Global Voices Online » Ideas

Bahamas, Cuba: Woman Power

Janine Mendes-Franco — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:26:51 +0000

Trinidad & Tobago: Mind Your Own Business

Janine Mendes-Franco — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:17:30 +0000

The Secret Blog of Patrick “Patos” Manning writes a post about the leak of an alleged sex tape of a Trinidad and Tobago-based celebrity: “The most disturbing aspect of the situation, however, is the manner in which I’m hearing this horrific breach of privacy took place. It gives me chills to think that some idle geek in a computer company could copy these things and spread them around…”

Saudi Arabia: A Blogger's Praise Of Britain

Ayesha Saldanha — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:38:26 +0000

Maram Meccawy is a Saudi writer and blogger, currently living and working in the UK. She recently wrote a post called “Why am I ready to defend Britain?“

Maram starts by saying:

كنتُ دائماً أعلن أنني أحب بريطانيا..فهنا أحلى ذكريات طفولتي، وهنا الوطن الثاني الذي عشت فيه (ولا أزال) ردحاً من عمري. ولم تكن لدّي مشكلة كبيرة مع كون بريطانيا دولة عدوانية بامتياز (تاريخياً وفي الحاضر أيضاً ) باعتبار مشاركتها في الحربين على أفغانستان والعراق، لأنني كنت هنا منذ البداية وأعرف بأن هناك فرق شاسع بين ما يقوم الساسة بتنفيذه وبين ما يريده الشعب حتى في دولة ديمقراطية مثل المملكة المتحدة. فأنا أدرك بأن أقوى المنظمات الشعبية المعارضة للحرب موجودة هنا، وأفضل الأفلام الوثائقية التي فضحت جرائمها أنتجت في هذا البلد. وأراقب يومياً الجدل الدائر في الصحافة والإعلام وأروقة السياسة حول رغبة الشعب في رؤية قواته تنسحب من هذين البلدين وأن يفتح باب المحاسبة والمحاكمة لكل من تسببوا بهذه الجرائم.

I've always said that I love Britain…This is where the best memories of my childhood are, this is my second country, where I have lived for a long period of my life (and still do). I did not have a big problem with the fact that Britain is an aggressive state (historically and in the present as well) especially in regards to its participation in the two wars against Afghanistan and Iraq, because I have been here since the beginning and I know that there is a great difference between what the politicians implement and what the people want, even in a democratic country such as the United Kingdom. So I understood that the most powerful grassroots anti-war organisations are here, and the best documentary films exposing the country's crimes have been produced here. And I see on a daily basis the ongoing debate in the press and media and the corridors of power regarding the people's wish to have their troops withdrawn from these two countries, and to open the way to holding accountable and putting on trial all those responsible for these crimes.

ومع مقتي الذي لا أخجل من التصريح به علناً ورفضي للسياسات الخارجية لحكومات لندن المتعاقبة، إلا أنني كنت دائماً أكن احتراماً كبيراً لسياساتها الداخلية والتي تقوم على احترام حقوق الإنسان وعلى إنشاء مجتمع متعدد الثقافات.

Despite my hate, which I am not ashamed to admit publicly, and my rejection of the foreign policies of successive London governments, I have always had great respect for their domestic policies which are based on a respect for human rights and the establishment of a multicultural society.

فأنت في بريطانيا ليس مطلوباً منك أن “تنصهر” أو ” تتبرطن” حتى يعتبرك الناس واحداً منها. تستطيع أن تكون مسلماً وبريطانياً، يهودياً وبريطانياً، وأسودأً وبريطانياً، وتستطيع أن تصل بالأمس أو تولد هنا ومع ذلك تقول بفخر بأنك بريطاني ولن ينكر عليك أحد ذلك. صديقاتي الفرنسيات والإسبانيات وغيرهن من الأوربيات المتحدرات من غير البلد ذاته الذي يحملون جنسيته (حتى لو كان بلداً أوربياً مجاوراً) يعلنون بصراحة بأن الوضع ليس كذلك في بلدانهن. فالجزائري يظل غريباً في فرنسا ولو كان جده هو من هاجر إلى باريس قبل مائة عام يوم أن كانت الجزائر بالأصل جزء من فرنسا.

When you are in Britain you are not required to “assimilate” or “become British” for people to consider you one of them. You can be Muslim and British, Jewish and British, and black and British; you can have arrived yesterday or have been born here, and still say proudly that you are British – no one will deny you that. My French, Spanish, and other European girlfriends with roots outside those countries whose nationality they hold (even roots in a neighbouring European country) openly admit that the situation is not that way in their countries. An Algerian remains a foreigner in France, even if his grandfather was an immigrant to Paris a hundred years ago at the time that Algeria was actually part of France.

حدثان في الأسبوع الماضي لفتا انتباهي بخصوص خصوصية بريطانيا.

Last week two events drew my attention regarding the particular quality that Britain has.

Maram goes onto to describe attending a recruitment event at Oxford University with the oil company she works for. During the event some protestors started demonstrating about what they argued the oil company had done in various parts of the world, accusing it of having acted criminally. Security guards started to remove the protestors, but a company official agreed to let them have their say for five minutes, saying that he respected their right to freedom of opinion. However, after the five minutes were up the protestors would not allow the official to continue, and kept heckling. Despite the disruption, the company official was disappointed when one of the protestors was finally carried away by force; he said that Britain was a free country and no one should be thrown out because he or she disagreed with the company's activities.

The second event that caught Maram's attention was a particular episode of the weekly BBC television programme Question Time, in which a panel of politicians and others face questions on current issues from a studio audience. Controversially, Question Time had allowed the chairman of the rightwing British National Party and Member of the European Parliament, Nick Griffin, to be part of the panel for this programme. Nick Griffin has previously been convicted of distributing material likely to incite racial hatred.

After setting the scene, Maram describes what happened on the programme:

عودة إلى غرفن فقد أعطي الفرصة ليحدثنا عن خزعبلاته ويشتم الجميع دون أن يؤذيه أحد! وإنما استطاع زملائه في البرنامج من الأحزاب الأخرى وعلى رأسهم الوزير جاك سترو وكذلك الجمهور الحاضر (من بيض وسود وآسيوين ومسلمين ويهود ومسيحيين وغيرهم) بأن يردوا على أفكاره المتخلفة بمنتهى الهدوء والتحضر ويعروه أمام الجمهور البريطاني، فبدا (خريج جامعة كامبريدج) وكأنه طفل يحاول إغاظة الكبار بقول كل الكلمات التي طلبوا منه سابقاً أن لا يقولها..ثم بدا كفأر في مصيدة لا يقوى على الخروج منها…وكان أجمل تعليق ذلك الذي قاله أحد الحضور من المسلمين إذ عرض عليه أن يشتري له تذكرة للقطب الشمالي ليستمتع بالحياة في بيئة بيضاء لا تعكرها الألوان المزعجة!

Going back to Griffin, he was given the opportunity to tell us his nonsense and curse everyone without anyone troubling him! Indeed his fellow participants on the programme from other parties, led by the minister Jack Straw, and the audience present (white, black, Asian, Muslim, Jewish, Christian and others) were able to respond to his backward ideas in a very calm and civilised manner, and expose him in front of the British public. This Cambridge University graduate seemed like a child trying to anger his elders by repeating all the words he had previously been told not to say…Then he seemed like a rat in a trap, unable to leave it…The best comment was by one of the Muslims in the audience; he offered to buy him a ticket to the North Pole to enjoy life in a white environment, unmuddied by annoying colours!

انتهت الحلقة منذ أربعة أيام … ولم يخسر أحد وظيفته، ولم تقم انتفاضات ولا نزلت قوات الشغب إلى الشوارع! وواصلنا جميعاً حياتنا بسلام.
بعد أن شاهدت الحلقة ليلتها أطفأت جهاز التلفاز، وذهبت لأنام وأنا أشعر بفخر خفي لأنني متواجدة في هذا البلد العظيم وبالتالي جزء منه، وأغمضت عيني وأنا أقول لنفسي بأن البلد الذي يمنح هذا القدر من الحرية للناس ليعيشوا ويتحدثوا دون خوف – مالم يخالفوا القوانين المعلنة المعروفة – لهو أجدر بقعة جغرافية بأن يتداعي الناس للدفاع عنها ولم لم ينتموا إليها عرقاً أو ولادة أو سكناً أو رحماً..فوطن الحرية هو واحة يستظل تحتها الجميع..في حين أن أوطان القمع هي سجون لأهلها..وشتان ما بين الواحة وزنزانة السجن الباردة..

The episode was four days ago…and no one lost his job, no uprisings were started, and the anti-riot police did not move into the streets! We have all continued our lives in peace.
After watching that show that night, I turned off the television and went to sleep with a secret pride that I live in this great country and as a result am part of it. I closed my eyes telling myself that the country which offers its people this amount of freedom to live and speak without fear - as long as they don't break any known laws - is the most worthy geographical spot for people to rally to its support, even if they do not belong to it ethnically, by birth, or by residence…A nation of freedom is an oasis for everyone to enjoy its shade, while the nations of oppression are jails for their people…and what a difference between an oasis and a cold prison cell…

Guyana: Internet Copyright

Janine Mendes-Franco — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:35:27 +0000

“Copyright violation is still a troubling one on the internet”: Signifyin' Guyana explores the issue.

Trinidad & Tobago: Silicon Reality

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:45:43 +0000

Taran Rampersad debunks “the Myth of a T&T Silicon Valley.”

Trinidad & Tobago: Traffic Solutions

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:58:03 +0000

Alien in the Caribbean has a few suggestions to ease Trinidad's traffic woes.

Cuba: Blogging Prejudice

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:53:39 +0000

Late one night, a Cuban taxi driver stops for Yoani Sanchez because of the colour of her skin, but when he learns that she's a blogger, his unease reveals another kind of prejudice: “His spectrum of classification stigmatizes not only some shades of color, but also certain leanings of opinion…that also lead, on this Island, to displays of segregation and rejection.”

Nepal: A Cabinet Meeting At Mount Everest

Rezwan — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:43:38 +0000

United We Blog! for a Democratic Nepal posts reactions of Nepali netizens after it was announced that the country is planning to hold a cabinet meeting on the base camp of the Mount Everest to highlight the impact of global warming on the Himalayas.

Bermuda: Key Reports

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:39:58 +0000

As two critical reports are released in Bermuda, Wishful Thinking says: “Both key reports…will dictate much of the policy as Bermuda moves forward…the important thing is that these reports are actually acted upon.”

Trinidad & Tobago: “Solo” Mio

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:30:42 +0000

Trinidadian blogger Club Soda and Salt shares his thoughts “on how to beat that nagging feeling of being quietly judged” when dining alone.

Bermuda: The Sound of Music

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:24:41 +0000

Vexed Bermoothes is of the opinion that the Bermuda Music Festival “exemplifies the political tinkering, self-interest, and distraction that has left Bermuda’s tourism sector as a ruined economic basket-case.”

Barbados: Whipping Boy

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:21:02 +0000

“We seem determined to deny our history, rather than learn from it. Why else would we, who have been so wounded by the whip, venerate it?” B.C. Pires puts in his two cents' worth on the recent flogging of schoolchildren in Barbados.

Azerbaijan: Virginity

Onnik Krikorian — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:16:26 +0000

Emotions on Air, Mind Mute ponders societal expectations that women remain virgins until they marry. Although based in Azerbaijan, the blog notes the same value system throughout the entire Caucasus and speaks out about such patriarchal concepts and practices.

Peru: Chimbote in Blogs

Juan Arellano — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:29:05 +0000

Chimbote is a city located to the north of Peruvian capital of Lima, and which can be reached in six hours by land. Those who have walked its streets recall its perennial smell of fish, as well as what some say might say is the apparent rudeness of the people. However, it would be wrong to stay with this first impression. While Chimbote has traditionally been a fishing village, this does not take away from the fact that it is also a land of writers and poets. There is a blog that is devoted to the writers and literature called: Marea Cultural [es], which along with another blog called La Ignorancia Mata [es], has become a pair of blogs that currently informs its readers to what is happening in the fields of culture and technology both in Chimbote and the rest of the world.

Photo of Chimbote by Edgar Asencios and used under a Creative Commons license. Click on photo to see a larger version.

The Lima blog La Fortaleza de la Soledad [es] published a post about those responsible for these blogs:

Augusto Rubio Acosta y Milton Rojas vienen desde la rica ciudad de Chimbote a darnos un ejemplo laudatorio de que aún hay mucho por hacer. Augusto y Milton no se han contagiado de la apatía capitalina, recorren el Perú en busca de las voces, mayores y jóvenes, de nuestro ambiente cultural, demostrando que es mucho más saludable “hacer” que el mero acto de “quejarse”, sacándole el jugo a la herramienta por excelencia de la promoción, Internet.

Augusto Rubio Acosta and Milton Rojas originate from the rich city of Chimbote and give us a laudatory example that there is still much to do. Augusto and Milton did not catch the capital city's apathy, they travel Peru in search of voices from the young and the old, from our cultural environment, showing that it is much more healthy to “do something,” rather than the mere act of “complaining,” taking advantage of the excellent promotion tool that is the Internet.

And in the blog Círculo D.M. [es] from Holland, Rómulo Meléndez interviewed Augusto Rubio about the project Marea Cultural and other topics, here are some excerpts:

El proyecto MAREA CULTURAL nace en 2003 en Chimbote (Perú), … surgió primero como el programa radial que conducía en la desaparecida Radio Universidad San Pedro. Después, en 2004 el programa se mudó a Radio Santo Domingo, donde estuvimos al aire hasta el mes de mayo de este año. En el camino surgió la idea de publicar revistas y libros de literatura (publicamos cinco números de la revista “Mundo cachina” y dos libros), … Surgió también el Blog MAREA CULTURAL, nuestro programa de TV en un canal local (2008), una experiencia en prensa popular con la creación del primer periódico mural cultural callejero de Chimbote (surgida en 2005 y aún vigente),

Nuestra fuerte presencia en redes sociales (gracias a la alianza estratégica establecida con Milton Rojas, de Viadescape.TV) obedece a la necesidad de estar más cerca de los jóvenes, ellos son los que van a cambiar la realidad cultural que hemos heredado”. … Desde enero de 2009, con la creación de mi página en Facebook he abandonado el correo electrónico tradicional. Ahora habito en Twitter, la forma de contactar a los autores es distinta. De igual forma la búsqueda de información de carácter literario o cultural ha cambiado. Antes visitaba páginas webs o blogs especializados, ahora eso me llega automáticamente vía Twitter y Facebook”.

The MAREA CULTURAL project was created in 2003 in Chimbote (Peru), … it first emerged as the leading radio program at the late San Pedro Radio University. Then in 2004, the program moved to Radio Santo Domingo, where we were on the air until May of this year. On the way, the idea emerged to publish magazines and literature books (we published five issues of the journal “Cachina World” and two books), … The blog MAREA CULTURAL also emerged, our television program on a local channel (2008), an experience in the popular press with the creation of the first cultural street journal of Chimbote (created in 2005 and it is still going on),

Our strong presence in social networks (through strategic partnership with Milton Rojas of Viadescape.TV) reflects the need to be closer to the youth, they are going to change the cultural reality that we have inherited.. .. Since January 2009, with the creation of my Facebook page, I've abandoned the traditional email. Now I live on Twitter, the way to contact authors is different. Likewise, the search for information from literary or cultural nature has changed. Before visiting specialist websites or blogs, now it automatically comes to me via Twitter and Facebook. “

Marea Cultural's Facebook page can be found here [es], as well as its Twitter account [es]. A brief account of the interviews conducted by the blog from among the more than 100 published include the writers Braulio Muñóz, Fernando Cueto (1 and 2) Marco Cueva (1 and 2), Iván Vásquez (1 and 2) and Dante Lecca. There are also interviews with cultural promoters, Silvia Diestra, Jaime Guzmán and Paulino Meléndez, as well as the singer Lucho Oliva and social activists Jorge Noriega (1 and 2).

Milton Rojas, in addition to working on Marea Cultural, is also responsible for the blog La Ignorancia Mata [es], which addresses Internet issues, cyberjournalism, and Viadescape.TV [es], in which he publishes the video interviews from Marea Cultural. It might appear that the projects are on the right track, including the quality of the content. However, this is what Rojas wrote:

desde que empecé con Viadescape y en particular con el blog “La ignorancia mata” en el 2005, muchas cosas para bien han ocurrido, cosas que jamas me imagine, aunque muchos de esos triunfos personales no han logrado cubrir la sensación de vacío que siento y lo que empezó siendo un proyecto personal e intransferible, ha comenzado a ser una iniciativa grupal y siento que a diferencia del pasado ya no estoy solo en esto, ya no es más mi cruzada personal, incluso buscando últimamente un modelo de negocio rentable al trabajo que realizamos,

ever since I started Viadescape and in particular the blog “La ignorancia mata” in 2005, many good things have happened, things that I never imagined, although many of these personal triumphs have not filled the emptiness I feel, and what began as a personal and untransferable project, has begun to be a group project and I feel that unlike the past and I am not alone in this, it is no longer my personal crusade, and ultimately I am even looking for a profitable business model for the work that we do.

And then later, he writes:

voy a la ruina económica de seguir invirtiendo en proyectos web que no me retornan rentabilidad, solo la satisfacción de hacer lo que me gusta y de liderar e inspirar a muchas personas que siguen lo que hacemos en Internet, pero de momento no hay marcha atrás, estamos decidimos a encontrarle vuelta al asunto muy pronto

I am going broke for continuing to invest in web projects that do not provide profitability, only the satisfaction of doing what I like to do, to lead and inspire many people to continue what we do online, but so far, there is no turning back, we decided to find a solution soon.

And it can be difficult to complete the work that one enjoys without considering the economic factor or without having another job as backup. There are numerous initiatives and projects that have been left half-started in the country because of a lack of economic support or because of the unwillingness to conform to editorial standards. Many hope that the Marea Cultural project can find a way to solve their inconveniences and continue to provide cultural information.

These are other blogs from Chimbote, and within the same cultural wave, there is the blog Soy Como Agua y Fuego [es] written by Carmen Alejos, one of the cultural promoters from Chimbote. Her blog is dedicated mainly to the musical style of trova, as well as her weekly radio program. One can hear her thoughts in this video interview she did with Marea Cultural. However, this is a sample of social sensitivity demonstrated in her writings about Rural Women's Day:

Las mujeres son las encargadas de trasmitir los conocimientos ancestrales de generación en generación, logrando conservar los cultivos tradicionales e innovarlos, en su afán de garantizar la alimentación de las familias en sus comunidades. Lamentablemente los gobiernos de turno no implementan políticas que busquen un desarrollo sostenible de la agricultura, mucho menos fomentan el desarrollo de capacidades que permitan que las mujeres puedan compartir conocimientos y mejorar su calidad de vida. En algunas comunidades de la cuenca del Valle de Nepeña, las mujeres rurales han iniciado un proceso de concientización alrededor del tema ecológico impulsado desde sus familias. Este 15 de octubre es el Día de la Mujer Rural y desde este espacio queremos reconocer el trabajo de miles y miles de mujeres -muchas de ellas solas- que de sol a sol se esfuerzan para cultivar sus tierras, criar su ganado y construir una familia y una sociedad distinta. ¡Feliz Día Mamá!…

Women are responsible for transmitting ancestral knowledge from generation to generation, being able to conserve and innovate the traditional crops in their desire to ensure food for the families in their communities. Unfortunately, successive governments do not implement policies that seek sustainable agricultural development, much less promote capacity building to enable women to share knowledge and improve their quality of life. In some communities in the Nepeña Valley basin, rural women have begun a process of ecological awareness impulsed from their families. October 15 is the Rural Women's Day and from this blog, we want to acknowledge the work of thousands and thousands of women, many of them are alone, that from dawn to dusk strive to cultivate their land, raise cattle, and build a family, and a different society. Happy Day, Mother! …

There is also the blog called Matríz Musical [es] by poet Denisse Vega, who was also interviewed by Marea Cultural, who writes about her literary production and posts about cultural activities. The blog Mujer: El Más Bello Arte [es] by Victoria Fuentes is dedicated to women's issues. A blog from the Social Justice Commission from the Diocese of Chimbote [es] writes about human rights by giving voice, via video interviews, to individuals that work in this field.

Other blogs from Chimbote include De Todo Un Poco 2.0 [es], which is dedicated to posting notes relating to the utilities, gadgets, movies, and other topics. The blog Law & Iuris [es] by a group of law students at the Los Ángeles University in Chimbote, write about legal issues. A musical blog called Herederos de Nada [es] y Escena Chimbote Rock [es] post about rock music and concerts in Chimbote, and other cities in Peru. Chimbote ♫♫ [es], on the other hand, deals with the promotion of various genres of music. Periodismo Responsable [es] was a blog that wrote about news in Chimbote, but it has not been updated in more than a year.

Another blog can be considered from Chimbote is called Mis Aventuras en Perú, maintained by Jane Silcock, a volunteer from the United States, who can be seen in this video interview by La Ignorancia Mata. Even though the title of the blog is in Spanish, the blog is written in English. She writes:

I can’t believe I am more than half way done with my volunteer experience. There are times that I never want to leave, and then moments where I miss all the familiar people, food, and music of yesterday. My time in Peru has definitely confirmed my passion and desire to dedicate my life to social justice work. I am also realizing now more than ever the beauty and importance of mass communication in helping to make change.

At Cecopros, the journalism NGO, I am currently working on TV news stories for local channels about the problems in small towns around Chimbote. We’ve done two so far, one about how an illegal city trash dump is causing nearby residents to have skin fungus and respiratory problems. The other is about misuse of government funds that should go to building water and pluming systems for those who don’t have access to water, but instead are being used, among other things, to build a 500,000 soles (about $170,000) park.

There are problems with environmental pollution in Chimbote, however, there are no blogs that deal with the issue. In YouTube, there are videos uploaded by various institutions that can attest tot he serious problems caused mainly by fishing activities. For example, the Natura Environmental Institute [es] based in Chimbote, deals with these issues, but do not have a blog.

Finally, this video that contains interviews with Chimbote residents who talk about their favorite dishes, and the video can also show various spots around the city. More Chimbote videos here.

Trinidad & Tobago: Determining Racism

Janine Mendes-Franco — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:50:23 +0000

“The important thing, I think, is that if you don't want to be a racist, you need to focus on how you treat people, not on how you react to people”: Trinidadian Ian Ramjohn suggests that “in the end, it all boils down to what you're used to.”