Global Voices Online

revedafrique, during a trip home to his village in Togo, was disappointed by the democratic spirit of the youth: “Some still believe, for example, that criticizing the government's policies can land you in prison” [Fr]

Yikpa-Au Village celebrates Togo's first-ever Olympic medal [Fr].  Benjamin Boukpeti won the bronze metal earlier this week in the men's single kayak slalom.  “I never thought I would see this in my lifetime.  This is truly sensational!!!! Congratulations Benjamin.”

Kangi Alem writes of Togolese singer Vanessa Worou [Fr]: “at times a little reminiscent of [Angelique] Kidjo, but on the whole, confidently sung and with a simple, effective orchestration.”

Togo-iTunes has photos of a francophone book fair [Fr] at the Librairie Star bookshop in Lome.

Hayspiration discusses ICTs and development in Africa: “For the developing countries to put themselves in the map of the world and turn themselves into countries with quality citizens there is a need to employ the integration of ICT into their day to day life.”

Kangi Alem announces an artists' residency [Fr] in Lome for young francophone African writers.

Arjen Westra writes about his experiences in Togo and Nigeria: “My first visit to Nigeria years ago, I did not get the AK47 roadblocks every 200 meters that people prepared me for. I neglected the advice of friends (who had never been to Africa), asking me if a story is worth my life. I went and I met a crazy country, but not the roadblocks.”

Arjen Westra's observations about elections in Togo: “For now, everybody still seems to have some tension about the results that are expected later this week. Last night it was extremely quiet everywhere in town. As a local explained it to me: `…people are still afraid of what might happen.` More than hundred people were killed in the 2005 elections, that were won by the current president Faure Gnassingbe.”

The blog of AZUR Developpement, a Congolese NGO, writes about a recent training in “Web 2.0″ (Fr) technologies held with members of le Réseau Sida Afrique from Togo, DR Congo, and Republic of Congo. Participants learned how to organize email lists using Yahoo Groups, talk for free on Skype and Yahoo Messenger, upload photos to Flickr, and start their own free blogs on Blogger.com.