SaturDay: Not Just About Polar Bears and Gorillas
Rwanda is the Global host for this year's World Environment Day.
Cross post from Th!nk3: Developing World:
To celebrate, a series of videos from down under that focuses on the developing world.
It's from EngageMedia 'Social justice and environmental videos from the Asia Pacific'
WED 2010: Not Just About Polar Bears and Gorillas
Cross post from Th!nk3: Developing World:
To celebrate, a series of videos from down under that focuses on the developing world.
It's from EngageMedia 'Social justice and environmental videos from the Asia Pacific'
WED 2010: Not Just About Polar Bears and Gorillas
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Blogging for Bolivia
My latest Th!nk3: Developing World post:
Blogging for Bolivia: Ruben’s Vision
"We Bolivians think that in the future we can help other countries who may need our support. That's our vision!"Watch the video at:
Ruben Hilari
Blogging for Bolivia: Ruben’s Vision
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Good News on Child Mortality
At a time when the tabloids and the conservative politicians are launching a new offensive against overseas aid, some good news (complete with an Australian connection):
Dramatic Drop in Child Mortality
Friday, May 21, 2010
Ceasefire Liberia: Rising African Voices
Nat Bayjay is the Project Manager of Ceasefire Liberia:
Ceasefire Liberia is a multimedia project to put Liberian Diaspora in touch with what is happening at home. Liberia is recovering from 14 years of Civil War.It is a Rising Voices initiative of Global Voices:
Ceasefire is trying to bridge the gap between Liberians across the world and those who are still at home.
from Muhammad Karim - GV Citizen Media Summit
Ceasefire Liberia ... aims to document the Liberian experience on both sides of the ocean. It includes a book, documentary film work, and now a blog. The goal of the blog is to connect the Liberian community in Liberia with the rest of the Diaspora in order to create a dialogue between those who fled during the war and those who remained.My video of Nat's presentation to the recent Global Voices Citizen Media Summit in Santiago, Chile is available at Th!nk3: Developing World. It was an inspiring moment. In Nat's words, it's "beyond the ordinary"!
About Ceasefire Liberia
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Oxfam Australia: More Aid Now
Oxfam Australia is campaigning to raise the country's overseas aid commitment to 0.7% of GDP, the UN target for 2015. This follows a modest increase in the Australian Budget last week.
More on Th!nk3: Developing World
More on Th!nk3: Developing World
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Th!nk3: Two-Edged Tourism
From my latest post for Th!nk3:
...tourism is often a two-edged sword in the developing world. It can help to maintain aspects of culture that might otherwise be threatened, such as traditional art and crafts, language and lifestyle. It can provide a source of income for many who are economically marginalised.
However, the quest for exotic memorabilia and multi-media memories is fraught with dangers. The here-today/forgotten-tomorrow tourism merry-go-round can be demeaning of the local people and degrading of their culture. Souvenir hunting is a blood sport at times. Haggling becomes a game to get the lowest price. In places like Bali's Kuta Beach or Kathmandu's temples, mothers make a below cost sale to feed their children.
Cut-throat competition spurs distrust on both sides. Aggressive touting and deceptive practices can become commonplace.
Tourism’s Two-Edged Sword
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
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