Hello Elizabeth, tell us about yourself, where are you from, where are you and what do you do?

Hello! I am a citizen of the world that by chance and fortune was born in Mexico City a little over 30 years ago. I live in a multicultural family and I come from one. I have lived in 6 cities in 3 countries and I hope to be fortunate enough to increase that number. Today I am in Santiago, Chile and day to day - as well as collaborating with Global Voices - I earn my bread as a marketer.

How did you hear about Global Voices and what encouraged you to get involved in their work?

With the birth of the Arab Spring, I reactivated my Twitter account. I started to follow interesting people who post regularly, including @JustAmira. I was struck by the Twitbon you had on her profile, so I came to Global Voices. I immediately fell in love with the site, reading the posts they had and their reason for being. I saw the link to work as a translator and said, “here I am.” On the same day you contacted me and the rest is history. Now not only do I translate but I have the opportunity to write my own pieces. I am very proud to be part of this community and hope to remain so for a long time. I have learnt a lot and I have met very valuable people.

Elizabeth Rivera with her little girl. 2011.

How do you have enough time to translate and write?

A little discipline, that is all. When I take a translation I give myself a date or time limit to complete it by. I do not take another until I have finished it. When I'm writing a post I don't do translations. In any case, I am a quick typer on the keyboard and I'm used to doing many things at once (you know, working, being a mother, wife, writing, friends, etc, etc.) :)

You said you have lived in 6 different cities, tell us about your travels!

Now that I remember, there are 7! In Mexico I have lived in Mexico City, Cuernavaca, San Cristóbal de las Casas and Cancún. In the United States I have lived in Irvine and Chino, both cities in California. In Chile, only in Santiago. Mexico City is the city where I was born and where I have my roots, my people, my identity. I studied in California for several years and it is also a place where I feel at home because my mother's family lives there and I spent my childhood summers with them. In San Cristóbal (or Sancris as it is affectionately known) I had the opportunity to work with a Tzeltal community producer of coffee helping them start a business that allowed them to keep the village in a sustainable way. It is a community, tucked amid the Zapatista zone, poor in material terms, but extremely rich in culture. It was one of the most enriching experiences I have had in my life. So, of all the cities I mentioned, Sancris has a special place in my heart.

Elizabeth Rivera in Dublin, Ireland.

Changing topics, how do you see the Chilean student movement? Will the negotiations between them and the government reach a conclusion?

The Chilean student movement of 2011 is the second part of the “revolución pingüina” (”penguin revolution”) of 2006. In fact, I'm sure many of those who participated in those protests are the leaders of the current movement. I think that, despite many genuine causes, this is what the Chilean society has chosen to express their discontent with inequality and I believe it is right. Education is the foundation of any society. The current system does not seek access to quality education for all of society, from financing to evaluation, training and support for teachers in all schools, especially public ones. It is not just a problem at the university level, the system begins to affect children since preschool.

I think if Chile wants to keep growing and it aspires to be a developed and inclusive nation, it must have an education system that accompanies these objectives. I think both sides, government and students (or rather, society in general) want the best for the country. This must be what prevails in the negotiations. Now, if you want to reach a true solution, the government should stop providing “patch” answers as increasing grants or lowering interest rates, which help, but do not attack the root of the problem; and the students must understand that change does not happen overnight and must be open to options. The youngsters have lit the flame of change, now it's up to the current government to seize the golden opportunity that is in front of them to leave a positive mark in the history of Chile.

And why do you think the government does not want to compromise on the core of its educational model?

There can be many reasons. Both personal and ideological. I think many in the government really believe that such a thorough reform is not needed (we think this is a neoliberal model of education, which is consistent with philosophy of the Right). Others are “afraid” to change the tax laws or think that a reform would be too complicated and/or expensive. Others simply see it as an affront against the government rather than a necessity that is independent of the party in power. And some do not want to budge. The status quo is easier and more comfortable. Maybe that's why for many years of leftist government nothing has been done to change this system. Well, at least this time, the protests have succeeded in bringing the discussion to deeper issues and has not lost the level of pressure, which is already a gain on the previous movement.

How do you evaluate the use and impact of new media in the student movement?

The new forms of media have been key to elevating the discussion and involving all citizens in this matter. Whoever wants to, can comment, discuss, propose. That is always good for a democracy. Also, citizens' forums and journals have been available to Internet users to analyze other events beyond the traditional media, which have focused mostly on covering the excesses of the protests more than anything else. Even at the beginning of this movement, they were not even covering the protests, instead giving news of anything else, while in the streets there were thousands of people demonstrating. As in the rest of the world, the new media has opened many doors of conversation that did not exist before.

Elizabeth Rivera in Angelmó, Puerto Montt, Chile, 2010.

Why are you volunteering for Global Voices and not another NGO?

For me connectivity is important in every sense. It was the reason I chose my career and why I like to travel. The more we feel the interdependence with our fellow man and our environment the easier it will be to put ourselves into the shoes of others, understanding, respecting and opening ourselves to possibilities. Global Voices has allowed me and allows readers to understand cultures, ways of thinking and news from other perspectives, which is very rewarding making ties stronger, and borders - starting with the language - are gone.

Finally, tell us your favourite activities when you are not working?

I love traveling so I'm always imagining and planning the next “break”. It is normal that my husband, my daughter and I take the bag on a Friday and return on Sunday with no problems. We like to discover places from the “local” point of view, so we explore the markets, we ask the taxi driver “where to eat where the tourists don't go” and if there is a friend in the place, even better! For us it is the best thing to spend money on. In fact, I live intensely by my favourite phrase: “The world is too interesting to stay in one place all the time.” I also like reading, especially historical novels but since my baby was born I have not had much time to devote to reading. I like playing with her ​​and showing her new things, seeing how she learns. Also, as a good Mexican, I organize outings and plans with friends quite often. It is common to see people in my house at lunch or in the afternoon having a beer. Everyone knows that they can just come round.

Thanks Eli! And to show you how true that is, our Latin America Regional Editor Silvia Viñas hopped over to Elizabeth's house for a brief chat:

Make sure you follow Elizabeth on Twitter: @elimaguire.

Written by Juan Arellano · Translated by Dan Cooper · View original post [es] · comments (0)
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With now more than 500 volunteer authors and translators, Global Voices is a unique global media network that keeps track of current events via social media conversation. Global Voices in French [fr] is one of the 20-plus sites of the Lingua translation project, and one of the most read Global Voices Lingua websites.

Since early 2007, when the French site launched, nearly 200 volunteers [fr] have translated or continue to translate articles and posts from various languages into French, every day. Our “family” lives on every continent: Francophonia is truly worldwide!

Global Voices French logo

In 2011, French-speaking translators carried out the challenging task of covering the many historic revolutions and uprisings throughout the world for the Francophone world by translating hundreds of blogsposts (with our co-editor, our Suzanne Lehn, on the front line!).

But, like our friends the Spanish translators at Global Voices in Spanish [es], when we asked volunteers what translations struck them most in 2011, “The Arab Spring” was not their automatic response. (Global Voices has been following and translating bloggers from the Arab world since 2004.)

Our translators' picks for 2011 demonstrate how much they approve of the Global Voices philosophy: shining light on countries, places, people, ignored by traditional media (for now, at least).

From left to right, upper row: Samantha, Abdoulaye, Fabienne, Ange, Lou. Lower row: François-Xavier, Noële, Gaël, Thalia, Stéphanie. Greetings and thanks to everyone involved!

Abdoulaye Bah, a Guinean United Nations retiree living in Rome, naturally pays particular attention to Africa:

I really liked translating the post about the mayoral opposition win in Mozambique. That victory teaches how it's possible to win elections in an African country, without fraud by those in power and without spending large sums of money.

Noële Belluard-Blondel, a professional translator living in France, was the first to refuse to choose only one translation:

My last translation in 2011 made me daydream…. ‘USA: Has NASA Discovered a Life-Friendly Planet?‘ I love astronomy, and space travel fascinates me. These are today's exploratory expeditions, and we're only at the beginning. I find that fascinating, gripping! I must say two other subjects struck me: ‘Bangladesh: A Bold Protest Against Dowry.' The courage of some women makes you wonder. It made me wonder. And China: ‘Do You Have Memories From Before You Were Kidnapped?‘ In this case, I was moved by the life of these women. A disturbing topic, deeply moving.

Fabienne Der Hagopian, who lives in Normandy, makes it a principle to translate what she most likes to read:

There is a lively diversity in our tastes and interests, which means that almost all the posts published in Global Voices in English get translated into French. In 2011, the posts that most struck me were those concerning the women of Yemen and their courage, such as this one on revolutionary women. It's sad that the traditional media don't talk about this more. It reminds me of [French singer] Daniel Balavoine's song, ‘Revolucion.'

Teacher Ange Pambou's pick illustrates the diversity of topics covered by Global Voices:

For 2011, my favorites are: the blogpost about the “Bidun” in Koweit (I was unaware of both the term and the phenomenon), another on homosexuality in Ghana (which, in addition to demonstrating the difficulties of being homosexual in Africa, deconstructs rather methodically the arguments generally advanced against homosexuality), the letter by a young Chinese woman to the Norwegian killer after the massacres in Norway, the gripping testimony of a “nuclear gypsy” in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, a post about the prohibition of water fights in Tehran last summer, and finally, — without a doubt, my favorite among favorites — an astonishing post about the daily life of a blind person who happens also to be a film critic.

Stéphanie Camus, who runs an e-commerce site, takes the time to “listen to the world” by translating:

I think it was my translation of the anniversary of the Sabra and Chatila massacre that had the greatest impact on me. I had just watched the film, ‘Waltz with Bashir.' The full meaning of “We must never forget,” becomes clear when one observes such an event, I find. It's the account of a horrific episode in a long war that symbolises, in my view, the horror and absurdity of all armed conflicts, whatever form it takes…

Lou F., currently studying in the United Kingdom, is a fan of world languages and met interesting people while translating:

In 2011, I loved translating the profile of Julie Kertesz, because she is one of those people one would like to come across more often: passionate, active, and above all, very human. I also really liked the article on the Welsh-language blogosphere. Global Voices allows us to discover voices from throughout the world, and I think it's great that regional languages are now joining the international choir!

Samy Boutayeb, our specialist on net freedom and the free software culture, refuses to choose:

As far as I'm concerned, it's impossible to make a choice, because I loved not only reading but also translating *all* the posts I translated.

Tahlia Rahme, who works for the Global Road Safety Partnership with the International Federation of the Red Cross in Beirut, Lebanon, is addicted to our short “updates”:

Once I got started translating those, I found it difficult to stop. This year I tried to translate every update about the Middle East. I considered it my duty somehow to familiarize the rest of the world, especially the French-speaking world, with the Middle East and its news, and above all to help change its image and the prejudices attached to it.

François-Xavier Ada Afana is a young, enthusiastic translator from Cameroon who is studying in Cyprus:

The post I most enjoyed reading and translating, by far, was the one about Independence Day in Tanzania: A good overview of the situation in the country.

Gaël Brassac lives in South-East France but will soon move to Japan, and opted to go with a “Top 3″ format:

1. ‘Global: Bloggers Take Issue With Anti-Niqaab Punditry,' because this article is a model of sort to expose ethnocentric self-righteousness, feminist extremism, and religious intolerance. 2. ‘China: Reflecting on 100 Years Since the Xinhai Revolution,' because I love history and China, so putting the two together could only please me! 3. ‘Mozambique: Behind the Detention of MC Azagaia,' because this is the kind of articles that makes me love Global Voices, covering countries never talked about in the traditional media.

Samantha Deman began translating for Global Voices while she was living in Singapore and offers a nice panoramic view of her years with Global Voices.

I choose my very first translation, published in 2008: ‘Humanitarian Crisis in South Philippines,' simply because it represents the beginning of my adventure with Global Voices. I like the idea of being able to inform others about what's happening in the remotest, often forgotten locales, thus helping weave ties between people living in the four corners of the world.

This post is part of our special coverage 2011 on Global Voices.

Written by Claire Ulrich · Translated by Marvin Vann · View original post [fr] · comments (0)
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Hi, can you please introduce yourself to us?

Heba Mitkees: I’m 23 years old, turning 24 in July. I’m also a Cancerian. =)
I was born in Montreal, and brought up in the UAE. My mother and I moved back to Egypt in 2002 after my father’s death. I finished my last 2 years of high-school and went to college in Cairo. I studied Broadcasting, specializing in video editing.

What's your story with cancer?

Heba Mitkees: Given that I’m an only child who came after 10 years of marriage, I’ve always held a very special place in my family’s heart. My father was a scientist/inventor. He was an intelligent, kind, loving, and hardworking man, who did everything within and beyond his power to make his family and loved ones happy. My father was diagnosed with lung and bone cancer in 2001. He did 3 chemotherapy sessions and died only 1 month later due to sudden Septicemia.
…
My father had always been a very strong man. Even at the peak of his illness, he never gave up or showed any sign of worry or fear. He laughed it off, made jokes about it and made us really believe that he was ok. He ALWAYS had a smile on his face. However, that day at the airport was different. It was heartbreaking. Chemotherapy had destroyed him. Even though he tried really hard to pretend he was fine, there was too much to hide underneath that beautiful smile.
…
The doctors in Egypt said that he was responding to chemo and that he was making significant progress. If that were true, what went wrong? Back then, I was too shocked to question his death. I was also too young. Deep down, I knew something went terribly wrong but I couldn’t pin point the source of this feeling.
For some reason, I completely blocked out the true cause of his death (Septicemia). I chose to believe that it was cancer that killed him. I believed that Septicemia was only a result of his illness. It was easier.
This went on for several years until I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer on the 13th of March.

How did you discover your illness? And how did your mother receive the news given that you are her only child and your father had died of the same illness?

Heba Mitkees: On the 12th of March, I was speaking to a friend on the phone and I told her about my lump. She insisted that she should take me to an oncologist on the same day and so she did …

Heba Mitkees, the weekend before she was diagnosed

Dr. M asked about my age. When I told him I was 23, he looked at me and said “23? You have nothing to worry about! You start worrying about these things when you’re over 30, but let’s get it checked”.
…
As he was examining the lump, I could tell by the look on his face that there was something wrong … I asked him if there was something suspicious. He couldn’t give me a straight answer, but he asked me to get a breast ultra sound and a mammogram, and return to him no later than the next day.
…
Only 2 nights before my diagnosis, I was out having fun with my friends and now I’m being faced with a life threatening disease. Too many decisions had to be made. Too many people had to be informed. I kept thinking about my mom. I didn’t know what to tell her. I was too worried that she would break down.
…
I saw almost 6 doctors altogether. All in one week. They all said the same thing with different approaches. All the oncologists suggested chemo prior to surgery and the surgeons suggested the other way around. A few days later I told my mom and I thank God that it went much better than I expected. She was shocked just like me, but didn’t break down.

From here, I think it's better to let Heba continue telling her story without interrupting her with questions.

Heba Mitkees: I eventually decided to proceed with treatment with Dr. M. My mom and I went to see him at his clinic and he scheduled my first chemo session for the next day (21st of March).
…
I got dressed when it was time to leave the house. On the way to the hospital with my mom and her friend, I kept thinking about my father. I kept thinking about how weak and helpless he looked during chemo and how painful it was.

Two months later, she decided to go for alternative treatment. She discussed in her blog why she doesn't consider chemotherapy a cure, and believed it kills more than cancer.

Heba Mitkees: Four days before my ‘last’ session, my uncle’s wife from Kuwait called my mom and told her that she knew someone in Egypt who could help. She said he was a Reiki master who’s had experience with similar cases. My mother asked if I was interested and I thought to myself, why not? I have a friend who’s a Reiki practitioner and she’s cured my headaches before.
…
Reiki is meant to stabilize and balance the energy fields in our body. It helps maintain a healthy energy flow, which is believed to promote healing and clear energy blockages in main energy centers in our body called chakras. It’s based on the idea that an unseen ‘life force energy’ flows through our body. If this energy is low, we are more likely to get sick, and if it is high, we are capable of being healthier.

She then went to describe her first meeting with Dr. Fahmy, the Reiki master.

Heba Mitkees: He totally lost me when he very bluntly and in confidence said that if I solely relied on orthodox treatment, I would most likely have a recurrence within a couple of years. He could tell by the look on my face that I didn’t like the sound of what he was saying.
…
I told him that I knew people who have been cured and haven’t had any recurrences so far, but then again, my argument was based on the limited number of people I’ve heard of and at the same time, disregarding the other number whom I know have had recurrences.

She continued.

Heba Mitkees: At that stage, I had no intention to stop chemo; the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. I had no information about all the chemotherapy risks and side effects. I hadn’t done any research about cancer and the different treatment options. I trusted my oncologist, and ignored everyone else.
….
At first, I thought Dr. Fahmy was a Reiki master, but then I realized that the amount and quality of knowledge and information he had about cancer required a person to have some sort of medical background. I was fascinated … He said that Reiki was only a small part of what he does. He explained that over the past 30 years, he has been researching and incorporating different healing methods which promote the curing process of a person … He said that rather than following one treatment technique or protocol, he found it more effective to integrate different techniques, which have been proved to work effectively together … Rather than merely dealing with the physical symptoms of a disease, holistic treatment acknowledges the significant effect of our mental and spiritual state on our body. It’s based on the idea that any physical symptom of a disease is nothing but a sign of imbalance in our system (Mind, body & soul) … It all started making sense. This specifically explains why we have very high recurrence rates in the world of cancer. The way orthodox medicine deals with cancer is by suppressing the tumor through chemo or removing it with surgery (the physical symptom) and disregarding the disease itself.

He then told her a list of do’s and dont’s. She blogged everything as far as she remembered:

• He told me that the only fabrics I was allowed to wear were cotton and linen since other types are chemically treated and the toxins eventually make their way through our body.
• He told me that I should only see positive friends and cut out all the negative people from my life in order to avoid any negative frequencies or vibes which could affect my health.
• Wearing a lot of the color white was highly recommended. Black was a big no.
• He told me that I should stop going to parties and avoid loud music, which is also believed to weaken the body’s energy level and therefore affect my health.
• I wasn’t allowed any sugar, caffeine or protein. I had to become vegetarian.
• I was only allowed to eat alkaline forming foods, which meant that tomatoes and oranges were a big no.
• I wasn’t allowed white wheat or dairy (except for cottage cheese).

Heba Mitkees: The list goes on forever, really. The whole idea behind his way of treatment was to turn my body alkaline in order to fight off the disease. He said that cancer lives in a highly acidic and de-oxygenated environment;
Along with this nutritional system, he told me that I had to see him around 4 or 5 times a week for energy sessions. I didn’t bother ask what these sessions were like or for.

At the time, she was still having orthodox chemotherapy treatment in parallel. But one day her doctor wasn't pleased with the results of the usual blood test she used to have before here chemotherapy session and the White Blood Cell Count (WBC) there. So, he decided to add an extra day of a drug called Neupogen for her. But then when she had another blood test, the results shocked her.

Heba Mitkees: I made a blood test and when it came out, the results were shocking. My WBC count was 27,700 this time. Closer to Leukemia. She immediately called Dr. M to ask him about the major count fluctuation.
…
He told her that it was an effect of Neupogen and that it was normal, but it didn’t make sense to her. Neupogen is meant to boost the WBC count, but what if it sustains it at its highest level? What would happen then?
…
I started researching chemotherapy and what it does to the body. Everything I read was terrifying! Something inside me told me that chemo was going to kill me. I felt so violated after everything I had read. Only then, I understood the true cause of my father’s death.

A book her friend's mother gave her and internet research made her think more about her best treatment options.

Heba Mitkees: ‘Knockout‘, a wonderful book written by Suzanne Somers. In this book, she interviews doctors who are curing cancer. Most of the interviewed doctors do not use any chemotherapy or chemicals. They are curing cancer without chemo! The book also exposes the Food and Drug Association (FDA) and the pharmaceutical industry, which work together to generate billions of dollars a year, especially off ‘the cancer business’.
I also read that, Tamoxifen, one of the drugs used to prevent the recurrence of breast cancer, increases the risk of developing uterine cancer by 30%.

She faced her oncologist with her findings.

Heba Mitkees: I asked Dr. M about this shocking piece of information; he told me that ‘unfortunately’, I had to take it in my next chemo cycle.
No I wasn’t!
He thought it was unfortunate, but why do I HAVE to take it?

She didn't like her Reiki doctor at the beginning, but later on she wrote why she thing she wasn't comfortable. She also described the struggle she at this stage between the two schools of medicine.

Heba Mitkees: Dr. Fahmy opened my eyes to everything I needed to see. Discovering all the scary, negative things about orthodox medicine was very hard to deal with. It was too much for me to comprehend. I blamed him for my own confusion and for my personal struggle.
At some point I was torn between my love and loyalty to Dr. M and the strong belief that chemotherapy was not a cure and that I needed to stop. I didn’t want to upset him.
I was only able to make that decision when I put myself first.
I’ve been off chemo since 18th of April 2011. I can feel my tumors shrinking and I’m still alive! :)
My hair hasn’t started to grow back yet but my eyebrows and eyelashes have!

The last post in her blog was in June, and in it she seemed to be comfortable with her choice.

Heba Mitkees: Even though I have strong faith in my current treatment, I cannot advise people to follow my path. It’s too much of a burden and responsibility on my side to make such a call before I’m 100% cured.
However, this does not mean that I am questioning the effectiveness of alternative medicine. On the contrary, I am positive that I made the right decision and that I will soon make this call.
Such a decision has to be well informed, and this is exactly why I strongly advise people to do their own research and then decide, just like I did.

She didn't publish any more posts into her blog, but she tweeted every now and then, her latest tweet was on the 23rd of November, and she died about a month later.

@MizMitkees: In #Amman… Wish I was in #tahrir right now! #noscaf

Despite the fact that she is not going to post anything on her Twitter account again, after writing this post I decided to follow Heba Mitkees (@MizMitkees) on Twitter.

Battery dead! Bye bye

— Heba Mitkees (@MizMitkees) October 20, 2011

Written by Tarek Amr · comments (0)
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Bidoun may be lacking certain legal documents or may have failed to register as citizens when Kuwait became independent in 1961.

“Apart from the misery caused to the people themselves, the effect of marginalizing whole groups of people across generations creates great stress in the societies they live in and is sometimes a source of conflict,” Antonio Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, was quoted as saying in reference to the Bidoun.

Since then, many have also paid tribute to Bidoun activist; Refugees International reports that Global Voices Author Mona Kareem recently spoke at the US Institute of Peace in Washington DC:

[…] it was the testimony of three female statelessness advocates that most moved participants. Mona Kareem, a member of Kuwait's stateless bidoun community, told the audience that despite the hardships she had faced because of her status - harassment, legal troubles, travel restrictions - she was “the luckiest of my community.”

“Many of my friends could only hope to marry a good husband,” who might provide them with Kuwaiti citizenship, “or for death to take them away by committing suicide.” She added, “None of them have hope. None of them even use the word ‘hope'. Bidoun women have to confront both the conservatism of their community and the injustice of their country.”

Image from International Calamity: Human Rights Policy Tumblr

The IbishBlog went further by not only interviewing Kareem, but also by praising her use of Twitter to draw attention to the issue:

One of the most interesting people I've come to know through Twitter is Mona Kareem, a poet, journalist, blogger and tweep who also happens to be bidoun jinsiya - “without citizenship” - from Kuwait. First, it's almost impossible to follow events in Kuwait quickly and efficiently in English — and in many cases at all — without consulting her Twitter feed (@monakareem), which does the work of 20 typical Middle East journalists. I'd go so far as to call it indispensable. More significantly, through her tweets and blogs she's introduced me, and I'm sure a lot of other people, to not only up-to-date information but background details on an issue we either didn't know about or, in my case, knew about only very vaguely: the plight of the stateless of Kuwait. […]

Given this extraordinary combination, I sought out the opportunity to interview Mona in person […] about a variety of issues, particularly that of the bidoun in Kuwait, Kuwaiti politics, and the tweeting and blogging scene in her country. […] It began in a most extraordinary manner: she showed me some documents, the like of which I've never seen before. First, there was her silver Kuwaiti travel document, as opposed to the normal blue Kuwaiti passports issued to citizens, which literally identified her as an “illegal resident” of the country. The visas in it were equally interesting, and in some cases almost as horrifying. […] I'm used to seeing the “travel documents,” “permits,” “IDs,” and other inherently insulting documents issued by some Arab states to Palestinian refugees, particularly those in Lebanon. But I've never seen these, and in themselves they told quite a horrifying story.

And, as I write, today the bidoun in Kuwait are again protesting, and again facing not only severe repression which is not meted to out those deemed “citizens” by the Kuwaiti government, but also facing the added insult of continuously having to show their IDs since protesting is, as she points out, a “right” at best reserved for Kuwaiti “citizens.” It's all being barely covered by the media, particularly in English, but this ongoing outrage deserves serious consideration by all of those who care about human rights, particularly in the Arab world. In Mona, the stateless of Kuwait have, as you'll quickly note, a remarkable young advocate.

Refugees International has also been active on Twitter and this week published an eye witness account of the attack on Bidoun protesters on their blog:

We sat down on the ground, with our backs to the police force. There were at least 30 vehicles from the police and Kuwait intelligence force - more than I have ever seen before.

They attacked us without any notice. Some of us stayed where we were, while the rest ran away. I ran away with my friends, and the police force were followed us into the residential area, in between the houses. I ran for almost eight kilometers and was followed by dark-colored GMC Yukon cars.

They arrested and beat many of those who remained at the protest site, and used cattle prods, smoke bombs, tear gas, and hot water cannons against them.

Another major issue was that they refused to send the injured to the hospital only few steps away. Instead, they sent them to the police hospital in order to cover up their mess.

The issue, of course, is not new and activists such as Kareem and others have raised the problem of statelessness before, but in June 2011, Global Voices reported on how Bidoun and their supporters were increasingly turning to social media to advance their demands for citizenship rights. Mona Kareem can be followed on Twitter at @monakareem while Refugees International is at @RefugeesIntl.

Kareem's most recent post for Global Voices on this week's dispersal of a Bidoun protest in Kuwait is here.

Written by Onnik Krikorian · comments (1)
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Lavinia in Giza Pyramids

Lavinia Dieac is a Romanian digital marketing professional, currently living in Cairo. She has been living in Egypt for the past two years ago. Lavinia likes to blog and regularly tweets about her experience as an expatriate living in Egypt. She has also had three articles published in the Egyptian English language newspaper Al Masry Al Youm.

Following is my interview with her.

Hi, can you please tell us more about yourself? What do you do? How long have you been living in Egypt? Who do you normally blog about?

Hello Tarek, it is an honour to get the chance for this interview, hello everyone. I came to Egypt more than two years ago for a three to six month internship that has become a real job since then. I work in digital marketing and I spend a big part of my time looking into the human nature and at the cultural differences between the people in this part of the world and the one I come from.
The blog started out of the will to share these experiences, so I am trying to write about issues that influence my thinking or my world view.

Have you been to different parts of Egypt? Which parts of it do you like most?

I’ve visited Siwa Oasis, White & Black Desert, Abu Simbel, Luxor, Aswan, Dahab, Ras Abu Gallum, Alexandria, North Coast, Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada and of course the Cairo touristic places and I’ve yet to see much more.
They all offer such different things (different types of desert, oasis, temples, historic places, snorkeling and diving, sea side chilling, clubbing, fresh fish dishes, camping in the desert vs. luxurious hotels, Bedouins vs. Russians), all very enjoyable, but the most I liked was the desert and the oasis (Siwa, Black and White Desert). Actually it is hard to not include Ras Abu Gallum too.
I like them the most because they very much represent Egypt and its people now, and they are not super touristic like Sharm El Sheikh. Also, it was charming to camp in the desert over night, sleep in such openness under the clear sky, listen to the Bedouin songs, enjoy their food, tea and stories, do sand boarding, bath in the cold oasis during a super hot day and in a hot spring at night, visit the temple of Oracle of Amun Ra, see the white formations and climb the volcanic mountains, walk for an hour along the shore of the Red Sea in the shadow of the rocks of the Ras Abu Gallum National park and then snorkel to see the amazing corals.

You usually tweet about the cultural differences between your country and here in Egypt. Can you please tell us more about those differences?

This could be a long story with many examples about differences.
For me, this world here is many times upside down compared to what I’ve got to know back home: the way people live, work, sell, walk on the street, celebrate, dress, the way they relate to religion, not to mention the way they drive! And the men-women relationship is really different too!
An embarrassing moment was in my first three months since I was here before leaving to Romania for vacation I wanted to say bye to a close male colleague at work by hugging and kissing, as we do in Romania usually. He pulled himself back and kind of said “no-no”, which shocked me and embarrassed me so much. Right away I remembered a similar story shared by another foreigner and I quickly remembered that some people choose to limit the physical contact with people of the opposite gender, some of them during Ramadan only. I didn’t think it was the case with my colleague. I guess that shocked me the most, you never know who is open to this kind of interaction and who is not. This incident made me decide for a while to not even shake hands with guys any more. The decision didn’t last long though cause it is against my natural behaviour.
The gender segregation here makes everything much different than how it is in Romania. The experience of walking on the streets is greatly different. Besides the lack of side-walks and pedestrian crossings, there are the looks and the harassment. I usually like looking at people’s faces on the streets, smiling at them sometimes, but here I have to put on the bad, tough kind of face and walk straight ahead, fast to avoid looking at anyone because I most of the time find them observing me, starring, ogling or harassing. During my recent vacation in Romania I was looking at people on the streets but couldn’t find anyone looking at me as every one was minding their own business. This is funny, but it felt weird I don’t have any more the ‘attention’ I usually get on the streets here. Jokes aside, it felt well actually.
The public display of religiosity is another key difference. In Romania, religion is somewhere in the background; you don’t hear much about it; you don’t see it around too much. It never attracted my attention to it and to its insights as it did since I have been here, where I could observe it everywhere, in all aspects of life, with most of the people. It is even so embedded in the culture that some religious practices are now just cultural practices.
Then, there is the part about being late. I had meetings for which people were late even one and half hours. Imagine that! It is hard to handle it. But it is part of the Egyptian culture, as they themselves proudly say.
But at the end of the day these differences are the ones making the experience here more interesting, and nurture my self-discovery.

Sometimes you tweet about stuff like not being able to eat in public during Ramadan. And not having the choice to tell a taxi driver to switch the Quran recitation off. Is this also a part of the cultural difference? Do you think the Egyptians are more or less acceptable to other religions? Or do some Islamic traditions became a cultural part of the country, such as saying Inchallah (if God wills), you have no problem with them being used, especially that Copts do use them too?

They are part of the cultural difference, because these things define how life is here. The level of acceptance towards differences and diversity is part of how people are.
I am not sure if you ask me to compare this level between Romania and Egypt. Unfortunately in many parts of the world people’s level of acceptance towards other religions or other types of differences is not very high.
From some studies I read, youth in Romania are quite racist against Jews, Muslims, and gypsies. In Egypt, there isn’t a high level of acceptance either, in my opinion. Just the fact that it is not accepted that girls here wear short skirts or sleeveless tops on the streets says a lot about the acceptance towards diversity.
I could also notice many times double standards and hypocrisy, especially when people here say that foreigners coming to Egypt should respect the traditions and culture, but when they themselves go abroad they don’t respect the traditions and culture of the place they go to, they still keep their own and expect the foreign country to accept them.

Have you been to other countries in the Middle East other than Egypt? How different, and how similar are they to Egypt and Romania?

I have been to Lebanon before. I loved the mix of Arabic and European flavour there, and the variety: both ladies wearing veil and wearing short skirts, both places that sell alcohol or pork and ones that don’t, beautiful.

I know you refused to leave Egypt during the revolution, although some foreigners might have been afraid with all the attack the media made on them then and calling them spies? How were your feelings when Mubarak stepped down?

I did stay in Egypt all the time during revolution but strongly felt like leaving when people were divided between agreeing or not with Mubarak to stay until September and to call the protests off.
I wasn’t going to stay if Mubarak would’ve been let to stay because I didn’t trust it would be safe and also because I was feeling that I won’t be able to work with and accept people around that let go of their main goal “down with the regime”. Happily the protests continued and finally Mubarak stepped down.
I stayed in the house in down-town during all that time, for 18 days, just went out twice: once during the bloody Friday when I quickly noticed things are not alright and hurried up back home to see in 30 minutes on TV the camels and the horses attack on Tahrir (goose bumps). The second time was during a peaceful day in Tahrir.
I was following every detail on Twitter and on Al Jazeera and being very close to Tahrir I could experience the reality from my balcony too: seeing the protesters and the police up and down the surrounding streets, been hit by tear gas and been terrified by the gun shots and gas bombs (A video I shot from the balcony).

My mom would tell me over the phone to leave Egypt, and to take care of my health, to sleep and to eat well. I would assure her that I am fine, and that I am just staying in the house, following the news online and watching TV, so it is not a big deal. I didn’t realize until Mubarak stepped down, when I cried for half an hour, that I was under a big amount of stress and emotional pressure during the 18 days, so mom was right about taking care of my health. The crying was of happiness and relief, of surprise that Mubarak was finally out.

As a Romanian, you witnessed a similar revolution more than 20 years ago. And now you are living the one taking place here in Egypt. Can you please compare the two revolutions?

I was only five years old when the ’89 revolution happened in Romania, and we didn’t study much about it in school in the upcoming years, at least until 2003 when I graduated from high school. They say that the truth about what and why it happened will be released after 50 years, when no living people could be directly affected by truth any more.
In Romania, there weren’t this communication tools that Egyptians had, the turmoil started in the west of the country with a small incident in a neighbourhood and took a while to spread across the country, only some big cities were greatly involved in protests, and more than 1,000 people were shot (not commonly agreed yet who shot at people back then – the army or foreign forces).
I am no specialist in politics and history, but from my experience I can say that the two revolutions are quite different due to the foreign interests and due to the communism factor (Romania had closed borders, people had money but didn’t know what to spend it on, had to stay for hours in line to get bread, meat, milk and other commodities, sometimes not getting them even because they were finished), but alike due to the dictatorship.
The revolution ended with the Ceausescu couple being executed by the army after having a brief trial and with an immediate transition to civil rule, unlike in Egypt. The ones taking over were ex-communists indeed, and this lasted for many years with high levels of corruption.
After 1989, Romania started transforming greatly with the introduction of privatization and foreign investment. In a few years it became a country under development with lots of economical potential. There have been improvements registered since, less corruption for example, but now Romania is facing other types of problems and democracy has not really been achieved.

As a marketer, how do you view the spread of graffiti in Egyptian streets after the revolution? And don’t you consider it the revolutionaries’ way to market their ideas, and also artists’ way to market their skills? Can the same thing be applied to those musicians who used to sing in Tahrir as well?

I admire people's use of graffiti to express their revolutionary ideas, and I see it as a communication channel competing with state TV. If only we could have more and more graffiti! Besides that, it brought color to streets and improved the look of many walls.
Indeed some graffiti is very artistic, and much appreciated, but I’m not sure if the artists that made them have any consequential benefits out of it.

Board Game making use of the Egyptian Revolution to sell more

Photo by @lisang

On the other hand, we have seen companies and media producers making use of the revolution to market their goods or movies? How do you see this?

There has been an exaggerated point of using the revolution as a marketing theme. It all became unnatural, while the graffiti and other forms of art seem always genuine and natural. Take a look at what may be the most shameless capitalization on the Egyptian Revolution: January 25 Monopoly.

One of the subjects that is being discussed a lot in Egypt is the Palestinian Israeli conflict. I know you have your own opinion about how it occupies a significant part in people’s daily discussions on and off-line. There has been demonstrations in front of the Israeli Embassy lately, add also Dr. Norman Finkelstein came to Egypt right after the revolution to give a lecture in the American University in Cairo about the same issue, which you were not very pleased with. Can you please tell us more about all this.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a very important matter, for all humans, not only for the involved parties, including Egypt, as it has a complex mix of situations that don’t respect human rights which we shouldn’t turn our views away from.
But what bothers me is to notice this naïve, deep hate towards Israel, and a naïve support for Palestine without being aware that the situation is not just black or white, and before being preoccupied with the urgent matters Egypt is going through first. It is like trying to help someone else before helping yourself first.
Egyptians can’t really help Palestinians if Egypt itself is weak. I thought it is very inappropriate to talk about Israel around 16th of May when Egypt’s situation was problematic enough to give all our attention to, instead of giving it to Finkelstein and to his speech at AUC.
It is also interesting how Egyptians choose to unite under the idea “Israel is our enemy”. I think it is a very thin line between supporting the Palestinian cause and being racist towards Israelis. I find many Egyptians that hate Israel, and they are actually racist too.

One final question, can you compare the ongoing parliamentary elections here to the ones you had in Romania right after the fall of your dictatorship? You think elections is the right thing to be done now, or are there any tips or cleansing to be done first to ensure better democracy? Did you suffer for example for the remnants of the former regime entering the the parliament after you got rid of your dictator?

First of all, I’ll repeat that ‘theoretically’ Romania is a democratic country, but on the ground democracy has not been really achieved. Romania unfortunately has been moving really slowly in the past 20 years, hasn’t achieved much and not many significant improvements can be noticed. In return, it seems that few people got really rich and politicians were corrupt while corporations benefited from Romania’s rich resources.
Secondly, of course there will be remnants of the old regime in the new corridors of power. In Romania we had it too.
I am not sure about how the electoral process in Romania went through in ’89-’90, but it is important to move fast. In Egypt there was a dictatorship (Mubarak’s) changed with another one (military); it is good to see Egyptians not settling for it! That says a lot about how they will accept things to be like in the way forward! I wish them the best with getting a civilian government as soon as possible and am keeping an eye on what they do with the country’s potential. Peace!

Written by Tarek Amr · comments (0)
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Hello world!

In this edition of the Global Voices podcast you can hear how women in Egypt are using technology to fight harassment, and what our Global Voices authors and editors got up to at the Mozilla Festival in London.

We also mark World Aids Day by speaking to HIV/AIDS activists in Kenya and Egypt about the special work they do.

Technology to empower women

First we take a look at harassment of women in the streets of Egypt. Engy Ghozlan in Cairo is a young woman who took matters in her own hands to fight social acceptance of sexual harassment by using mapping technology and the voices of women who speak up about what happens to them on the street. The result is Harassmap. Global Voices author, Maria Grabowski Kjær spoke to Engy about her work in support of women's safety and comfort in public.

World Aids Day

December 1st is World Aids Day. A time to think about the many people who living with HIV or AIDS and consider what can be done to support them and their carers. I had a chat with a two people working hard to improve conditions and raise awareness.

Ahmed Awadalla is in Egypt. He has worked with Cairo Family Planning and Development Association and is now with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. He talks about stigma and how the current uprising in Egypt is actually hindering support for communities at risk.

Leah Okeyoh is a community activist, blogger, author, and World Pulse correspondent. She is co-founder of two women's organizations, Jacolo Rural Women Response to HIV/AIDS, and Positive Action for Change (PACHO). She is also a participant in the “Blogging Positively” project of Rising Voices. We talked to her about the Kenyan health care system and her hopes for the future.

You too can be involved with Blogging Positively if you're interested in citizen media related to HIV/AIDS. If you're on Twitter for World Aids Day, use the hashtag #BlogPos so we can find you.

Global Voices out and about

Mozilla Festival Science Fair by Mozilla in Europe on Flickr (CC-BY-2.0)

London was host to the Mozilla Festival on “media, freedom, and the web” in November. Global Voices was represented by an awesome team at the Science Fair. With so much GV-goodness in one place, I had to ask them what they were up to.

Emma Brewin is our Deputy Editor of citizen media organisation. Marta Cooper is an author who is also on the Board of Global Voices. Paula Goes is our Multilingual editor who was showing a colleague around the event via a live video connection. Amira is possibly the youngest interviewer so far on the Global Voices podcast at 10 years old. She interviewed our Iraq author Salam Adil.

Emma Brewin, Marta Cooper, Salam Adil, and Paula Goes

Well, that’s all we can squeeze into this edition of the Global Voices Podcast. Thank you all for listening and thanks to all of our contributors and interviewees. We’ll be back next month but you can always drop by on any of our social media spaces like Twitter or Facebook and say hi!

Music credits

In the podcast you can hear lots of lovely Creative Commons music. If you want to find out more about these artists here are the links. Thanks to Orb Gettarr for the atmospheric Return of the Atlanteans Lemurian Candidate, to Mark Cotton for his Spiritualized Homage, to Superbus feat. NS for Fujjad! Most of the music was found via OpSound.Org, The Free Music Archive or direct from the artists. Thanks also to all of the wonderful voice over performances and clips that help to glue the podcast together.

Written by Jamillah Knowles · comments (5)
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In this interview, we learn about Izumi, her success in leading recruitment and team building at Lingua Japanese, its next steps, and thoughts on the Internet landscape in Japan.

Global Voices (GV): Please tell us about yourself!

Izumi Mihashi (IM): I recently quit my job of two years at a major electronic manufacturing company, which I had started after getting my master’s in mathematical engineering. I plan to go back to school next April to research the world of human perception.

Izumi Mihashi

GV: How did you get involved with GV?

IM: I graduated from university in September but had a bit of time until I started my job in April. I was working on a translation job for a book on mathematics, but was looking for another project. I saw an entry on the Uncategorizable Blog [a popular Japanese blog by GV contributor Taku Nakajima] that introduced Global Voices, and was attracted by its concept.

GV: What is your current role?

IM: I used to be in charge of the communication with new volunteers [Note: The Lingua Japanese team has a trial process to screen for quality.], but I’ve passed that role to someone else now. I guess you could call me a cheerleader for our team now!

I have a lot of ideas for improving operations for the Lingua Japanese team, but haven’t had a lot of time to execute them. So that’s what I’m working on right now - implementing the improvements.

GV: Can you share some of your reform ideas?

IM: I have lots of ideas! They can be split into two categories: promotion and sharing tasks.

We’re not very good at promotion at the moment, and I think we’re missing out on readership even though the content is compelling. For example, it’s a bit difficult to tell on the Lingua sites that Global Voices is amplifying voices that are not picked up by traditional media… maybe it looks like a translation site for foreign media sources? I’m always thinking about how we can improve the presentation so that we can effectively communicate GV’s concept.

I also feel that the content can be a bit “distance” from our Japanese audience. In the Japanese blogosphere, there are a lot of articles concerning accessible topics that heavily feature the author’s opinion. GV is the opposite, in that the author is neutral and introduces many facets of the discussion. Also, many of the happenings covered in GV articles occur in a place that’s physically distant from Japan. I believe that Lingua translators can play a bigger role in bridging Global Voices and our Japanese audience.

Last but not least is how to split tasks within the team. We tweaked our messaging to bring the call for volunteers upfront and as a result, our team welcomed a sharp increase in numbers. Management becomes more complicated though, so the Japanese Lingua team is testing out new processes.

A recent meetup in Tokyo

GV: What do you enjoy most about GV?

IM: What makes me happiest is for the members of Lingua Japanese to enjoy translating articles! Recently, we started doing translation reviews on the internal mailing list. In the beginning, people were more interested in translating than reviewing, but now we have a good rhythm. Everyone can follow the communication between the translator and review on the mailing list, and I think people have started to enjoy this part of the work as well.

In September, I made my author debut on GV and look forward to exploring this road, too.

GV: Here’s a crazy question for you - if GV Lingua won the lottery, what would you do?

IM: Hmmm, actually I don’t think that the Lingua project and money really go well together. I’m especially against financial aspects having a place in the translation work itself.

It might be nice to have a bit of cash and have someone handle the administrative work such as responding to inquiries, tending to Facebook, starting a newsletter etc. but that’s not really an issue of money. I’m also interested in doing a comparison analysis of GV and other media to explore future opportunities for Lingua Japanese but this is also more a matter of time!

There’s something I’d love to do with the web in general, though.

Japan is an affluent country, at least in terms of materialistic wealth. Even if someone can’t afford Internet access at home, they can get it for free at the public library. The Internet can be a saving grace if you’re isolated in your school or workplace. On the other hand, it can be a dangerous place, with flame wars and personal information leakage.

I believe that we can change many lives by creating a safe place for people with lower Internet literacy skills to get together online. The system would need to be designed to preempt problems and have community managers that can intervene and facilitate. It’s a very complex problem to tackle but it would be fantastic if we could accomplish this!

Thank you, Izumi!

Written by Tomomi Sasaki · comments (5)
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Launched in November 2008, Algérie-Focus is an online interactive site. Following the basic premises of Web 2.0, Algérie-Focus features a wide range of multimedia offerings, allowing its readers to interact in real time with each other as well as with the guests of the site.  Algérie-Focus provides members of the local Algerian community as well as those of the Algerian diaspora and the Maghreb with a platform for exchanging and sharing information, and also for debate.

Thalia Rahme of Global Voices interviews Fayçal Anseur, founder of the site, in order to gain a better understanding of Algérie-Focus's goals and to review the state of citizen media in Algeria.

Fayçal Anseur from'Algerie Focus

Thalia Rahme: How and when did the idea for Algérie-Focus arise? And what makes Algérie-Focus's distinctive and different from other similar media?

Faycal Anseur: Algerie-Focus was launched on November 1st, 2008. We had a tremendous challenge to take up: proving that we were able to create an online Algerian journal with few financial and human resources (150 euros as start-up capital, five journalists and one webmaster). Still, we believed we could succeed against all odds in attracting readers with fresh and original content, produced according to the premises of new technology.

Given that from the start our editorial choice rested upon reporting news in a similar fashion to traditional media outlets such as  newspapers and magazines, i.e. with analyses, interviews, etc., we managed to secure the loyalty of a diverse readership, ranging from students to executives.

We offer decompartmentalized news, i.e. less “Algero-Algerian” news and more “globalo-Algerian, if I may put it that way. We try to offer content that is in line with the spirit of online philosophy, a window open to the world, with its interconnections and transformations. Algerian netizens are gradually acclimatizing to this reality, i.e. that Algeria is not an isolated village but rather part of a whole, and therefore that decisions taken by some (in the developed world), impact directly or on indirectly on the future of others (mainly in developing and Third World countries).

Algérie-Focus also presents exclusive news as well as about 40 or so special topics illustrated with interviews, guests, cartoons and surveys. We have offered a platform to well-known personalities who might be considered controversial or even censored or banned elsewhere. We might not necessarly agree with our guests, but our main goal is to inform, to trigger debate and resolve crises. In short, to promote freedom of expression by humbly performing acts of traditional journalisn while encouraging citizen journalism. The reader becomes a player by being offered the opportunity to pose questions to our guests via our interactive forums and to participate in the editorial process and contribute through our op-ed section.

Nevertheless, given the lack of financial support, since the site is boycotted by most advertisers—a predictable consequence of its independent editorial line—our staff today is only composed of two journalists: myself, writing from France and a friend living in Algeria.

TR: What is the current state of the Algerian blogosphere and social/citizen media in Algeria? Were those media influenced by the Arab Spring? Are we witnessing their emergence?

FA: The Algerian blogosphere is expanding; however, its growth remains insufficient and centered on certain mainstream media outlets at the expense of others. According to a new report published by a group comprising Tunisian researcher Yamina Mathlouthi of the Institut de recherche sue le Maghreb contemporain, and others, Algeria is ranked 6th  in the Arab world with regard to Facebook use. 2.1 million Algerians are subscribed to the service, which puts Algeria in 52nd place in its network of users, according to a study by Younes Grar, an Algerian ICT expert. It is obvious that the Arab Spring acted as a catalyst and that this wind of liberation created a dynamic in the Algerian population who, like their neighbors, yearn for change, progress and openness.

However, there are many challenges. The  numbers of netizens remains relatively low, compared to the overall population (there are more than 36 millions inhabitants in Algeria). Internet penetration in Algerian is low due to the high cost of the service (approx 2300 DA or US$31/month, compared with a minimum monthly wage of 15 000 DA or US$201), and the state holds the monopoly on Internet service provision. The Internet is a new medium in a Algeria that is closed to the world. Algerians need time to adapt and make up for lost time and above all to demand the basic right to free expression that's been denied them until now.

That said, the new generation of 20- to 30-year olds, which forms the majority in Algeria, is catching up and assimilating the tools for optimal use of this media, especially through observing their contemporaries in Egypt and Tunisia.

TR:  What do you think distinguishes Algerian social media from others in the Arab World? What are their topics of interest? Are they are focused on local news or do they also address the latest developments on the regional and international scene? What is their language of choice?

FA: Algerian media are newborn, they are still in the apprenticeship phase. Algerian netizens speak a lot, which is normal when one has been deprived for so long of outlets for expression. Topics are varied but revolve mainly around Algeria and its problems. Some are are already speaking out, and with time, everyone will learn to listen to each other so as to get along and then, one day, act.

Arabic language is the primary language in Algeria and Arabic-speaking sites are the most visited ones. French-speaking netizens are mainly present on Facebook, the ”in” place for the time being.

TR: What are the challenges facing citizen and social media? Is there any form of pressure from the government on bloggers or Twitter users? Has anyone been arrested because of online activity? Do politicians also use those platforms to communicate with the public?

FA: The first challenge lies in continuing to express ourselves and most of all in organizing ourselves in a way that will prevent political manipulation. Abderaouf Madani, a member of the national committee to protect unemployed people's rights, was arrested last September in Ouargla, a city in the south of Algeria, while shooting a video of protests in support of the unemployed held in the city's administrative complex. Updates posted via smartphone and the Internet have so far been able to circumvent censorship but the authorities are aware that, one way or another, the information is going to end up online.

With the Arab Spring, the Algerian government has become conscious of the importance of the Internet as a free medium and of the potential risks. The government created legislation in attempt to contain it, restrict it and even control it. Others countries have tried that before (Tunisia, Egypt, Syria) and it didn't work. However, the state retains the monopoly on Internet  access to and can resort to filtering of certain opposition sites. One can cite many cases of  ”technical censorship”.

Deprived of access to national media, and even sometimes to private media, the opposition is trying to organize itself on the web. Government politicians, as well official opposition are not too fond of this medium, the workings of which they don't really understand. They still use the mainstream media that reach the majority of  Algerians.

TR: What is the attitude of traditional media toward those sites? Are there journalists that also use those media? In other countries, for instance, newspapers have their own blogs where their journalists are invited to contribute?

FA: Algerian journalists are not the ones who have driven the dynamic of online media. They have been overtaken by their readers. There are perhaps 20 blogs run by journalists; the majority are merely following the movement. Journalists are present on Facebook, but they rarely interact with their readers. We often slam the Algerian intelligentsia for its resignation, and the Internet is increasingly highlighting their absence.

Entretien (censuré) avec Fayçal Anseur, fondateur et rédacteur en chef du journal électronique « Algerie-Focus.Com »

Presse en Algérie : la liberté passe par le Net

Written by Thalia Rahme · Translated by Thalia Rahme · View original post [fr] · comments (4)
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In this interview, Steve Sharra talks about the Malawian social media space, his professional background and his interest in education, teaching and writing.

Linda Annan (LA): Can you briefly tell us about yourself?

Steve Sharra (SS): I was born in a place called Bawi, in Ntcheu district, Malawi. At the time my father was attending a police training college, so my mother went to live with her parents. My grandfather, a reverend, was teaching at Bawi Primary School. We moved to Zomba Police Camp when I was about a year old. That’s where I grew up. Zomba was the capital of Malawi going back to the colonial days in the 1890s, until 1975 when Malawi’s first president, Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, moved it to Lilongwe. I attended Police Primary School, St Stanislaus Prep School, Nankhunda Seminary, and Police Secondary School. After secondary school I went to Lilongwe Teachers’ College, from 1990 to 1993, where I qualified as a primary school teacher. In 1994 I left teaching at became an editorial assistant of educational materials at Malawi’s national curriculum centre, the Malawi Institute of Education. In 1998 I went to graduate school, first the University of Iowa, and later Michigan State University, both in the United States. At Iowa I studied English Education, while at Michigan State I studied Teacher Education, and wrote my dissertation on curriculum aspects of peace studies in education. My doctoral thesis argued for the adoption of a concept in the school curriculum which I termed uMunthu-peace, a type of social justice based on African definitions of being human, and our interdependence as human beings. I returned to Malawi in May 2010, after spending three years as a visiting assistant professor of peace and justice studies in the Department of Philosophy at Michigan State.

Malawian blogger and Global Voices Author Steve Sharra. Photo courtesy of Noelin Zawazawa.

SS: Literally “Afrika Aphukira” translates as “Africa will be reborn.” I chose that Chichewa name for my blog as my way of expressing optimism for Africa; optimism for an African Renaissance.

LA: What is the state of Malawian blogosphere?

SS: I think the Malawi blogosphere, in the narrower sense of just blogs, is lagging behind the larger Malawi social media sphere. I wonder if that’s exclusive to Malawi alone. On a number of times a Malawian blogger has broken big impact news, for example Boniface Dulani who was the first person to write about the University of Malawi academic freedom struggle just hours after it broke. That was February 12th, 2011, when the Malawi Police Inspector General, Peter Mukhito, summoned a university lecturer, Dr. Blessings Chinsinga, to question him about a lecture in which he had used the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt as an example to illustrate a point. More recently, Mabvuto Jobani has been blogging breaking news about police involvement in the murder of University of Malawi Polytechnic student, Robert Chasowa, on September 24th. Otherwise, it’s facebook mostly, and twitter to a lesser extent, that’s the most thriving form of new media in Malawi.

Steve Sharra dancing at a wedding. Photo courtesy of Mpatso Chabwera.

SS: That’s an interesting question, Linda. We have a Chichewa proverb that says “Nankununkha saadzimva.” It means something like one doesn’t detect one’s own smell. But I think my conspicuous advocating for Malawi comes from a particular personal history and identity politics. A number of my early classes in graduate school, 1998-1999, required us to do serious intellectual self-reflection. Once I started looking back to where I was coming from, I started noticing a number of very peculiar aspects of what it meant to be a Malawian and an African. I had never had occasion to do so when I lived in Malawi. I guess leaving your country and going outside your continent seems to do that to a number of us. That’s when being of Malawian and African identity started taking on a big significance. It made me very conscious and sensitive to any suggestions of identity deficiency and racial denigration. I think it was tied to being a black person, and an African. That’s when I also began reading Pan-Africanist theory, so it all started coming together. I have come to see it as part of my responsibility, as a Malawian, a black person, and an African, to promote and advocate for a more complex understanding of Africa. Paul Tiyambe Zeleza calls it the imperative of every African intellectual. I see much of what ails Africa today as originating in the image that has been constructed for the continent in the 500 years that Europe has enjoyed global supremacy.

LA: Why do you choose to approach your musings from an “African epistemological perspective” as your blog suggests?

SS: Somewhere along my studies, I read about ways of knowing, knowledge systems that mediate the process of producing knowledge. It dawned on me that what was categorized as school knowledge was a product of a particular way of knowing, a European epistemology. Much knowledge is human knowledge, but Europe has developed a way of producing and consuming knowledge that privileges European heritage and civilisation. This would not be a problem, were it not for the manner in which that privileging process undermines and denigrates other societies’ ways of knowing. In my doctoral research I read Malawian philosophers such as Harvey Sindima, Augustine Musopole, and Gerard Chigona, who have worked on uMunthu as an African epistemology, and political scientists such as Richard Tambulasi and Happy Kayuni who have argued for uMunthu as an African political ideology. I learned from these scholars that what ails Africa is a direct consequence of being at the receiving end of Eurocentric epistemology. In order to address that problem, I think we need to learn African epistemologies, so as to understand the world from an African perspective. It’s what Mahmood Mamdani calls “dealing with the global from the perspective of the local.” Right now we are doing it the other way round, and Africa is suffering terrible consequences. But things are looking up now, I think. I see more and more people realising why Africa must develop self-confidence and deal with Europe, America and Asia from the vantage point of Africa. But it will take a lot of intellectual effort and political will; a radical change in the leadership.

LA: Tell me about “Fleeing the War.” I know it was a children’s book but what was it about and what inspired it?

SS: Fleeing the War was a children’s story I wrote in 1995. It is about a group of Malawian adolescents who are hunting along the Malawi-Mocambique border, which is where their village is located. They are surprised to meet two little children, a boy and a girl, who are apparently lost. They have been fleeing from Mocambique’s civil war. They set off in the night, with their parents, but soon they get lost. The parents go one way, and the children go another. The Malawian children take the Mocambican children home, and make them comfortable. After six months of searching, the children’s parents make their way to the Malawian village, and find their long lost children. The story was inspired by true events. There was civil war in Mocambique between 1976 and 1991. A million Mocambicans fled into Malawi and settled down. Many of them spoke Chichewa already, a common language along the border between the two countries. Many of them returned after the war, but many also stayed behind and became Malawian citizens. The first school where I taught in Ntcheu district served as a rationing centre. UNHCR officials came and delivered supplies to the refugees. They came from far, and on their way to the rationing centre they would sit down to rest under a huge tree next to my uncle’s grocery store in the village. I would sit down and talk with them about their experiences. I crafted the story from those encounters.

LA: You are involved with the Malawi Teacher Professional Development Support (MTPDS) project aren’t you? What is it and how did you get involved?

SS: It is a project of the Malawi Government, through its Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. We are establishing a teacher professional development system for primary school teachers, most of whom have no such opportunity once they graduate from teachers’ college. I got involved through my participation in a prior, related project.

Steve Sharra at work. Photo courtesy of Speaker Nkhonjera.

LA: Why the interest in education and teaching? Why not something else?

SS: The teaching came rather by accident. I failed to make it to the University of Malawi, the only university operating in Malawi at the time. About 36,000 students sat the secondary school leaving certificate examination in those days, but there were 700 spaces in the University. My father suggested teaching. I was away vacationing in my my father’s home village when the government advertised for a teacher training programme. He mailed me the advert, and I applied. I realized I had a passion for teaching. It gave my life meaning. I particularly enjoyed being in control of the process of learning new things, and helping children learn. Since then, I look at the world through the eyes of a teacher.

LA: It’s obvious that you’re drawn to academia. Why is that?

SS: I was initially drawn to creative writing; that was my first intellectual calling. One of the earliest lessons I learned, in secondary school, was that literature provided powerful ways of making sense of complex realities. I learned this from Malawian poets Jack Mapanje, Anthony Nazombe, Garton Kamchedzera, Frank Chipasula and Steve Chimombo, among others, and their influence rubbed off on me. They all wrote poetry, but being literary scholars, their writings, both the poetry and the scholarship, opened a window through which I saw Malawi quite differently. Particularly, it was the political oppression, social injustice and inequality that made me realize that a better Malawi was possible. All of this happened as I transitioned from being a secondary school student to being a student-teacher. I became a teacher, and together with the passion for writing, academia became a compelling interest.

LA: What do you do now as a profession and where are you currently based?

SS: I am a teacher educator and educational researcher. I’m based in Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital.

LA: If you had an empty schedule one Saturday, what would Steve Sharra be doing?

SS: Ha ha. Saturdays don’t come empty anymore, as they used to. I would probably be reading some really good fiction, or creative non-fiction, which I haven’t done in years. Or I would be playing chess with my kids.

LA: Did you get accepted into the Shuttleworth Fellowship? What did you wish to accomplish with that?

SS: I was very disappointed when I didn’t get accepted for the 2011 Shuttleworth Fellowship. It’s such a unique fellowship where somebody asks you to describe what you think is wrong with the world, or at least in your society, and then gives you as much money as you require to go about addressing that problem. I was hoping to design a project whose sole aim would be teacher empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa, through global dialogue with teachers elsewhere, and through teacher-led intellectual production. I still hope to get funding to do this one day.

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Egyptians Wael Ghonim (@Ghonim) and Esraa Abdelfattah (@Esraa2008) along with the April 6th Youth Movement, are joined by Global Voices Online Tunisia author and Tunisian blogger Lina Ben Mhenni (@benmhennilina), who blogs at A Tunisian Girl, according to a Reuters report. The award will be announced on October 7.

"Free Revolution zone" image by Flickr user khalid Albaih (CC BY 2.0).

Both Ghonim and Abdelfattah have contributed to the Egypt revolution through their cyber-activism. Ghonim shot to world fame after he was detained for 11 days during the Egyptian revolution. It later turned out that the Google executive was one of the administrators of a Facebook page in support of Khaled Said. We are all Khaled Said was set up to honour the memory of a young man from Alexandria, whose brutal murder at the hands of police officers sparked protests against police brutality. The January 25 revolution date itself was selected as it coincided with Police Day, a day young protesters chose to air their grieveances against police brutality and all of the regime's wrong doings.

Abdelfattah is one of the co-founders of the April 6 Facebook group, formed in 2008, to call for a day of general strike across Egypt in support of the workers in the textile district El Mahalla El Kubra. The Day of Anger, as it was known, acted as a trial run to the revolution, in terms of mobilising young people online and and using social networking to keep the world abreast with developments on the ground.

Like Ghonim, Abdelfattah too was arrested for her online activism.

While the Tunisian blogosphere has still not picked up on Ben Mhenni's speculation, Twitter is humming with Egyptians reacting to Ghonim's and Abdelfattah's news.

Omar Elhady congratulates the nominees:

Dalia Mogahed explains:

@DMogahed: Nomination of @Ghonim and Israa for Nobel Peace prize is international community's way of giving props to #EgyptianRevolution as a whole.

Gigi Ibrahim asks:

@GSquare86: Whatever happened to nominating the Egyptian people of the revolution to the noble peace prize ?!!

And Ahmed Hassan Tantawy sums it up as follows:

@Tantawist: Many egyptian activists are jealous from Ghonim,Esraa & 6 April for being nominated for Nobel peace prize…what a shame #Fail #Egypt

Ghonim, in particular, came under fire for the nomination.

Arabista chimes:

@Arabista: @JustAmira #Ghonim doesn't deserve it. There are so many nameless heroes who were much more courageous. Hes just a better self publicist

And Tom Gara comes to Ghonim's defense saying:

@tomgara: @Arabista Really unfair to say that, the guy doesnt media whore in the slightest. Declines almost all foreign media requests. @JustAmira

Tarek Shalaby attempts an explanation.

@tarekshalaby: People underestimate the immense pressure on @Ghonim since his release and especially now with the nomination. He didn't choose any of this.

Mohammed Abdelfattah adds:

@mfatta7: All the support to @Ghonim and wishing to see him win the Nobel prize. A man of our generation is a pride for all of us.

Meanwhile, Libyan Ghazi Gheblawi has other concerns. He tweets:

@Gheblawi: Hope #Nobel peace prize stays away from Arab revolutions, credibility been tarnished many times, fear it trivialise genuine freedom struggle

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · comments (3)
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Though she shares a last name with a globally famous Ghanaian, Linda Annan is not related to former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. Linda is a Ghanaian journalist and blogger who contributes to Global Voices Online on the Ghanaian blogging scene.

Linda founded and edits Obaasema, an online magazine for women. Obaasema means “ideal woman” in Twi, a Ghanaian language. Established in 2006, the magazine has a website, a YouTube channel, an online television version, a Facebook page, and is also on Twitter.

Linda Annan: Ghanaian blogger, journalist and founder of Obaasema magazine.

Linda was born in Ghana, but left for the United States in her mid-teens. While in the United States she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Corporate Communications, with a minor in Journalism, from Bernard M. Baruch College in New York. She has recently returned to Ghana, and is working in media and communications.

In this interview with Steve Sharra, Linda talks about blogging, her passion for knowledge sharing and women’s empowerment, Obaasema magazine, and all the many other things she does on the Internet.

Steve Sharra (SS): To get us started, tell us about yourself. Who is Linda Annan? You share a last name with a global Ghanaian, former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. Are you related to him?

Linda Annan (LA): I am a Ghanaian journalist and communication specialist with a passion for politics and activism involving women and youth empowerment as well as various social issues related to Africa. No, I'm not related to Kofi Annan, though we're both from the Fante ethnic group.

SS: Where were you born, where did you grow up, and where are you currently based?

LA: I was born and raised in Ghana where I lived until my mid-teens. After that I left for the United States; I just relocated to Ghana three months ago.

SS: What brought you back to Ghana, and what you are now doing?

LA: It has always been my desire to move back to Ghana at some point; the question was when would it be? This year seemed right because my plans fell through and Ghana is now ripe for the sort of projects I want to start. Also, the goal, since I started Obaasema, was to eventually launch it in Ghana and other African countries. Now is the time to start such a move. What am I doing now: I work as an Associate Consultant at an Integrated Marketing Communications firm.

SS: You have a remarkable presence online, starting with Obaasema, the magazine you founded and edit. Tell us about why and how you went about starting the magazine.

LA: Thank you. I started the magazine a few months after I graduated from college. Generally, I love to inspire and empower people and since I believe in the power of words and am passionate about women's issues, it only made sense that I would use this medium to accomplish it. Knowledge sharing is another thing I enjoy doing very much and the online magazine was the perfect platform to do this at the time. Also, post-graduation, I noticed the need for a platform that provided empowering and inspirational messages to young African women such as myself through various channels. Since it was something I strongly desired to have in my life at the time, and knew other women who would appreciate and benefit from it, I decided to create Obaasema magazine; the name “Obaasema” in itself carries a lot of weight. In the Ghanaian language Twi, it is translated as “ideal woman” - that's the woman I aspire to be and it's the woman I want to call on every woman to aspire to be. Whatever that “ideal” is, it definitely has to be rooted in substance.

SS: Who is your audience for the magazine? How far has your reach been thus far?

LA: Target audience for Obaasema is the African woman, although anyone will be right in arguing that women's issues cut across. Our readers aren't just African women or women of African descent; we have a global online audience. The Obaasema woman can be the woman sitting high up in a corporate environment making major decisions or she can be the artist beautifully cultivating her craft or the woman in the village with no knowledge of her rights. All of these women need encouragement and need to be empowered at different levels to grow into the women they were created to be. That's where Obaasema magazine comes in. I can honestly say that we have been able to accomplish the main mission of Obaasema, which is to inspire and empower, although of course, there's more work to be done. Through feedback from our audience we know that people are being challenged to connect with themselves and strive for things that are of substance, whether it is in their relationships with people, relationships with themselves or accomplishing that dream. It warms my heart to see that our contributions to society are going far.

SS: Tell us about your work for Global Voices Online. How did you get started?

LA: I chanced upon Global Voices Online in 2009 and thought it was an incredible news resource. I love the diversity of the GV team and wanted to be a part of it; I've been writing political pieces with Ghana as a focus. I haven't been able to contribute for some time now but I look forward to actively doing so soon.

SS: You have a blog, Abi speaks. What made you think of starting the blog?

LA: I'm pretty opinionated and as I mentioned earlier, love to share knowledge with people. “Abi Speaks” is another platform I use to do that. It provides a chance for me to freely write about my thoughts without the limitations of, for instance, Obaasema which is an official publication. Also, “Abi Speaks” is my way of creating another voice, a personal one, outside of Obaasema.

SS: In 2007 you were featured on Black Star News as Entreprenuer of the Day. How did BSN learn about you? What did it do for you to be featured on the BSN website?

LA: Black Star News found me online and approached me about an interview. Their feature definitely gave Obaasema some exposure especially since it was pretty fresh on the web at the time.

SS: What do you find interesting about the Ghanaian blogosphere?

LA: I like the vibrancy of it; the boldness displayed in pieces is exciting and indicates that Ghanaians are advancing in this area of “freedom.” The bloggers here are pretty active; they have gatherings and seem to have built friendships with each other as a result of this.

SS: Finally, what are your future ambitions for Obaasema? And for yourself?

LA: In the next few months Obaasema Online will be undergoing a revamp to revive the energy connected with the publication. After reaching where we want to be with this new direction, a move towards launching the print magazine in Africa will follow. Ambitions for myself: My career in Communications is going in a direction I didn't anticipate, in a very good way, and I'm learning to relax and see where God takes me in this area. In the mean time, I intend to further explore other platforms in media to help move Obaasema to the next level.

This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.

Written by Steve Sharra · comments (5)
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The first translation of Global Voices in Aymara was published in September 2009 and continued with intermittent publication for the next year. Once Victoria Tinta took the helm as editor, the site began to produce regular translations from Global Voices in Spanish to Aymara. In addition to proofreading and formatting translations, Victoria has been responsible for recruiting and coordinating the team of volunteer translators. In all, there are have been 21 volunteers who have contributed with a translation, and there is a core group of approximately one dozen who have produced regular translations.

Global Voices in Aymara Editor Victoria Tinta at the Brazilian Digital Culture Forum in São Paulo in October 2010.

The new site is an initiative of the Jaqi Aru project based in El Alto, Bolivia and aims to contribute to the availability of content in the Aymara language on the internet, as a way to promote and preserve their native tongue. Most of the translators and members of the Jaqi Aru project are students in the Linguistics Department of the Public University of El Alto [es] (UPEA for its initials in Spanish), and hold a passion for conserving the language for future generations. The partnership with Global Voices enables the group to provide valuable content in the Aymara language about current events and cultural issues from around the world.

While all of the translators are bilingual in Aymara and Spanish, and in some cases, multilingual, this translation project is still in its early stages. In many cases, words do not exists in Aymara for the text that appears in Global Voices articles. To help in such cases, there are projects such as Runasimipi that attempt to build consensus for the translation of a particular word, especially words related to technology. But in many cases, these translations are an individual's proposal for how something should be translated. This interpretation may vary from translator to translator, but beginning in this manner leaves room for discussion, thus helping each translator improve upon their work.

Members of the Global Voices in Aymara translation team.

It may be true that most readers of Global Voices in Aymara have no trouble reading Global Voices in Spanish instead, but the project is part of a larger goal of encouraging Aymara speakers, especially young people, to embrace the language of their ancestors. Making interesting content available on the Internet, is only the first step for the Jaqi Aru project and the Global Voices in Aymara translation team in hopefully setting an example for other indigenous and minority language communities around the world.

This post is part of our special coverage on Languages and the Internet.

Written by Eduardo Avila · comments (2)
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Live-tweeted shooting

Ternovsky live-tweeted [ru] a confusing scene in which two unknown men shot at his car:

Трое нерусских на мерседесе расстреляли мою машину за то что я снял их нарушение. Гонялись за мной и стреляли высунувшись из окна

Номер Мерседеса, из которого стреляли: в294хк199

The video of the shooting was uploaded on July 14, 2011, by YouTube user ridusnews (Ternovsky is behind the “Ridus News” citizen journalist community):

Ternovsky also posted photos of the cartridge cases he found on the side of the road.

Cartridge case Ternovsky found after his car was shot at. Photo by Dmitry Ternovsky (YFrog)

Later, Ternovsky recounted the incident fully in an interview with RIA Novosti [ru]:

На светофоре большой длинный черный “Мерседес”, включил “крякалку” и решил встроиться в поток. Я сфотографировал этот автомобиль, он обогнал меня справа, водитель опустил окно, начал меня оскорблять, плюнул в меня и поехал дальше. Я догнал “Мерседес” – и плюнул в его сторону. После чего один из пассажиров высунулся в окно и начал стрелять в меня.

When Ternovsky reported the incident at the local police precinct, he tweeted that the police did not initially seem too concerned with the case:

Возник вопрос у милиционера. Есть ли здесь состав преступления? Во мне дырок нет, на машине легкие вмятинки. “пойду почитаю закон” говорит

Bloggers investigate

After a search of the license plate number, the police discovered that the car was registered to a female lawyer in Moscow. Ternovsky had also managed to take a picture of the two men in the car. Bloggers immediately went to work trolling Russian social networking sites, eventually finding photos supposedly matching the men in the original on the Russian website Odnoklassniki. As a result, one of the suspects, Grigory Chubrevich, a 24-year-old originally from Riga, was detained in Moscow on July 15, a day following the incident.

On July 15, Ternovsky posted on his blog [ru] several questions he has concerning the incident. Among other things, Ternovsky wondered:

Вчера вечером ребята нашли героя, сидевшего за рулем Мерседеса, на сайте одноклассников. Он отлично виден на втором (стоит справа), третьем и четвертом снимках, которые размещены здесь - http://ridus-news.livejournal.com/286436.html
Думается, что сотрудникам МВД надо как-то быстрее осваивать Интернет и поиск в социальных сетях. Пока мы часами рисуем фотороботы и просматриваем картотеки бандитов, участники преступления спокойно находятся через Интернет.

In the comments under his post, bloggers quickly agreed with Ternovksy [ru], noting that:

Да. Достаточно в одноклассники встроить систему распознавания лиц. Но у нас ничего не хотят делать.

И судя по тому чемоданчику с деньгами, товарищи легко смогут отмазаться.

One blogger worried [ru] that the light laws regarding minor attacks coupled with the lack of police protection would allow the perpetrators “to settle the score” against Ternovsky later:

Хочется пожелать Дмитрию тоже обзавестись травматическим стволом. По нынешним временам без него в Москве никак. […] Надеюсь, полиция все же сработает - и возьмут стрелков. Правда, им ничегошеньки не светит. Мелкое хулиганство. Заплатят штраф - и обозленные будут ждать Терновского возле подъезда, чтобы разобраться. Вооружаемся, граждане.

On July 15, a day after the attack, Ilya Varlamov [ru], a popular Russian photo-blogger and friend of Ternovsky, called for bloggers to join in support of one of their own. He posted a note on his blog [ru], asking all to rally in support of Ternovsky on July 16.

Завтра в около 13:00 в Таганском районном суде города Москвы состоится рассмотрение дела об избрании меры пресечения для задержанного по делу об обстреле машины Дмитрия ternovskiy Терновского. Мне кажется, стрелявшего в центре Москвы Григория Чубревича завтра могут отпустить. Слишком много родственников сегодня кружилось около ОВД. Думаю, только от нас зависит, замнут это дело или нет. […]

He later posted a blow-by-blow account of the trial [ru] and thanked the 40 or so people who came to support Ternovsky.

Due to the bloggers' pressure, the case has received official and media attention. The first session of the court ruled to arrest Chubrevich for 2 months during the investigation. According to Echo Moskvy, Chubrevich may be charged with “Hooliganism,” which carries a sentence of up to 7 years of imprisonment.

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Born in Cambodia and educated in the United States, 20 year old Sreyneath Poole has begun documenting “inspiring Cambodian women” in her blog. Currently studying International Relations at University of Redlands, California, she hopes to encourage Cambodian women to stand up and make their voices heard.

The Tumblr blog Inspiring Cambodian women disputes the traditional belief that Cambodian women belong in the kitchen. I had a chance to email-interview Sreyneath, and inquired what was the incentive that brought the blog to life.

Global Voices (GV): Please tell us a bit about your personal and academic life.

Sreyneath Poole

Sreyneath Poole (SP): I was born and raised in Phnom Penh. Before my mum’s second marriage, I lived near Psa Chas (Old market) and attended Norodom middle school and Chaktomok middle/high school. When my mum remarried in 2000, I was enrolled into International School of Phnom Penh (ISPP) until 2005 when my family and I moved to New York. I finished and received my high school degree in New York and moved to Redlands, California to continue my undergraduate education at the University of Redlands. Within the university, I am enrolled in a program called, The Johnston Center for Integrative Studies. This program allows me to create my own major. The title of my major is (as of right now) is “Living with political conflicts through the lens of international relations and Asian studies.” My major is largely built around after learning about the atrocity that happened in Cambodia more than thirty years ago.

GV: What inspires you to start the project? What is the purpose of the “Inspiring Cambodian Women” blog?

SP: It came from an essay that I have wrote for a class about Cambodian women and discrimination particularly in the public service. After discussing the issue one conclusion I came to was that Cambodian women needed role models and somebody suggested setting up a web site, so hence my blog began. As I wrote on my blog, the purpose of “Inspiring Cambodian Women” is set up in the hope of inspiring the world, especially Cambodian women, to stand up and make their voice be heard; to be active in their community or in the world.

GV: How have you gone about reporting on strong Cambodian women? What criteria do you use to select each to write about?

SP: When I wrote my first post on “Inspiring Cambodian Women” I had a few women in mind. Since I did not expect many readers at the beginning, I thought that I should write about women who are my personal heroines. Some of the women that I truly admire are Mu Sochua, Chhom Nimol and Loung Ung. My dad also helped me by suggesting a few names to me. At one point I ran out of women to research about and showcase on my blog. I thought that my project was finished! As I tried to research on more Cambodian women to write about, I started to send my blog to friends and family to read and help spread the words about the blog. As the blog started to get more readers, I began to get requests from my readers to write about a women who they considered to be their personal hero or inspiring. My readers’ suggestions are pretty much my criteria on how I go about showcasing wonderful Cambodian women. Writing this blog has been such a great learning experience for me. I did not realize how many courageous and incredible Cambodian women who are out there, against all odds, fighting to do something that they truly believe in hoping to make a positive difference in their community. Every time I research about these women, I become more inspired!

GV: What challenges do you think need to be addressed in your “Inspiring Cambodian women” blog?

SP: The first challenge that I see is spreading the words about the blog to as many people as possible, especially to the Cambodian community, both in Cambodia and abroad. I know that this is a challenge because not everyone can access the internet. So therefore, my blog can only reach those who have access to the internet.

The second challenge also relates to the easy access of my blog. I wanted to have the blog both in Khmer and English. Since my Khmer writing is not too good, I am working with my aunt to help me write the blog in Khmer. This has been a slow process. Having all of the posts be in Khmer is a goal that I’m hoping to achieve very near in the future.

The third challenge that is needed to be addressed is trying to showcase more local Cambodian women and their work. This is a very difficult task to do from abroad. When I return to Cambodia in the near future, I’m hoping to meet women who are making a positive difference in their local community and write about their work.

GV: Last but not least, what do you want your readers to understand after they read your blog?

SP: My target audience is Cambodian women worldwide who wish to be a positive force in their community. I want to present these women so that they can have a role model to look up to. Being a positive change in the community does not necessarily mean you have to go out and start a big project. It can be anything that you want it to be. Find something that you are truly passionate about whether it’s writing, singing, or playing a sport. Find a way of overcoming the obstacles that you will face. You can make a difference by bringing something that you are truly passionate about to your community.

This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.

Written by Kounila Keo · comments (7)
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Soneka Kamuhuza (SK): How long have you been blogging?

Brenda Zulu (BZ): I have been blogging since 2004. Besides blogging I also teach Web2.0 applications at workshops to civil society, media and any other interested parties. This includes blogging, micro blogging, podcasting, vlogging, social bookmarking and the use of social media effectively by media organizations.

Brenda Zulu - Zambian journalist and blogger. Photo source: Brenda's blog.

SK: What is the current attitude towards blogging in Zambia?

BZ: Well there is a number of Zambian bloggers but most of them live in the Diaspora. Many Zambians living in the Diaspora blog frequently than Zambians living at home. This is also associated with issue of access to the internet for Zambians at home. Many Zambians can now access internet on their mobile phone where they can mostly do micro-blogging. Otherwise, some even connect their mobile phones to their computers if they would like to do some blogging. Others access the internet from internet cafes, libraries, use mobile dongles, rabbits, wifi, etc. Internet access in Zambia is not cheap even with the coming of optic fibre networks. As one moves away from the city to rural areas access to the internet doubles while losing mobile networks.

Zambians living at home are not prolific bloggers. There are many Zambian blogs online but most of them are dead blogs as they are not updated frequently. Many Zambians are good at micro-blogging and the use of Facebook. Zambians use Facebook more than any other social media platform. Very few Zambians are on Twitter and among the few that have Twitter accounts very few use their accounts. Many claim that they don’t know how to use Twitter.

SK: What do you see as the influence of blogging on Zambian media?

BZ: The Zambian media does not really blog. Many media personnel see blogging as an extra activity. If blogging was bringing in an extra income for Zambian journalists, blogging would be rampant amongst them which is not the case. There is nothing influencing Zambian journalists to blog as many still need to learn the ropes about what blogging is and why it is relevant.

If anything, very few working journalists have equipment of their own. Many journalists use computers, recorders and cameras from their workplaces and they wouldn’t necessary be blogging while at work because they would be stealing company's time. In any case, while journalist can access the internet at their work places some newsrooms are still lagging behind in terms of access to the internet. Many journalists I have taught blogging still say that they still lack internet access and that it was hampering them from blogging. Apart from this it is usually the lack of knowledge that is hampering Zambian journalists to blog. For seasoned bloggers, blogging is just a way of life. When one has a readership and a following they always feel obliged to blog and keep their audience informed.

SK: Are there limitations to your ability to blog?

BZ: Yes there are limitations to my blogging because I now have to blog on other spaces for clients for money. My blog is actually suffering because I am busy creating other blogs and content for clients. In that case, I can safely say that blogging has opened up many closed doors as it has made me busy. Apart from blogging to create my ICT brand, I have used blogging to popularize myself and my work online.

Infact, blogging opens up new opportunities for us people in the media sector. Apart from tutoring on blogging, I have been contracted to liveblog and speak at events, I have also become a news source for media on new and social media and web2.0 issues. I believe my skills have also helped me to be part of two fellowships as everyone wants to learn about new media and how they can benefit from it in career building and also in specilised reporting. These include the Population Reference Bureau (PRB) under the Women’sEdition fellowship in the USA and the Women In News Programme in France which is part of the WAN-IFRA programme.

Brenda Zulu hopes that Zambian bloggers will work together in creating content and aggregate it for this year’s elections.

SK: How does technology infrastructure affect blogging in Zambia?

BZ: Well, I will talk about myself and how I have managed to blog even under difficult circumstances. I started blogging when I used to access internet at the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) resource center. I usually used to work offline on my laptop and then blog only when I had internet access. Firstly, I started blogging because I wanted to archive my articles as the publication I used to work for had no online presence and also used to refuse my ICT articles. I only blogged articles I did on information communication technologies (ICT) as my blog allowed me to do that. Sometimes I also blogged stories that were never used by my publication.

With or without access to technology, blogging can still go on if people are just passionate about it. I blogged more after I was first to be given an award as the Best female Journalist in 2003 in writing ICT stories by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). I wanted to brand my myself in the web which I did because of blogging. Blogging has helped me to find new strings I could contribute stories to as many editors just expressed interest for me to write for them after reading one or two of my blog posts.

SK: What do you see as the role of bloggers in the upcoming elections?

BZ: I just wish that bloggers could work together in creating content and aggregate it in this year’s elections. The role of bloggers in this year’s election is basically to keep the electorate informed but also to create spaces of interactivity and discussion with the community.
The objective of blogging elections is also to capture information that will be presented in different areas of Zambia and also give the voice to voiceless election-aspiring candidates especially women who want to be in leadership.

Integration of data from multiple sources will be required to provide meaningful information and content. Involvement of stake holders is crucial for sharing and dissemination of information for knowledge sharing for the general public. We will need to aggregate content from blogs so that the content will be organised, highly read and it should be presented in text or data, pictures and video and audio (podcasts).

Blogging elections will help geographically dispersed people to also be sensitized. Collaborative framework for community participation even after the elections come to an end. This will help improve the quality of information by linking information from multiple data sources and also reduce cost of content creation and deployment for providing better access through multiple devices.

SK: How would you describe the state of Zambian blogosphere?

BZ: The state of the Zambian blogosphere is growing at a very slow rate. There is need for bloggers to be committed and consistent.

SK: What is the current public attitude towards blogging in Zambia? Are bloggers/online journalists under threat in Zambia?

BZ: Well, the public is ready to consume any other information from any other platform including the Internet. A wordpress based news outlet called the Zambian Watchdog has gained popularity with the owner living in exile because of some stories that were published on the site.

I was also threatened to be sued over stories published on the Southern Africa Social Forum as I was the one who in charge of content management. A journalist and also former President Fredrick Chiluba’s Press Aide Emmanuel Mwamba has been taken to court for a story he allegedly posted on Zambian watchdog.
The public reads blog posts that are circulated and aggregated by the general public.

SK: Would you say that blogging has become a new public sphere in Zambia?

BZ: Not really!!!!!!!! Unless you talk about micro blogging using Twitter or the use of Facebook in Zambia. It is now a fashion trend for Zambians to update their Facebook profile on a daily basis and also to leave comments on other people’s Facebook pages. There is still need for prolific bloggers, though, so that many blogs can be read.

SK: Are there government officials or politicians who blog?

BZ: The President has a blog but I think it is not him who updates it. It has been born as a campaign tool for this year’s elections. Rupiah Banda’s personal website was officially re-launched on Monday 21 February. Boasting a new design and brand new content, the site include more useful information and personal details about him and his wife and the nation of Zambia. The website provides a crucial channel to help President Banda reach the Zambian people. It comes as part of his pledge to drive forward progress and development and so help Zambia to achieve a better place in the world.

The website was first launched in September 2010. He also has official Facebook page and a YouTube channel. Main opposition parties have online presence and the opposition presidential hopefuls such as
Haikainde Hichilema and Michael Sata have personal sites. In 2011 we can see the shift of election campaigns to online platforms.There are also some Members of Parliament and Minister who have Facebook pages such as Dora Siliya who is Education Minister and a former journalist. She uses the page to disseminate government information.

SK: Brenda continues to commit to sharing her experiences and expertise with the rest of the world through blogging.

Written by Soneka Kamuhuza · comments (1)
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