When I first heard the news that Dennis Kimambo had been missing for over a week, I was worried, but envisioned him in a rural part of Kenya, conducting an HIV/AIDS educational outreach, or in Dubai, where he had been invited at one point to play in a golf tournament, one of his favorite pastimes.

After the news came that his body had been discovered on April 29, and that he had met a violent death, I could not fathom or accept it. Stan Tuvako, a close friend of ours and the person who actually introduced us, said in the aftermath of the announcement: “it was shocking how much violence this man of peace encountered.” That this courageous soul faced violence and death again and again over the decade I knew him, and continued to do the work for which he seemed born, was just one of the remarkable qualities we so loved and admired in him.

Dennis Kimambo

I knew Dennis virtually for many years before we met in 2007, the only time I would ever see him in person. Our relationship was forged via email and phone, and built on several mutual passions, including the use of arts and media to address HIV/AIDS and health issues, the empowerment of young people, and the peaceful resolution of conflict. I was a mentor in the beginning, but felt like a student myself as he forged ahead in the many forms of activism that distinguished his brief but meaningful life.

Dennis began his career in several youth groups based in his hometown of Nakuru, Kenya. After we met, he became one of the mainstays in the ActALIVE arts coalition I founded in 2002, whose mission was to bring together artists and others using creative approaches to health and development issues, specifically focusing on HIV/AIDS.

In 2001, Dennis and young theatre artists from the Nakuru Players Theatre Club founded the theatre-for-development nonprofit, REPACTED (Rapid Effective Participatory Action in Community Theatre Education and Development), which uses a new and unique form of audience participation and interaction–called “magnet theatre”–to educate young and old, women and men, prisoners, and people already HIV-positive on health issues, behavior change, stigma and discrimination, and self-empowerment. The “Mr. and Miss Red Ribbon” contest, held each year on World AIDS Day (December 1), is an innovative beauty pageant emphasizing the importance of self-esteem and healthy lifestyles for those who are HIV-positive.

Several other opportunities emerged that would carry Dennis and his peers in new directions, including a grant from the MTV “Staying Alive” Foundation that funded HIV/AIDS education and prevention efforts among the male and female inmates at the prison in Nakuru. The grant also allowed community-theatre outreaches to young people to educate them about HIV/AIDS, encourage use of prevention measures, and promote voluntary counselling and testing (VCT).

Dennis (on the right) and colleagues at the REPACTED offices in Nakuru. Photo by David Sasaki and used under a CC BY-NC 2.0 license.

Dennis and other members of ActALIVE in Kenya, India, Thailand, Nigeria, USA, Uganda, South Africa, and elsewhere became involved in 2005 in the first World AIDS Day activities of the Global Peace Tiles Project, an arts endeavor using collaged tiles as a means to convey messages about peace, health education, HIV/AIDS prevention, and sustainable development.

In 2007-2008, Dennis and other peace activists in Kenya faced perhaps their greatest challenge to date: quelling the violence that was threatening to kill thousands and destroy the fabric of Kenyan society. He and a group of Kenyans and others from around the world, myself included, became involved in a project called “Pyramid of Peace,” a name coined from an acrobatic act created by the Nafsi Afrika Acrobats based in Nairobi, whose theme is peaceful co-existence among the various tribal groups in Kenya.

Dennis Kimambo. Photo by David Sasaki and used under a CC BY-NC 2.0 license.

REPACTED began to incorporate the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) during this time, and the two Rising Voices grants the group received helped immensely to increase and improve their efforts. The first grant enabled the purchase of equipment (video and photo cameras, a computer, and a modem) that allowed REPACTED to introduce a group of 27 young people to the digital world. Blogging was a focal point, and this resulted in invaluable participation in RV's “Blogging Positively” project, which has produced an e-guide, a map of bloggers who write on HIV/AIDS themes, and follow-on discussions about next steps, such as development of a curriculum.

The Rising Voices grant also allowed REPACTED to organize a Youth Media Consultative Forum, to train local residents to gather news and stories and share them with an international audience. Various forms of citizen media were envisioned and used in this project, and magnet theatre formed a central part of these efforts. In addition, REPACTED helped Kenyans displaced by the civil disruptions of 2007-2008 to tell their stories, and in more recent times has organized civic-education activities regarding elections, voting, and constitutional matters, all in hopes of ensuring that history does not repeat itself.

The REPACTED weblog at RV contains four years (2007-2011) of informative and insightful postings about the group and their work.

“Denno,” as his friends often called him, has been described in recent days as a loving father, a wonderful husband, a leader of great vision, a cherished friend, a person of “light,” a force for good, an activist who helped change hearts and minds. He had the dreams of a Martin Luther King, and the courage and determination of a Gandhi. He was a hero to so many of us, and he will be always.

In trying to find a way to recover the inspiration and hopefulness he embodied, and move forward with the work to which Dennis gave his life–and perhaps for which he gave his life (a police investigation is now ongoing as to the motives behind his death)–I am reminded of the lyrics to a song I know he would have loved, called “Times Like These” (Foo Fighters): “it's times like these you learn to live again, it's times like these you give and give again, it's times like these you learn to love again, time and time again.”

Thanks so much for teaching us how to live, to give, and to love, Dennis! You were and always will be a man for times like these, and what you gave to the world will be remembered and cherished time and time again.

Written by Janet Feldman · Translated by Global Voices · View original post [en] · comments (0)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

When he was 19 Lenin won the Ángel Felicísimo Rojas novel prize, awarded by the House of Ecuadorian Culture [es] in 2010, for his only novel that had been published at that time: El Diario de Lorenzo (Lorenzo's Diary). Lenin, a student of Social Communication at the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja [es] and a Law student at the Universidad Nacional de Loja [es], has other works that still have not been published.

We talked to Lenin about his life, his experience as a writer and his blog.

Lenin Paladines talking to Global Voices. Photo by Gina Yauri.

Global Voices: What was your childhood like?

Lenin Paladines: Mi mamá trabaja en una biblioteca. Ella siempre me llevaba allá. No me gustaba jugar con niños de mi edad sino encerrarme con los libros. Toda la vida he vivido rodeado de libros; desde ahí nace la cuestión de escribir.

Lenin Paladines: My mom worked at a library. She would always bring me there. I didn't like to play with the kids my age, I preferred to close myself in with the books. I've lived my whole life surrounded by books; that's where writing comes from.

GV: What is writing for you?

LP: Es una forma de expresar lo que puedes, porque el problema de la mayor parte de las personas es no tener los medios para poderlo hacer, aprovechando la manera de contarles a los demás lo que uno tiene por dentro.

LP: It is a way of expressing what you can, because the problem that the majority of people have is not having a way to do that; it is making the most of the method to tell everyone else what you have inside.

GV: Do you choose the characters or do they choose you?

LP: Uno tiene una idea, pero las cosas o los personajes van apareciendo a medida que se va trabajando, sin que se lo haya planificado la mayor parte del tiempo.

LP: You have an idea, but the things or the characters appear while you are working, without it being planned most of the time.

GV: Is the work of a writer never-ending?

LP: No es tanto que te dedicas a escribir, sino es ponerse a leer. Desde el punto de vista del lector nunca se va a terminar de leer. Sí, es interminable.

LP: It is not so much that you focus on writing, but that you spend time reading. From the point of view of a reader, you will never stop reading. Yes, it is never-ending.

GV: What do you read?

LP: Novelas de ficción de Julio Verne. Ahora estoy leyendo bastante Lovecraft y Stephen King.

LP: Fiction novels by Jules Verne. Right now I'm reading a lot of Lovecraft and Stephen King.

GV: Is each book an adventure for you?

LP: Sí, cada libro te permite conocer lugares que nunca imaginaste y te permite sentir de alguna manera lo que ese escritor quiso dejarte en especial.

LP: Yes, each book allows you to learn about places that you never imagined and it allows you to feel in some way what that writer wanted to leave especially for you.

GV: What has been the most gratifying experience that you have had as a writer?

LP: El poder incentivar la lectura en mis amigos y que estos me digan que les ha servido de algo.

LP: Being able to encourage reading among my friends and that they tell me that it was worth it to them in some way.

GV: People are reading printed material less and less due to the innovation of new technology. What do you think about this?

LV: No es culpa de la tecnología. Es cierto que la gente no lee, pero para incentivar a la lectura es necesario hacer buen uso de la misma, buscar la manera atractiva de la tecnología para que las personas lean. Una forma es el hipertexto que se complementa con información extra a la lectura.

LV: It is not technology's fault. It is true that people don't read, but to encourage reading we have to make good use of it, we must find the attractive technological way so that people read. One way is hypertext that complements the reading with extra information.

GV: What do you think is happening in Latin America as far as reading is concerned?

LP: Ecuador está mucho más atrás en comparación con otros países. En Guayaquil y en Quito hay clubes de lectura, en otros países son mucho más común. Es importante que las personas se den cuenta que leer es importante para poder avanzar.

LP: Ecuador is far behind compared to other countries. In Guayaquil and in Quito there are reading clubs; in other countries they are much more common. It is important for people to realize that reading is important to be able to move forward.

GV: What would your advice be for promoting the culture of reading?

LP: Tarde o temprano se darán cuenta que es necesario leer. Y otro es que los profesores deberían incentivar con el ejemplo en el ámbito de la lectura; necesitan forman profesionales integralmente completos, no sólo teóricos o formación técnica, que les permitan desarrollar otro tipo de competencias.

LP: Sooner or later they will realize that reading is necessary. And another thing is that professors should lead by example in the area of reading; they need to produce professionals that are well-rounded, not just with theories or technical training, they should allow them to develop other types of abilities.

Lenin keeps up his blog Este lugar… Donde el horizonte no es más que el principio de esa dimensión que nunca encontramos (This place… Where the horizon is no more than the beginning of that dimension that we never find) [es], where he writes about science fiction, which is what he is most passionate about. He also reads and follows other blogs, like Tejiendo el mundo [es], Raguniano el blog para el libre pensamiento [es], El Blog de Laura [es] y Fumamos de gorra, y no por necesidad [es].

GV: Why did you decide to write a blog?

LP: Escribo regularmente columnas para un periódico de la ciudad, pero lamentablemente los periódicos tienen esquemas demasiado cuadrados y restringidos que no te permiten ir más allá, como por ejemplo escribir narrativa dentro de las columnas de opinión. Eso sumado a los problemas de límites en cuanto a la extensión de la escritura y sobre todo a la posibilidad de que más gente me lea me hizo decidirme a abrir un blog.

LP: I regularly write columns for a newspaper in the city, but unfortunately newspapers have guidelines that are too square and restricting and don't allow you to go further, like for example writing a narrative in the opinion columns. That, added to the problems of limits on how long the piece can be, and above all the possibility that more people would read me, made me decide to start a blog.

GV: How has having a blog helped you?

LP: Me ha ayudado en el sentido de aprender la responsabilidad de tener un blog. Actualmente cualquiera podría tener uno y escribir sobre lo que se le dé la gana sin ningún problema o filtro editorial, para eso es Internet. Pero la responsabilidad que tú tienes al estar tu nombre expuesto a que cualquiera lo revise y cualquiera critique tu trabajo hace que te fijes más en pequeños detalles y realices mejor tu trabajo.

LP: It has helped me in the sense that I have learned the responsibility of having a blog. These days anyone can have one and write about whatever he or she wants with no trouble and no editorial filter – that is what the Internet is for. But the responsibility that you have with your name on it, so that anyone can look at it and criticize your work, makes you focus more on small details and do a better job.

GV: What are the long-term objectives for your blog?

LP: Mantenerme escribiendo sobre todo, porque si uno no escribe se olvida de cómo hacerlo, y promover el hábito de la lectura entre los jóvenes.

LP: Above all that I keep writing, because if you don't write you forget how to do it, and encouraging the habit of reading among young people.

GV: What would you say to the readers that still haven't heard of you so that they decide to read your blog?

LP: Que en el blog podrán encontrar literatura joven interesante, original, que busca utilizar las bondades de las nuevas tecnologías para mejorar los niveles de lectura en los chicos.

LP: That in the blog they can find young, interesting and original literature that tries to use the good things about new technology to improve the reading levels of young people.

Close to finishing his two university degrees, Lenin is a little more on track for working in education.

You can follow him on Twitter: @lvpaladines

Written by Gina Yauri · Translated by Sally Seward · View original post [es] · comments (2)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

In 2010, a young couple from Berlin – Anna, a Polish journalist, and Thomas, a German photographer – decided to live on their globetrotting dream – and they decided to do it with their 6-month-old daugther Hanna on board. With a fully-packed Renault Espace they made a half-a-year-long road trip around the Black Sea, through the Caucasus to the Caspian Sea. The idea worked out so well that in 2012, already with their second daughter Mila, they travelled in Central America from Mexico down to Guatemala, Belize and Honduras.

From their first trip on they decided to share their unusual experiences through their blog, The Family Without Borders [en; Facebook]. The interest turned out to be so significant that in 2011 the blog was named the Best Travel Blog by the Polish edition of the National Geographic.

Global Voices (GV): Let’s imagine 25 years forward. Your daughters have their own children and want to go travelling with their babies. What is your reaction?

Mexico (Yukatan), Holbox Island. Photo © Thomas Alboth, used with permission.

Anna (A): I hope it will be this way. Recently, we've had some discussions about parents, kids and grandkids and how it all can change. We were a bit afraid that maybe they will choose a totally other way of life than we did and that it would be hard to accept it if they would start saying things like, “I want to go to a hotel.” But on the other hand, the more they grow up the more I feel that I’m scared that something can happen to them, all these mother-ish things.

Thomas (T): I would have wanted it. But I’m also not so sure if they will like this lifestyle, I have friends who grew up in a community flat and then they turned into the opposite. I’m also pretty happy to be completely different from my parents. So maybe one day they will stay in a hotel, will have nice rolling suitcases and that’s ok.

GV: You received the National Geographic title for the Best Travel Blog in 2011. Why do you think your blog became so successful?

A: I think it was two things. First, we didn’t plan for it to be big, so we were just doing what we liked, and I think these things are always going bigger when you just do what you love. We have known all these travel bloggers who had business plans, but for us it was basically writing for the grandparents, so that they could see Hanna safe and smiling. That was the beginning. After a while we started to check the statistics and we saw that people from 20, 40, 50 countries were visiting the blog, and we were like, “wow”. There is this generation of young Europeans who are studying abroad, travelling, making international couples and they think that if they have kids it will be all over. I think when they see what we did, they see hope that it all really doesn’t have to be over.

The whole family in their flat in Berlin. Photo by Kasia Odrozek

GV: Did you have a clear work division: who is writing, who takes pictures and so on?

A: Yes, we had clear divided tasks. It happened that I made some pictures but not often, normally the camera was in his hands all the time. I was writing the posts, Thomas wrote maybe two posts in these three years. For the blog he does all the technical things and I do all the human communication work. And on the road Thomas usually drives and I usually tell him where we are going [laughing]. The whole thing works when we are doing it together. A couple of weeks ago, he was in Burma and I was in Palestine and we didn’t post anything on the blog, and it felt strange.

GV: Would your experience be different without the blog?

A: For me having the blog was very motivating to get more knowledge about everything. On the second trip, I was writing in a much more journalistic way, so I was noting many more things, asking for more context while talking to people, taking leaflets in museums and so on. I don’t know if I would do all of this without knowing that I will publish it.

T: I was a bit jealous, because writing means reprocessing, while editing pictures is not the same experience, you don’t need more knowledge, you don’t have to understand the situation to make a picture.

At Lake Sevan in Armenia. Photo © Thomas Alboth, used with permission.

GV: What is your favorite memory when you look back at your travels?

T: More than a memory it is a feeling of being self-paced, that you decide about your own life. When you stay in one place you get into this daily rhythm, you get up, grab a coffee in the morning, you take a tram or metro and you go to your office, and 80 percent of your day is predictable. That’s what I liked about the trip, for a half of the year you decide what you want to do.

GV: Was there a moment when you thought, “This was a mistake”?

A: There was one such moment when I was scared and I thought that all these people saying that we were irresponsible parents were right. It was the night at a hotel in Guatemala where we saw three big men with guns passing by the corridor, talking angrily on the phone. We had to do something to feel better, so we asked them if they were dangerous. We didn’t speak too much Spanish but, luckily, we knew the word peligroso, dangerous. They answered “yes, but not for you and not here.” Then we learned that in Guatemala everybody has guns because they hadn’t been disarmed after the civil war.

GV: You say that your travels were about people and their stories. What was the craziest thing you heard or experienced?

T: If you come from a different world, even just the way people live their everyday lives seems interesting and sometimes strange.

The family has to say goodybe to their hosts in Guatemala, Chilasco waterfall. Photo © Anna Alboth, used with permission.

A: During the second trip, in Guatemala, we were hosted by a Mayan family in their small house with plastic chairs and a TV. After we talked to them, they were surprised, but not by the fact that we were travelling for so long – but that we could live without a TV for so long. Then in the evening, when I started to cut potatoes for a soup, all these small girls immediately started to help me because that’s what they do, they do everything together. When we were leaving, they were asking when we would come back and it was heartbreaking, we wanted to say that we would call but they didn’t have a phone, they wanted to write a letter but they didn’t know how to write.

GV: Any plans for the future?

A:We have to go on a trip again, of course. But before we do it, I need to finish my book on Central America, then we will go travelling again.

On March 26, 2013, The Family Without Borders will share their pictures and stories at a slideshow presentation at the Globetrotter shop in Berlin. For more details, please visit their blog or Facebook.

Written by Kasia Odrozek · comments (0)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

Apart from his day-to-day job as the helmsman of a Beijing-based company that helps fund start-ups, Kai-Fu Lee is also a social media veteran —putting his spin on various hot topics and interacting with his more than 26 million followers every day on Weibo, a Twitter-like microblog service that is three years old. He has even written a book about social media, “Microblog: Changing the World.”

Kai-Fu Lee. By Flickr user Hubert Burda Media CC: BY-NC-SA.

Kaifu Lee’s Number 1 title is anything but accidental. He constantly weighs in on China’s thorny issues that resonate with the general public. He recently had this to say in response to the highly strained online train ticket booking system [zh]:

@李开复：有人说买票软件网民才会用，民工不会用，导致社会不公平，所以违法。若这也算违法，那以后是否：民航局禁止用去哪儿买票、交通部禁止用导航抄捷径，商务部 禁止用淘宝买便宜货、教育部禁止用英语学习软件准备高考、卫生部禁止网上挂号看医生？若要照顾民工，只有铁道部从源头做起，线上线下做分配。

Some people say only netizens know how to use the booking software, migrant workers don’t, which leads to social injustice, therefore ( the booking software) is illegal. If this should be counted illegal, should the Civil Aviation Bureau ban “Qu Naer” to assist ticket buying? Should the Ministry of Communications ban GPS that helps people cut through the road, Should the Ministry of Commerce ban people from buying stuff on Taobao, should the Ministry of Education ban the use of English learning software for students preparing for the entrance exam to universities, should the Ministry of Health ban online registration for seeing doctors? If (we) want to care for migrant workers, we should start from the source, the Ministry of Railways, and achieve a combination of online and offline distribution.

And he never shys away from voicing his own opinions. Earlier, Global Voices published posts of a censorship row involving the liberal-leaning Southern Weekly newspaper. The heavy-handed censorship in which a newspaper editorial was brutally altered enraged netizens and an ensuing newspaper staff strike gained the support of many, including Lee.

@李开复：真相永远只有一个，掩耳盗铃只会使事态恶化、公信透支。权力属于人民，人民需要真相

There is only one truth, to deceive oneself is only going to make things worse and lead to credibility deficit. Rights belong to people and people need to know the truth.

Lee also retweeted several posts showing support for the newspaper as the censorship row continued to reverberate in the cyberspace. Then he was reportedly invited to “have tea” with the police which means some form of interrogation and presumably he would be warned to rein in his comments on the very matter. Later Lee vented his frustration in his micro-blog:

@李开复：好难喝的茶！！

The tea was awful!!

Besides lee, the top ten list is mostly made of entertainers and pop-stars. Coming in 2nd and 3rd are He Jiong and Xie Na, both hosts of a weekly show, Happy Camp aired on China’s flagship entertainment channel, Hunan Satellite TV. Actress Yao Chen and Yang Mi, who rose to fame by starring in popular TV series and movies are among the top 10.

Some prominent Chinese journalists and news personalities also made the top 100 list including, State broadcaster CCTV’s Rui Chenggang, Hongkong-based Phoenix TV’s Luqiu Luwei, self-employed talk show host Yang Lan and the Global Times editor-in-chief, Hu Xijin.

The site also revealed top performers in four categories [zh] which included weibo accounts of media, websites, universities, enterprises and government departments.

Sina Weibo said the rankings were based on activity level, coverage ratio of the posts, and number of retweets. However, many believe that platform has been in cooperation with the Chinese government in promoting opinion leaders.

Written by owen · comments (2)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

The Global Voices Online community works together to share the voices of thousands of bloggers and citizen journalists who live around the world. Sometimes, however, these same bloggers are the target of our curiosity.

In the interview below, we will discover a little bit more about Nessa Guedes, a 23 year old blogger from the south of Brazil relocated in São Paulo. A feminist, programmer, and vegetarian, the Coca-Cola Girl is above all somebody who does not stand down in the face of injustices in the world.

Global Voices: Who is Nessa Guedes?

Nessa Guedes: Programmer? Blogger? Project Manager? Volunteer? Feminist? Vegetarian? Cyclist? Bonne vivant? Digital activist? Open software enthusiast? Even today I can’t say who I am, because I never know if I’m speaking about my profession, activism, or activities. I left Porto Alegre to meet new people, and because I found myself identifying with a lot of different causes. I wanted to better understand what to do in order to participate in those causes and to experience other perspectives.

Blogger and activist, Nessa Guedes

Blog: http://garotacocacola.com.br/
Twitter: @nessoila
Facebook: Nessa Guedes
Favorite Link: ANDA (News Agency for Animal Rights)

GV: Why write a blog?

NG: The blog came about in a totally different context. I was 17 and had a lot of free time – I wanted to express my impressions of the word and share them with whoever was interested. With time, I stopped talking about my personal indignations exclusively and opened the blog topics to a more general realm, thinking about mobility, choices, politics, professions, careers, behavior and relationships.

This all was part of a long and continuous growth of perception and of the world. You can say that the blog is a faithful reflection of an adolescent girl becoming a woman.

GV: Why the “Coca-Cola Girl?”

NG: Coca-Cola Girl comes from a feeling of being a part of a world I don’t totally agree with, and from which I can’t effectively leave, which at times kills me. I have often thought about becoming a hermit, but even if I chose to live in a cave, private property would still follow me, since there is no land on the Earth that doesn’t have a landlord. So I would either have to buy a cave or invade it, which would leave me at the mercy of things that I don’t necessarily support. Another thing that doesn’t let me “abandon” the world in the way I would like is the fact that I know that there are people who need help, precisely because they don’t have the consciousness of living in an unjust context which forces the underprivileged to count on the bare minimum of food, sanitation, and freedom of choice.

Ser uma “garota coca-cola” é estar eternamente presa a propriedade privada, à mídia, à legislação, sem poder escolher estar ou não dentro delas. É não beber coca-cola mas ainda ser alvo de um mundo viciado em refrigerante. Apesar de que eu bebo coca-cola às vezes.

Being a ‘coca-cola girl’ is being eternally subject to private property, to the media, to legislation, without being able to choose whether or not you want to be a part of them. It’s not drinking coca-cola but still being the target of a world hooked on soda. That said though, I do drink coca-cola from time to time.

GV: What is your favorite post on the blog? And why?

NG: I think the post in which I admit to watching pornography – it’s a big taboo in Brazil to say that women consume this type of content. Another is the post in which I vent about the meritocracy and talk about the horrible experience when I saw a guy in agony in front of me and wasn’t able to do anything. The saddest thing about this post was the banality of the death of homeless people just because they live in the streets. It was as if life didn’t mean anything if the person didn’t have any possessions. Life, by itself, didn’t have any value. You have to be something to get protection, respect, and help: this is wrong. Very wrong.

GV: And how do people react to your posts?

NG: My friends are used to being the main readers of the blog. A lot of people e-mail me instead of commenting on the blog: as many to congratulate me as to disagree with me. I think it’s great, since I can exercise my ability to argue my ideas while also being able to look at my posts from a different point of view. Every once and a while a discussion will come up that is more intense and goes on to other topics outside the context of the original post, like lists of e-mail discussions and re-posts from other blogs.

Eu gosto dessa movimentação. Às vezes, inclusive, mudo de idéia sob certos aspectos – e acho isso extremamente importante para quem busca estar sempre à frente no entendimento das coisas que compreende como erradas no mundo.

I like this exchange. Sometimes I even change my opinion about certain aspects – and I think this is extremely important for anybody looking to be at the forefront of understanding things I think are wrong with the world.

GV: Has your activism caused you any problems?

NG: In 2011 I had problems when a video from the Folha de São Paulo, in which they interviewed me about the SlutWalk in São Paulo [en], I lost my professional standing because of the repercussion. But it was a manageable crisis that, along with other factors, culminated in my firing. I don’t regret having maintained my opinion, and I will never be ashamed of having it being exposed in my workplace; I never committed any crime. Criminals can be people who hide from unjust situations and don’t do anything to make it better, but people who speak up when they thing something is wrong and take the step to get out of their chair and really change the situation are never criminals. I’ve learned that lesson for life: to never get upset with myself if I loose an opportunity to work because of my opinions and ideas or because of things that I have done in my life. I thank the heavens for not having had to invest my time in jobs and people who don’t respect me like I would respect them.

Nessa Guedes holds a Blogueiras Feministas (Feminist Bloggers) sign dring the SlutWalk in São Paulo

Favorite quote:

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” Dalai Lama

Favorite person to follow on Twitter:

At @srtabia, because I admire the way with which she touches all the communities involved, and how she always expresses her opinion without compromising, or without offending people. She’s always very gentle and subtle with a lot of respect.

GV: Are blogs important in an era in which Facebook and other social networks dominate?

NG: Well, blogs are more than important in the era of social networks: They are our guarantee of political autonomy on the internet. When we use social networks or non-independent blogging clients, we all submit to the their use and privacy policies. With independent blogs, we are truly free.

GV: And what else does Nessa Guedes do?

Nessa Guedes in her developer hat at the iMasters hackathon, Intercon 2012. São Paulo, Brazil.

NG: Nessa works with digital production for a publicity agency. I’ve always liked technology and every once and while I get a freelance web developer job. I’m used to doing volunteer work in the area of Information Technology, and I participate as much as possible in any related events. One of my passions is to teach, and whenever I can I tech a developer course for people outside the industry. It’s not always for free, but always with a lot of enthusiasm. I’m a jedi member of the Garoa Hacker Club, and an outreach volunteer for the Mozilla Foundation. I’m also a member of the Blogueiras Feministas (Feminist Bloggers), a discussion board and portal about feminism in Brazil. I also write about web development on my other blog.

My background is in networking and computers, but I have done a bit of everything in my life, from a volunteer phone operator at an NGO which took care of dogs, to studying Physics as an undergrad for three frustrating years at UFRGS (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul). I always loose myself when I’m asked what more I want to do beyond working, or beyond blogging; there are so many things…

GV: To finish up, an idea in one tweet to change the world:

NG: Don’t put off something you can do in the next 5 minutes.

Written by Diego Casaes · Translated by Joshua Rodriguez · View original post [pt] · comments (1)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

Global Voices: Junior Prima Award [hu] is handed to talented young Hungarians every year. Is it possible that in 2012 you were the first blogger to receive it [hu]?

Szabolcs Panyi: Yes, I'm the first one who received it as a blogger. It's extraordinary for sure, but it's not only about me, but about the blog [hu], and therefore it's about the other authors as well. On the other hand, with this [award] the importance of blogs is also recognized.

GV: Before you joined Global Voices, I often quoted Véleményvezér on our English site, because I believed its name reflected what it did: it's an opinion leader blog for Hungarian readers. What was the key to making a blog dealing with public affairs so popular?

SZP: I think mostly the fact that we are trying to write Anglo-Saxon style texts, brief and as even-tempered as possible. Blogs and Hungarian op-eds are usually quite passionate, partial and ironic in style. We wanted something different. Our aim is not to reach agreement, but to make people think. We drifted more towards critizing the government lately, though, but the whole Hungarian politics has changed.

Szabolcs Panyi, blogger of Véleményvezér

The concept [of the blog] is that we highlight the most important event of the previous day, so we basically help those who are not following politics so closely to always find important stories, and they don't have to go through a bunch of things. In addition to this, we are cooperating with Index [a news site], and we owe a lot to Index and Blog.hu [a blog service of Index], because they promote us on their main page, among their own content, and this way they send a lot of readers to us.

GV: Do you know your readers, do you have an idea about who reads Véleményvezér?

SZP: According to the statistics of our Facebook page, it is mostly people between 25 and 45, male, residents of Budapest [the capital]. I often meet people who tell me that they read it, and it's always good to hear that. Recently, mainly middle-of-the-road, disillusioned, disappointed right-wingers, and long-time critics of the governing party have started reading us. But those who we'd rather like to address are a little bit like us, under 45, [people in their] 20s and 30s, who want to see Hungary following Western norms and maintaining good relations with its Western allies, rather than with the oppressive regimes, since we belong in the West. And, of course, [those who want] the government to pursue a reasonable, pragmatic economic policy because that makes the country strong. That is to say, classic right-wing moderates who have been watching the events of the Hungarian politics with a long face for a while now.

Our name is Véleményvezér [“Opinion Leader”] because the aim is not only to reach out to a lot of people, but to reach those more important people who have influence and opinion-making powers, or are in decision-making positions. Capitalizing on this, we are trying to draw attention to issues we find important, that's why we deal more with certain things than the broader audience would find it important – for instance, with the country's communist secret service past.

GV: At some point you invited public figures, journalists and experts to comment on your posts. What was the procedure you followed?

SZP: We disabled commenting to the broader audience, everyone can comment on our articles on Facebook [hu] using their real names, there we usually receive 50-200 comments to each text. On the blog, 20-30 invited commenters can reply, they are mainly economists, journalists, political commentators, university professors, experts from different backgrounds, who are all under 45 and have produced something valuable in their fields. They would be our ideal readers, and they are the ones we would like to present to our readers as figures who are more noteworthy than those run-down, old columnists who grew up during socialism and have been repeating the same things since then.

GV: Was there any other reason for directing commenters to Facebook?

SZP: The level of the Hungarian commenting culture is pretty low, and we wanted quality comments on our site, and to develop quality debate culture there. We received plenty of comments on the posts, let's say more than a thousand, and to find something meaningful, you had to scroll through the whole thing, thus it was totally worthless content, or rather the valuable content was lost among the worthless [comments]. But by taking this step we were able to make sure that comments were adding value in every case.

The latest example was a comment by Lászó Varró of the International Energy Agency [Head of the Gas, Coal and Power Division], and when Index highlighted the comment on their main page, that directed an additional 20,000 readers to us. Only by having that comment featured.

GV: In your article [hu] published on the occasion of the Blog Action Day you wrote that the Hungarian bloggers were free, they could publish anything. Do you still believe that?

SZP: Yes, they can publish virtually anything. Of course, there are bloggers leaning to political parties, whose blogs are financed by parties in one way or another, or they themselves work close to politics. Obviously, they don't write about certain things or are not framing so harshly even when criticizing their own people, while they are promoting certain topics popular on their political side.

GV: If bloggers can write freely, can we say that they have taken over the role of journalists to some extent?

SZP: We bloggers can react faster and can work on our stories almost without any restraint, while poor journalists have to sit in newsrooms and [publish news wires] around the clock, and they often remain with an almost total lack of creativity and no time to write opinion. It's in the genre of op-eds where bloggers have to a large extent taken over the role of journalists. There are not many traditional, well-known, respected columnists left in Hungary, those who are around are outdated, they publish in dailies, so the people we are addressing are not really reading them.

From left to right: Emőke Kilin, Szabolcs Panyi, Tamás Novák, Kata Molnár, Nóra Netoleczky, Andrea Buzás, Andrea Höll, Diána Dobsinszki – volunteers of Global Voices in Hungarian.

GV: Why was it important for you to volunteer on Global Voices?

SZP: I'm very interested in the situation in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Third World semi-dictatorships and dictatorships. During the spring of 2011, on a blogger trip to Germany, I met bloggers from Tunisia, Indonesia, Mongolia and other places, and I was very moved by the fact that we had the same occupation, we were members of the same generation, and how different were the consequences of blogging in Hungary and in those countries. I was looking for opportunities to advocate their causes in my country, or at least to draw attention to them. Global Voices is a very good opportunity to do this.

GV: What are the biggest challenges that GV's Hungarian team is facing?

SZP: The most challenging aspect is that topics from outside our borders that are not directly related to Hungary are less interesting to Hungarian readers, except for tabloid topics. For example, the sexual assault case in India was one of our most popular posts and was re-published by other sites as tabloid news. But many have also read the post on the death of the Iranian blogger Sattar Beheshti, which was a bit surprising to me, but I was happy that people at least heard about this terrible story in Hungary. Unfortunately, it's very hard to find readers interested in issues such as net freedom and free speech online.

GV: What was the most popular post or issue that Global Voices translated into Hungarian?

SZP: In addition to the ones mentioned above, the most popular were our translations on the Safarov case - because those were related to Hungary, since it was the Hungarian government that for economic advantages set free the Azeri Ramil Safarov who had killed an Armenian fellow student in Budapest. The axe murderer received amnesty from the Azeris right after being released, and he was celebrated as a hero – even the Azeri president's unofficial Facebook page cover was swapped for Safarov's photo. The translations told this story, and it was then circulated in the Hungarian online media.

Written by Marietta Le · comments (0)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

Mirelis runs the blog Caracas Ciudad de la Furia (Caracas City of Fury) [es], where she invites readers to describe the positive side of Caracas: experiences, places, images, flavors and sounds missed by many people who haven't taken the opportunity to get to know their city.

On her blog Mirelis describes herself [es] as a “citizen on foot, on a moto, on a bus, on the Metro and in a car.” In an interview with Global Voices, Mirelis told us:

I love the view of El Avila [a national park in Caracas] and this exceptional climate. Besides, I owe everything to this city and to my country. My family, my friends, my loves, my work, my relations… everything I am. For this, I should repay it somehow.

Mirelis took some time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions about her blog.

GV: How, when and why did Caracas Ciudad de Furia begin?

Mirelis Morales T.: Originally the blog began in September of 2009 to archive the pieces I had published in the Caracas section of the Diario El Universal [a Caracas newspaper]. But when I stopped working at the newspaper, the blog became my means to continue practicing my profession. I decided to focus on the theme of the city because it's what I had been doing and because very few people speak about Caracas from a positive angle.

So I dedicated myself to write about the city from a more constructive perspective, which would help show us its potential and to reflect on what we as citizens can do to make it more livable or less hostile.

Mirelis Morales Tovar in Caracas. Photo: Carlos Armas.

GV: Why did you call it “Ciudad de la Furia”?

MMT: I got the sentiment from the music of [Gustavo] Cerati. And I believe there is no better phrase to describe Caracas than City of Fury. Caracas is just that: it's furious, rebellious, chaotic, unpredictable. It's a city of contrasts and contradictions. But in spite of everything, it refuses to die.

GV: Various blogs [es] focus on Caracas. What makes yours different? What do you hope to achieve with this blog?

MMT: I'm trying to show an image of Caracas beyond that of chaos, traffic and danger. Why? Because I'm convinced that Caracas is more than that. Those of us who live in the city have faith that it is. When you're capable of defying prejudices a little and you begin to walk through the city, to get to know it, to discover its curiosities, you begin to reconcile with it, to see it from another perspective. And the city will also calm down and begin to show you the best of itself.

The only way to generate a sense of belonging and identification with your city is to know it. And I believe that this is a big problem for caraqueños [people from Caracas], that they don't know their own city. Fear keeps them locked up. Because of this, I do my best to invite readers to go out, to offer them alternatives, to tell them my experience in this or that place, so that they venture out and live Caracas.

Many of the blog's readers have accepted this invitation and have shared their own experiences in Caracas by participating in Ciudad Positiva (Positive City) [es], a photo competition that Mirelis has organized since 2010. On November 4, 2010, Mirelis wrote:

Our proposed challenge was to focus our gaze –if only for a minute- on a friendly side of the city. On that thing -natural or constructed- that characterizes us as the capital city or that differentiates Caracas from all other cities in the world.

Photos from the 2010 and 2011 editions can be found on Flickr.

GV: Tell us a little more about the photo contest Ciudad Positiva.

MMT: In addition to being a blogger I also tweet. While on Twitter, I noticed that people love to post photos of Caracas and I thought that maybe I could use the blog to promote a contest to choose the best photos and to disseminate them in another format. This is how I came up with the idea of creating notebooks of Caracas with the winning images. Why notebooks? Because it seemed to me that they would be a good way to carry the best of the city with you or to exchange it with others.

The contest has had three editions. And each year we have a different theme. The first year, we showed what characterizes Caracas; the second, its people; and the third, its colors. Every edition we have added more allies who believe in a positive city and we hope to have an open-air exhibition to share our vision of the city.

GV: What's in store for Caracas Ciudad de la Furia in 2013?

MMT: I would love to be able to change the blog's image. I've already begun to move to WordPress. I would like to create a logo. Essentially, to make it more professional. I want to include information that will be useful for people visiting Caracas, since the city lacks maps or guides. Thanks to the blog I've been in contact with people from Argentina, Spain, Costa Rica and Chile who have written to me asking for recommendations about the city. With that in mind, I would like to make the blog a little more formal and offer more alternatives.

GV: Do you have any advice for bloggers writing about cities?

MMT: To keep their eyes open. A city is a living being that always has something to offer. To look without prejudice. To be open to trying new things. I believe that every city has good things to offer. And it is good to be critical, but always with a constructive vision. To be a blogger is also to be a public servant.

Mirelis has received various acknowledgements for her blog. In 2010, she received the Premio Arturo Uslar Pietri del Colegio Nacional de Periodistas [Arturo Uslar Pietri Prize from the National School of Journalists] for “best web site” [es], and the “Caracas through a journalist's eyes” -mention in online category- award granted by the Caracas Chamber of Commerce. This year, the mayor of Baruta gave her a “Citizen Values” [es] award for promoting civic coexistence.

Follow Mirelis and her blog on Twitter (@mi_mo_to).

Written by Silvia Vinas · Translated by Natalie Southwick · View original post [es] · comments (0)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

Here are some questions and answers based on our conversation; alternatively watch Janet's interview on video (English subtitles available):

Juan Arellano (JA): How did you get involved with GV?

Janet Gunter (JG): Through Sarita [GV Portuguese Language Speaking Countries Editor], and our blogs about East Timor. We actually met in person for the first time in East Timor. Then I met Paula [GV Multilingual Editor] here in London. GV has always been for me about meeting and working with good people. On the GV Portuguese email list, I feel like I have dozens of friends around the world with similar interests and values. That's something really rare for me.

Janet Gunter, photo by pattamanuch.com used with authorization.

JA: So you started collaborating with GV Portuguese as a translator, an author, or both?

JG: As an author – covering Portuguese speaking Africa. Then when people started writing in Portuguese, I started translating their work into English. I mostly translate our African authors.

JA: Tell us about your role in GV's special coverage “Europe in Crisis“.

JG: I'm the instigator / cheerleader! I lived in Portugal for three years and I feel things that are happening there have a personal importance to me. Sara and I thought that there needed to be more coverage of citizen voices with the deepening crisis in Europe in 2011. And so we just started a Special Coverage page, and there has been a tremendous response from authors, translators and from our audience. Plus Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and French GV sites all have very “engagé” [engaged] editors. It's been a real pleasure linking and getting to know everybody across Europe. We're now 60-70 authors and translators collaborating and communicating.

JA: Is there something new you think could be done to improve GV's coverage of Europe (in crisis)?

JG: We need an RSS feed, and ideally we need an editor but we are looking for institutional sponsorship for this.

As a freelancer you work with NGOs whilst at the same time keeping another foot in other areas. How do you reconcile these sometimes very different worlds?

JG: With 30 columns on my Tweetdeck and having no “personal life”! In all seriousness, I realize that a lot of my activist skills – especially around networking and communication, are useful in my professional life. In the “professional sphere”, many respond increasingly favorably to my description of myself, which is very real about what motivates me and what kind of person I am. The person and professional are mutually reinforcing. If that makes sense. (This really came out when I “mapped” my interests.)

JA: Two questions then: What really motivates you? And, what challenges have you faced in your different jobs?

JG: What motivates me? First, other people! I want to work with dynamic, good people. Beyond people, a combination of reacting to injustice, creativity, and wanting to be out in the world. Challenges are dealing with burnout, systems that are not responsive or made for real people, convincing management and institutions to take risks.

JA: You say you're a bad tourist but at the same time you have travelled a lot. Tell us something about this.

JG: The only reason to accumulate money or wealth is to then spend it on experience! I don't own a house, don't have a car, don't own much at all. I travel a great deal for work. But I also enjoy slow train journeys and visiting my many friends in far flung places.

JA: Can you share some of those great travelling experiences with us?

JG: Too many – that would be a book in and of itself! Last winter I took the train from Los Angeles to New Orleans, departing from my California family, stopping in the west Texas plain for a couple of days and ending up with friends in New Orleans. It was slow, magical, meditative. I love empty spaces, so west Texas was a perfect interlude. There is nothing like travelling alone in short spells, then arriving to friends or family. In New Orleans I finally reconnected with a long lost friend, and New Orleans meant so much more to me, after having worked and travelled in Brazil and other places. Then I went to see my 94 year-old grandfather who was born in New Orleans, and drove two days back to my hometown of St Louis, with my dad, dodging tornado warnings and listening to country music on AM radio, arriving in time for my mother's warm soup for dinner. This is the kind of trip I love.

Apart from all the things she is currently doing, Janet finds time to work on a personal project: the restart project. She talks about this project in the following video:

You can find Janet online here and also on Twitter (@JanetGunter).

Written by Juan Arellano · comments (1)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

Chris is equal parts innovator, software developer, musician, citizens empowerment activist and co-founder of the website spainrevolution.com [es] – precisely the project we discuss in the following video:

Recently Cibervoluntarios and Empodera.org [es] published an e-book entitled Redvolution: el poder del ciudadano conectado [Internetvolution: The Power of the Connected Citizen] (PDF in Spanish). Chris was asked to contribute to the project, and based on what he wrote we learn the following about the internet and the value of information:

Information can be found on the internet immediately, as it is occurring, now there is no need to wait for traditional means of writing, editing, censuring and publishing. Those who own the information will continue to have power, but this has changed, now we hold the information while they are the same: those that desire to control information, those that offered it to us on a platter.

They first handed us the tools thinking that they would still be able to control how a citizen used that tool, and immediately thereafter the first netocracies popped up; networks defined by their horizontal structure, lack of defined leadership or hierarchy, no longer limited to only those you know or restricted to any particular group, but with a new idea of society, one adapted to the time in which we live. Once you cross that tipping point, there's no going back.

Chris believes that it is in the internet and through cyber empowerment and networking, where unjust governments can be confronted:

At any moment, while sitting at your desk in your bedroom you have options. You could contact the “Department of Citizens’ Affairs,” something you know will not work. Or you can join communities of social activists that are advocating for decisions on global issues. You could also write a blog post detailing your point of view and then someone sends the post to one of those sites that distributes news and overnight you have seven million hits, perhaps garnering attention from the President Secretary who, after dying from embarrassment from the poor social image he now has and the number of votes that are slipping away, decides to rethink his methods.

The other option you have is to share your ideas on social networking sites, discovering thousands of people think as you do, and in a moment getting those same thousands of people to take to the streets in protest.

You close your computer and think: today I feel like more of a citizen than ever.

Chris offers details about some tools for today's activists:

cyberactivism, social innovation, social technologies, networks, empowerment projects, citizen participation, internet transparency, open government, crowdfunding, free discourse on the internet…

All of these and many more are the tools every activist has in his toolbelt. These actions, movements, ways of thinking, processes of building the internet, manners of sharing information and culture, are lines of thought for a twenty-first century citizen.

Chris talks about these digital tools in the following video:

In a final moment of reflection, Chris shared:

In a world that revolves around the drive for money, which promotes individuality, the selling of ideas, the selling of nearly anything, people are turning up, and not just a few people but thousands that believe in proposing, sharing, organizing, and developing ideas with a singular objective: putting the common good above the benefit of the self.

This is as paradigm shift as exceptional as the model of industrialization.

As this idea matures, the virtual frontiers of the internet will transcend into the daily life of civil society, in each one of us and each of you and another world will be altogether possible.

Finally, it is worth noting the other projects on which Chris is currently collaborating: Apps4Good (an initiative with Dale Zak of Canada), with artists like Jordi Abello, developing banking apps for cell phones and supporting journalists like Lali Sandiumenge on projects such as MésCafèambllet [es] (find out more about it here).

Other related posts:

Afef Abrougui, Blogging From Tunisia
Talking With Rebecca MacKinnon About ‘Consent Of The Networked’

Written by Juan Arellano · Translated by Anna Williams · View original post [es] · comments (2)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

On his blog, Ahmed introduces himself as follows [ar]:

اسمي أحمد علي بن وفاء ، ليبي ، ولدت بقرية “أبوروية” في مدينة مصراته سنة 1981، أحمل شهادة بكالوريوس من كلية العلوم (قسم علوم الحياة). عندي شغف كبير بالتدوين – لكنه الكسل!

My name is Ahmed Ben Wafaa. I am Libyan. I was born in the village of Aburuya in Misratah in 1981. I hold a BS from the Faculty of Sciences (Life Sciences department). I am very fond and passionate about blogging but it is laziness [which prevents me from blogging more].

I interviewed Ahmed following many attempts to contact Libyan bloggers due to the weakness of means of communication in Libya nowadays. It took him a month to respond, he said, because he was unable to get access to a good Internet connection.

Photo of Ahmed posted on his blog “Made in Libya”.

GV: When did you start your activities on the Internet and what attracted you to the blogosphere?

أحمد بن وفاء: بدايتي مع الإنترنت كانت عام 2000، وقتها كان التدوين العربي يتعثر في خطواته الأولى، وقد أعجبتني فكرة أن يكون للمرء صفحة خاصة – خلال بضع دقائق – يعبر فيها عن أفكاره واهتماماته المختلفة (سياسية، تقنية، فنية الخ) بحرية، بعيداً عن جمود واحتكار وسائل النشر التقليدية.

Ahmed: My story with the Internet dates back to 2000. Back then, blogging in the Arab World was still in its first steps. I liked the idea of having one's own and private page where he can express his ideas and various interests (political, technical, artistic …) freely, away from the monopoly of mainstream media.

GV: Can you tell me a bit about the dangers that faced Libyan bloggers during [former Libyan dictator Muammar] Gaddafi's regime?

أحمد بن وفاء: كان التدوين عن السياسة أمراً شبه مستحيل لأن أي انتقاد تفسره الأجهزة الأمنية – ضيقة الأفق – كتهجم على رأس النظام (القذافي شخصياً) فيتم قمعه بشكل فوري، ومازلت أذكر ما تعرض له الصحفي ضيف الغزال عام 2005 حين كتب مقالاً على الانترنت ينتقد فيه الفساد والقمع الذي يتعرض له المواطن، فتم اختطافه وعثر على جثته لاحقاً وعليها آثار التعذيب (ومبتورة الأصابع) في إشارة واضحة لا تحتاج إلى تعليق!

Ahmed:Blogging about politics was almost an impossible thing because any criticism interpreted by the narrow vision of the security apparatus as an attack on the head of the regime (Gaddafi in person) and is met with an immediate crackdown. I still remember what journalist Daif el Ghazal went through in 2005 when he wrote a piece on the net criticizing corruption and oppression faced by people. He was kidnapped and his body was found later on with marks of torture (his fingers cut) in a clear sign that needs no comment.

GV: Everybody knows that the blackout in Libya and the banning of foreign channels to enter the country, made the bloggers the most important source of news during the Libyan revolution. Could you tell us about experiences which reflect this reality?

أحمد بن وفاء: بصراحة لم يكن للمدونات دور كبير أثناء الثورة لأسباب كثيرة ربما من ضمنها خشية المدون من اكتشاف هويته من قبل النظام، فلجأ معظمهم للكتابة بأسماء مستعارة والانتقال لمخاطبة الشريحة الأكبر التي تستخدم فيسبوك بالإضافة لسرعة انتقال المعلومات هناك وسهولة مشاركتها، وأذكر أنه في يناير الماضي قام بزيارتي صحفي اسمه عبد الله السالمي من قسم (BBC Monitoring) -وهو قسم مهتم بالحصول على الأخبار من مصادر إعلام المواطن كالمدونات وتويتر وغيرها – وأخبرني أن مدونتي كانت ضمن 3 مدونات ليبية كانوا يحرصون على زيارتها بشكل يومي أثناء الثورة الليبية، وأعتقد أن عدد المدونات النشطة أثناء الثورة لم يتجاوز 10 مدونات (من داخل البلاد).
وقد كانت مهمتنا في غاية الصعوبة بسبب سيطرة النظام على قطاع الإنترنت بشكل كامل وقيامه بقطعه على كامل البلاد بعد وقت قصير من اندلاع الثورة! مما جعل من دخولنا للانترنت (عبر وسائل بديلة) في غاية الصعوبة، بالإضافة لانشاء مخابرات النظام ما يسمى “بالجيش الالكتروني” الذي كان مهمته حجب واختراق المواقع وصفحات فيسبوك المؤيدة للثورة.

Ahmed:Honestly, blogs didn't have much of a role during the revolution for many reasons, like, for instance, the bloggers fear that their identity is discovered by the regime. So most of them started using fake nicknames or addressed the biggest segment which uses Facebook, in addition to the speed of information transfer on this platform and the easiness of sharing it. I remember last January, I got a visit by BBC monitoring journalist (a department which looks for information through citizen media such as blogs, Twitter and more), Abdullah Al Salemi, who told me that my blog was among three Libyan blogs they visited on a daily basis during the Libyan revolution. But I think that the active blogs during the revolution didn't exceed 10 (from inside the country) and our mission was really difficult because the regime had a complete monopoly and control on the Internet and it blocked it shortly after the start of the uprising. This made our access to the net (through alternative means) very difficult, in addition to the creation by the intelligence service of the regime to what was called “the electronic army” which was tasked with hacking sites and Facebook pages that supported the revolution.

GV: Gaddafi's regime fell and so did dictatorship. Did the situation change? Are bloggers safer now in Libya or there are still redlines and taboos which should not be crossed?

أحمد بن وفاء: لم تعد هناك خطوط حمراء أو تابوهات، وأصبح انتقاد الحكومة والسخرية منها بالكاريكاتير أو المقال أمراً عادياً، لكن الكاتب بات يخشى عمليات الانتقام الفردية بسبب عدم تشكل الجيش واستتباب الأمن في البلاد بشكل كامل وانتشار السلاح.

Ahmed: There are no longer redlines or taboos. Criticizing and mocking the government through cartoons or articles is something quite ordinary now. But the author now fears individual retaliation because there is still no army or security entirely in the country and there are still arms all over the place.

GV: How do you perceive the future of blogging and citizen media in Libya?

أحمد بن وفاء: متفاءل طبعاً، فقبل حقبة القذافي كان الدستور يكفل حرية التعبير وكانت تجرى سجالات فكرية ساخنة في عشرات الصحف اليومية قبل أن يختزلها القذافي في بضع صحفحكومية بائسة لا يشتريها أحد.

Ahmed: I am optimistic of course, because prior to Gaddafi the constitution guaranteed the freedom of expression and there used to happen intense debates in the newspapers on a daily basis before Gaddafi put an end to all this and started public newspapers which no body would buy.

You can also follow Ahmed on Twitter and on Facebook.

Written by أحمد جدو · Translated by Thalia Rahme · View original post [ar] · comments (1)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

In this regards, it is illustrative what Afef Abrougui, a Tunisian blogger and activist, tells us about what people have experienced and what they are still going through in her country. It also helps us to know a bit more about a country which, when separated from the Middle East, we actually do not know much about.

Afef Abrougui, Tunisian blogger and activist

The interview has two parts, the fist one is a video recorded in July in Nairobi, Kenya, during the last Global Voices Summit; the second is a written interview conducted by e-mail. You can find both below.

Global Voices (GV): Alef, tell us something about yourself.

I'm student of International Relations at a Tunis based college. I worked before with the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and Index on Censorship. I do not have a personal blog but I have recently launched the Arab Region in Media Monitoring Blog. The blog is a project for the Young Leaders Visitors Program, which I recently took part in. The blog aims at monitoring the coverage of the Arab region in the most influential mainstream media outlets. I started with a blog to develop good content until I get funding to launch a website (hopefully.)

GV: What are your feelings about the protests against the anti-Islam film? Is it justified or is it an over reaction?

The violent reactions to the amateurish film outraged me more than the film's content. And I'm not the only Muslim who believes so. Nothing can legitimize violence. However, we need to take into consideration the socio-economic background at the reactions of these protesters who attacked the US embassy in Tunis. Most of them are unemployed, deprived, ill-informed and manipulated. All these factors put together can easily lead to the creation of a religious extremist.

GV: This takes us to religion, I know is a very personal thing, but, how important is religion for you in your daily life?

Religion, though important to me, remains a very private part of my life. I don't discuss it much in public. Since you asked me about religion's role in my daily life I would not mind answering you. People deal with stress in their daily lives in different ways by drinking alcohol, doing Yoga, taking a walk or partying. For me the teachings and values of Islam [honesty, tolerance, patience, gratitude, humility, generosity...] is what keep my daily life less stressful and brighter. I guess this illustrates how important religion is to me in my daily life.

GV: We used to think about women in the Arab world as oppressed and with very little freedom. Please tell us your personal and close experience on this.

This stereotype about Arab women is very common in the West. This stereotype is  disseminated by mainstream media which erroneously depict the Arab region as a homogenous entity that looks like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan (though the last two countries are not Arab), that oppresses women. Being born, raised and educated in Tunisia, I did not face any pressure for being a woman.

GV: Tell us about your city and your country. What are your favourites spots?

Well I'm in love with my country's historical heritage. Tunisia is a mosaic of Amazigh, Phoenician, Roman, Arab and Ottoman civilizations. This makes the country diverse and unique. Taking a walk in the Medina (Old city, in Tunis) is priceless for me. Tabarka, a coastal city in the north-west of Tunisia famous for its coral fishing, international jazz festival, and our forests are a good place for peace of mind.

GV: How do you see the future of Tunisia and the Arab Spring? What are the next important things that are going to happen in your country?

I think we as Tunisian citizens longing for democracy and the respect of human rights, are going to face tough and challenging days. It is urgent for Tunisia to have a new constitution as soon as possible (the country already suffered from almost two years without a constitution) and to set an election date. Also, as long as there are still thousands of Tunisians suffering from social injustices and deprivation, the country will still suffer from instability.

In the video interview we talk a bit about Afef's life, her work, her participation in Global Voices, her opinion about the Global Voices Summit, people's reaction to her writings, Tunisian politics and of course, her experience in the demonstrations in Tunisia.

If you like reading Afef's posts in Global Voices, you can read them from her author profile. You can also follow her in Twitter.

Acknowledgments:

Picture by Laura Schneider in Flickr for Global Voices Online, reproduced under a license of Attribution-NonDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0).

Written by Juan Arellano · Translated by Ana Isabel Martinez · View original post [es] · comments (3)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

In the first part of this interview, Guillermo Parra told us about his experiences with Venezuelan poetry, his contact with new movements thanks to social media, and his take on what could be considered a new boom in the literature of the country. In this part of the interview we will share Guillermo's take on the new authors who are painting the landscape of new Venezuelan narratives.

En cuanto a escritores, me parece fascinante que hay varias generaciones que están publicando cosas muy interesantes. Las ocasiones cuando he estado en Caracas entre 2007 y 2010, me ha sorprendido la cantidad de presentaciones, lecturas y otros eventos literarios. Poder encontrarme con el poeta Rafael Cadenas revisando libros en las librerías [...] fue impactante para mí, hasta que me acostumbré a su presencia en los eventos literarios caraqueños. Pero las primeras veces que lo vi en público fue un poco intimidante, ya que su obra ha sido tan importante para mí.

Regarding the writers, I think it's fascinating to see different generations publishing a lot of very interesting things. The times I've been in Caracas, between 2007 and 2010, I've been surprised by the amount of presentations, readings and other literary events. Being able to meet poet Rafael Cadenas while checking books in bookshops impacted me until I grew used to his presence in Caracas’ literary events. The first times I saw him in public was intimidating, since his work has been so important to me.

We also asked Guillermo to give us some hints about some of the main characters of this “boom”. He told us:

Image via Shutterstock, copyright Falconia.

Hay un montón de escritores venezolanos contemporáneos que me parecen increíbles. En la narrativa, en particular, se está publicando tanto que no me ha dado tiempo para mantenerme al día. Algunos favoritos de las generaciones recientes son Carlos Ávila, Mujeres recién bañadas (Mondadori, 2009), Rodrigo Blanco Calderón, Una larga fila de hombres (Monte Ávila Editores, 2005), Dayana Fraile, Granizo (El perro y la rana, 2011), Ana García Julio, Cancelado por lluvia (Monte Ávila Editores, 2005), Liliana Lara, Los jardines de Salomon (Universidad de Oriente, 2008), Mario Morenza, Pasillos de mi memoria ajena (Monte Ávila Editores, 2008) y Gabriel Payares, Cuando bajaron las aguas (Monte Ávila Editores, 2008). [Pero hay] gran un problema: los libros venezolanos no se consiguen fuera de Venezuela, no circulan ni en Latinoamérica ni aquí en los Estados Unidos)

There are a lot of Venezuelan contemporary writers that I find amazing. In fiction, particularly, there is so much being published that I haven't been able to stay up to date. Some favorites from recent generations are Carlos Ávila, Mujeres recién bañadas (Mondadori, 2009), Rodrigo Blanco Calderón, Una larga fila de hombres (Monte Ávila Editores, 2005), Dayana Fraile, Granizo (El perro y la rana, 2011), Ana García Julio, Cancelado por lluvia (Monte Ávila Editores, 2005), Liliana Lara, Los jardines de Salomon (Universidad de Oriente, 2008), Mario Morenza, Pasillos de mi memoria ajena (Monte Ávila Editores, 2008) y Gabriel Payares, Cuando bajaron las aguas (Monte Ávila Editores, 2008). [Nevertheless,] there's a big problem: Venezuelan books can't be found outside Venezuela. They don't circulate neither in Latin America, nor here in the US.

And about influences and literary connections, Guillermo says:

No veo mucha diferencia entre las historias de estos escritores y las que me han influido a mí en los Estados Unidos. Sus propuestas literarias reflejan una amplia red de influencias, desde el español Enrique Vila-Matas hasta la venezolana Teresa de la Parra y el estadounidense David Foster Wallace…

I don't see much difference between these writers’ stories and the ones that have influenced me in the US. Their literary proposals reflect a wide set of influences, from the Spanish Enrique Vila-Matas to the Venezuelan Teresa de la Parra, as well as the North-American David Foster Wallace…

Finally, he adds:

Pienso que los lectores, dentro y fuera de Venezuela, deberían conocer a estos narradores porque nos dan una muestra de los diversos rumbos que podría tomar la literatura venezolana en los años que vienen. Son apasionados de la literatura, pero ante todo, escriben historias que revelan la poesía o la magia que a veces surge en nuestras vidas cotidianas.

I think readers inside and outside the country should know these fiction writers. They give us a taste of the different ways that Venezuelan literature could go in the years ahead. They're passionate about literature, but above all, they write stories that reveal the magic and the poetry that sometimes come up in our daily lives.

You can find more about Venezuelan literature, and also some of Guillermo's translation of Ramos Sucre, in his blog Venepoetics.

Written by Laura Vidal · comments (1)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

Lingua Project Global Voices in Malagasy

Lingua project Global Voices in Malagasy has just published its 5,000th post. The project was started on September 12, 2007 and was one of the first African lingua project. There are currently 16 active Malagasy translators, among them is one of the youngest Global Voices translator, 16-year-old Radifera Felana Candy.

Written by Rakotomalala · comments (2)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

[All links lead to sites in Portuguese, unless otherwise stated]

Aiming at generating electrical energy for residential and industrial consumption, the Brazilian government is constructing a series of hydroelectric powerplants in the Pantanal and Amazon areas, such as the Tapajós river power plant and the Teles Pires river power plant, among others.

According to the consortium Norte Energia, responsible for the construction of the controversial Belo Monte plant, energy consumption has been growing in the country and the power plant “is the guarantee that this demand can be met”, reinforcing the argument of development in the country.

Like the Belo Monte project, the São Luiz do Tapajós plant project (in the Tapajós river) and the Teles Pires plant project (in the Teles Pires river, which flows into the Tapajós river) have been challenged in court for failing to have adequately consulted local people and for misguided integrated environmental assessments. They have also been accused of carrying out deforestation and agricultural advancement.

Here you have the second part of our interview series with Sany Kalapalo [en], a young indigenous activist from Xingu.

Global Voices (GV): Considering the current challenges, how do you see the future of forests and the indigenous people that inhabit the Amazon area?

Sany Kalapalo (SK): Como sempre nós indígenas do Xingu falamos: “Homem Branco acha que é dono da natureza e pode fazer o que quiser com ela, mas uma hora a mãe natureza não aguentará mais e se vingará”.

O único interesse desses mega-corruptos de construir uma mega-usina como Belo Monte é dar lucro para as empresas iluminantes, ou seja os ricos ficarem mais ricos e os pobres ficarem mais pobres. Se o governo estivesse realmente interessado e preocupado com o desenvolvimento do país, implantaria redes de energia onde estão faltando e beneficiaria aquelas regiões que sofrem apagões. Nós, indígenas, não somos contra a energia em si, somos contra o projeto e a maneira como estão sendo desenvolvidas essas hidrelétricas, prejudicando o meio ambiente e os povos locais. Principalmente a hidroelétrica de Belo Monstro (Belo Monte), que afetará múltiplas famílias pobres e povos indígenas. Pra quê construir uma usina que só vai gerar eletricidade por duas estações do ano?, porque nas outras estações o rio Xingu costuma ficar na seca. Durante isso, como fica usina?? E como fica a eletricidade na sua casa ou na sua empresa?? Pense nisso. Brasil tem capacidade de gerar uma energia limpa e justa para o povo brasileiro. Sabe qual é futuro dos povos locais? Inundação, perda de casas, perda de plantações, perda de identidade, ou seja, perda de tudo e com certeza miséria na certa, e isso é o que o governo quer, [verdade] nua e crua.

Por isso que eu não chamo Belo Monte de Desenvolvimento, pois chamo de Sub-destruição ou total destruição, tanto para indígenas quanto para não indígenas, e para o meio ambiente.

Sany Kalapalo (SK): As we indigenous people from Xingu always say: “The White Man thinks he owns nature and can do whatever he wants to it, but there'll be a time when Mother Nature won't take it anymore and will retaliate.”

The only interest these mega-corrupt people have in constructing huge power plants such as Belo Monte is to generate profit for electricity companies, so the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. If the government was really interested and worried about the country's development, it would implant energy networks where they are missing; networks that would benefit those regions that are experiencing blackouts. We, the indigenous population, aren't against the energy itself, we are against the project and the way that these hydroelectrics are being developed, damaging the environment and local people. Especially the Belo Monster (Belo Monte) that will affect multiple poor families and indigenous people. Why construct a power plant that will only generate electricity two seasons of the year? For the other two seasons the Xingu river is usually dry. And what about the power plant? What about the electricity for them and the company? Think about it. Brazil has the capacity to generate clean and fair energy for the Brazilian people. Do you know what the future is for local people? Flooding, loss of homes, loss of crops, loss of identity… loss of everything, and misery for sure. That is what the government wants- that is the cold, hard [truth].

That's why I don't call it Developmental Belo Monte. I call it Sub-destruction or Total Destruction, both for indigenous people and non-indigenous people alike, not to mention the environment.

Jose Carlos Arara, the chief of the Arara tribe, discusses the negative impact of Belo Monte on the people who depend on the Xingu River for their livelihoods. Photo by K. L. Hoffmann copyright Demotix (August 13, 2011)

GV: National and international NGOs have been criticized as being “enemies of Brazil”. Members of the Xingu Vivo para Sempre Movement suffered from the same accusations. Which organizations do you think are doing a good job in the region?

SK: Conheço os idealizadores do Movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre e os ativistas, inclusive são nossa principal parceria atualmente. Tenho ouvido muita coisa em relação ao Xingu Vivo. Na verdade, os governantes querem iludir e tentar persuadir o povo brasileiro dizendo que [eles] são inimigos do Brasil, e assim enxergar eles com os outros olhos, como invasores, e não levar em consideração o que eles reivindicam, que é proteger a natureza ao pedido dos índios, já que não somos ouvidos no nosso próprio país. Essa é a jogada do governo, sendo que o lobo mau de verdade são eles do Governo, que sempre querem tampar o olho do povo pra não ver o podridão que andam fazendo pelo país. E um movimento que está ativo desde o início de 2011 e que acordou Brasil para a luta de novo, em apoio ao movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre, é o Indígenas em Ação (MIA).

SK: I know the creators and activists of the Xingu Vivo para Sempre Movement, who are also currently our main partners. I've been hearing a lot stuff about Xingu Vivo. Actually, the governors want to delude and try to persuade Brazilian people by saying that [they] are enemies of Brazil, and in this way make them see them differently, as invaders, and not taking their claims into account; that is that they want to protect nature at the request of the indigenous population, since our voices are not heard in our own country. This is what the government is doing, when they are the real “big bad wolves”; they always want to close people's eyes so that they don't see the mess that they have made in the country. Another movement, that has been active since early 2011 and woke Brazil up to fight again in support of the Xingu Vivo para Sempre movement, is the Indígenas em Ação Movement.

GV: Since 2011, the mobilization and court decisions have been successful in stopping the Belo Monte plant, but soon another court decision could authorize the resumption of work. Is it time to accept the plant construction as a fact or is it still worth fighting against it?

SK: Fico feliz que de 2011 pra cá a mobilização contra Belo Monte aumentou muito, acredito que por causa das grandes manifestações que organizamos e realizamos aqui em São Paulo pelo Movimento indígenas em Ação (MIA) com apoio do Xingu Vivo para Sempre, e por todo o Brasil, juntamente com o movimento Brasil pelas Florestas, que luta pela melhoria do novo Código Florestal. Nós indígenas estamos decididos a lutar, como sempre fizemos todo esse tempo. Se os construtores querem sangue do índio, vão ter. Se isso é o que o juiz branco quer, nos contrariar, o massacre de 512 anos vai continuar, sabe por quê? Os povos indígenas do Xingu não aceitam ser assassinos da natureza como esses governantes.

SK: I'm glad that since 2011 the mobilization against Belo Monte has increased a lot. I believe this is because of the huge protests we organized and carried out here in São Paulo for the Indígenas em Ação Movement with the support of the Xingu Vivo para Sempre movement, and indeed all over Brazil with the support of the Brasil pelas Florestas Movement, which fights for the improvement of the new Forest Code. We indigenous people are determined to fight, as we have done all this time. If the constructors want indigenous blood, they will have it. If this is what the white judge wants, to fight against us, the massacre that has lasted 512 years will continue, you know why? The indigenous people of Xingu don't accept being murderers of nature as these governors do.

On October 20, 2012, at 2 PM, a protest is planned against the Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant in front of the United Nations office in São Paulo. The goal is to ask for support from the UN for the problems related to the Xingu river.

This post is part of our special coverage Dossiê Belo Monte (Belo Monte Dossier) [pt] and Indigenous Rights.

Written by João Miguel D. de A. Lima · Translated by Yohana de Andrade · View original post [pt] · comments (0)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper

[All links lead to Portuguese language pages]

With this interview, divided in two parts, we get to know Sany Kalapalo, a young indigenous activist from Alto Xingu in the Brazilian state Mato Grosso. At only 22 years old, she is one of the coordinators of the mobilization against the controversial Belo Monte hydroelectric powerplant, which is being constructed in the Volta Grande do Xingu region in the state of Pará.

Identified in her blog as a “daughter of Xingu river, from the Kalapalo and Aweti ethnicities, from the Karib dialect,” “indigenous activist,” and “daughter of Pajé Kunue,” Sany is a student about to attempt to enter college in São Paulo and also a teacher of Xingu indigenous culture.

Global Voices (GV): Who is and what does Sany Kalapalo do?

Sany Kalapalo. Image from her personal collection, authorized for publication on this post.

Sany Kalapalo (SK): Sou Sany, indígena do Alto Xingu, no Mato Grosso. Kalapalo por parte da etnia do meu pai e Aweti por parte da etnia da minha mãe, por isso meu nome completo é Sany Aweti Kalapalo, mais conhecida como Sany Kalapalo. Moro na cidade juntamente com uma parte da minha família, e estamos fazendo intercâmbio cultural. Nas férias sempre vamos para o Xingu visitar todos os parentes. Sou estudante e ativista em prol do meio ambiente e povos indígenas.

GV: How did you get involved with the Belo Monte campaign?

SK: Em março de 2011 eu e a minha amiga e parceira de luta Miryám Hess organizamos o primeiro protesto contra a Usina de Belo Monte em São Paulo. Foi um fracasso, só compareceram 12 pessoas, e depois organizamos com muito mais divulgação nas ruas e pela internet, aí conseguimos bom público na maior cidade do Brasil. Também para divulgar mais, quebrei o medo da câmera e fui a algumas TVs online, como JustTV, TV Orkut, e algumas entrevistas nas ruas. Daí por diante participei de vários encontros ambientais, como o Rio+20 também.

GV: Nowadays, is your contact with the Xingu people and monitoring of the plant's construction being made at a distance, or do you have a story of life and presence in the local?

SK: Já faz 9 anos que eu e a minha família moramos aqui [em São Paulo]. Na verdade alguns dos meus irmãos chegaram há pouco tempo, e não ficamos direto na cidade. Nas férias vamos ao Xingu para visitar os parentes e a nossa mãe. Meu contato com o meu povo às vezes é pessoalmente quando eu vou para lá, via telefone, via internet. Sempre tento estar por dentro de tudo que está acontecendo por lá. Tiro informações através das lideranças locais, até porque o Xingu é muito grande, dividido em três partes: Alto Xingu, Médio Xingu e Baixo Xingu.

GV: The mobilization against the hydroelectric took over the streets in some Brazilian cities and generated great buzz over the Internet. In which ways has the use of social networks and virtual tools contributed to enhance the mobilization?

SK: A internet tem sido uma ferramenta superimportante para mobilizar as pessoas, já que as grandes mídias ignoram e manipulam as informações vindas dessa construção Monstruosa!

Por exemplo, em fevereiro de 2011 eu criei minha conta no Facebook voltada para o ativismo contra Belo Monte. Em três meses já estava com cinco mil pessoas na minha página por causa das postagens pesadas e reais que falavam sobre Belo Monte. Muitos que não conheciam a respeito dessa mega Usina passaram a conhecer, e muitos deles se tornaram ativistas em defesa do Xingu. E juntos começamos a fazer grandes manifestações.

Protesters against Belo Monte hydroelectric, Altamira. Image by K. L. Hoffmann copyright Demotix (August 19, 2011)

GV: During 2011, you created you Twitter profile (@sanyakalapalo) and a personal blog, and in 2012 a YouTube channel. How do you use and appropriate these pages?

SK: Já estou com Twitter desde o ano passado, só que nunca entrava antes, até porque não sabia mexer direito e agora tô aprendendo aos poucos. rsrs. O blog também criei ano passado e não entro muito nele devido a falta de tempo, já no Facebook entro todos dias. Acredito que as redes sociais ajudam bastante para divulgar qualquer coisa e estão me ajudando muito a divulgar a cultura indígena e a minha luta.

GV: Right on the cover of your blog, you describe yourself as “loved by some, hated by others,” and this intrigues me a little. To what do you refer to in this passage? What affects your reputation?

SK: “Amada por uns, odiada por outros”. É, coloquei assim, porque vejo que tem pessoas que gostam de mim, acompanham meu ativismo, e tem pessoas que se incomodam comigo e me xingam e até hackearam algumas contas que eu tinha nas redes sociais. Às vezes recebo ameaças pelas redes, mas não me incomodo muito com isso e continuo lutando.

GV: You are a young indigenous but very active, and you have inclusively created the Indigenous in Action Movement, that has an page on the internet. Are other young indigenous who have also been using the Internet as a platform of expression and fight?

SK: Faço alguma coisa pelo meu povo e pelo meio ambiente de coração. Escolhi seguir os passos do meu vô, que foi um grande guerreiro xinguano. Ele foi um guerreiro da Paz e tenho muito orgulho de ser neta dele. Criei o Movimento Indígenas em Ação em março de 2011 com o intuito de dizer para todos que índio não é do passado, que ainda existimos e queremos nossos direitos respeitados. Também criei a campanha Orgulho Indígena e recebi alguns prêmios por isso. Atualmente sou presidente-fundadora do Movimento Indígenas em Ação e logo teremos um escritório aqui em São Paulo. Vi que inspirei alguns jovens indígenas. Eles mesmos chegaram e me falaram isso. Acho isso muito bom, cada vez mais jovens indígenas estão participando da política voltada aos nossos direitos.

After starting some university courses, Sany decided to try to enter in the Languages course at Universidade de São Paulo. She intends to be writer to take indigenous culture to other audiences. In a few days we will publish the second part of this interview, in which Sany talks about hydroelectric powerplants, development, indigenous people, and the Internet.

This post is part of our special coverage Dossiê Belo Monte (Belo Monte Dossier) [pt] and Indigenous Rights.

Written by João Miguel D. de A. Lima · Translated by Yohana de Andrade · View original post [pt] · comments (2)
Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper