Archive for
March 29th, 2007
Stories
Americans in Moldova; Moldovans in Italy…
Alexandru Culiuc's weblog is one of the best in the Moldovan blogosphere - probably the one I enjoy reading the most, and happily it has an owner and readership that don't seem to mind my mostly English-language comments. Last year, Alex had an interesting post about foreigners' impressions of Moldova (titled “Moldova as seen by comedians and volunteers”), in which he discussed and linked to a few of the blogs written by Peace Corps volunteers (PCVs) - Americans - in Moldova.
For whatever reason, the discussion in the comment section of that post was re-started about a week ago, and I posted a couple of comments there, mainly 1) trying to stick up for an outstanding PCV blogger named Peter Myers - not that he needs me to stick up for him - who some of the Moldovans felt was being too critical of the rural school he teaches in, and 2) disagreeing with the broader notion that all PCVs are “losers” or people who haven't found themselves in American life.
My comments there are not that interesting, frankly, because they go down a well-trodden path about how criticism can be a good thing if it's constructive and digress into discussions of the American educational system and other less-than-relevant topics (though the discussion was refreshingly friendly compared to others I've been involved in recently). They are not, for example, as interesting as one of Peter's recent posts:
After class today, I noticed nearly a dozen men, of whom I know several and who are major figures in the village, standing around on the first floor of the school. I said hello and then continued upstairs. On the way to the computer lab, I saw Raisa, one of the cleaning ladies. I struck up a conversation:
“Why are practically all the men in Mereseni at the school right now?” I said, exaggerating.
“It's a Communist party meeting,” Raisa said. “They want the Communists in power.”
This was the first time I had heard of a local Communist party in the village, but it didn't surprise me. Before I could respond, Raisa summed up the political thinking of many Moldovan villagers, rooted in nostalgia for the times when food was cheap salaries came on time:
“I would be in favor of the Communists,” she said, “if I thought that they could make things the way they were back then.”
But I've already digressed from my intended point, which was to translate one of the more recent comments to the post mentioned above on Culiuc.com, written by a Moldovan living in Italy [I've translated it from Romanian, and I hope anyone who can will correct any mistakes - although I don't think there are any serious ones, my Romanian is not as good as my Russian]:
Arabisc: Job Hunting in Bahrain?
Bahraini blogger Silverooo, who has just graduated from university, may have hit the jackpot and will soon be making more money than any other graduate her age. Her idea? The guide you see on the left - Job Hunting in Bahrain for Dummies. And the blogger knows what she is talking about when she decided to offer her expertise - she has already landed her dream job.
أفترض أن يكون من أكثر الإصدارات مبيعاً، بالطبع لا لأنني من كتبه، ولكن لأن التائهين والمتوهقين كُثر.
لا أزعم أن هناك وصفات ذهبية لضمان الحصول على عمل في بلد العجائب (ما قصرتين SillyBahrainiGirl.. حتى ترجمة المصطلح حليوة)، فمشاكل سوق العمل والفساد الإداري والوظيفي أكبر من أن تجعل لأي وصفة مفعول مضمون ولو طُبقت حرفياً، واللي فيه خير ينكر الظلم الجائر الدائر في المؤسسات بفرعيها الخاص والحكومي.
ولكن من باب تعميم الخير وتبادل الخبرات، أشارككم خلاصة تجربتي في البحث عن وظيفة في البحرين، صغتها على هيئة خطوط إرشادية عريضة لعلها تساعد المقبلين على مثل هذا التحدي في خوض التجربة.
Bangladesh: Development Against All Odds
Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Bideshi Blond provides the relevant statistics proving the claim. Being a developing country with limited resources it is really tough to take the country forward.
No wonder many development activities are being carried out by the government and the NGOs. But many individuals are also working against all odds to help Bangladesh overcome its problems. Here we bring you some efforts by development workers and human right activists viz-a-viz common people as seen through the eyes of the bloggers.
Morris the pen writes about Khokon, a Bangladeshi volunteer who has been running open sky schools for the poor and without any institutional support. Khokon says:
“Why should we beg? Can we not provide for our own requirements?” Well-wishers have occasionally offered books and food, which have been accepted gratefully. A Japanese supporter arrives frequently to help out with the class. But this is not a venture which depends on charity: it meets all its needs by itself. Indeed, Kohkon is scathing about the priorities of many NGOs. ”I prefer to call this an NPO” (Not-for-profit organisation). “What do I need with a logo, an air-conditioned office and a Landcruiser?”
Tom in Bangladesh Barta digs deep into the state of the Rickshaw pullers in Bangladesh and finds:
“Rickshaws are ubiquitous in Bangladesh: they crowd the roads pulling two or three passengers, fridges, plastic flowers, food (alive and dead) and anything else that can be crammed on the small plastic covered seats. Rickshaws are found all over south and south-east Asia, in many different forms, but it is in Bangladesh that they really go overboard. New rickshaws are covered in garish decorations, streamers, bells and paintings of mosques, lilies, actors, tigers and futuristic cities. They then fill the cities and villages, being the main mode of transport – 57% of all journeys in Bangladesh are on a rickshaw. Rickshaw pulling represents 6% of national GDP, 14 million people (10% of the total population) rely on it directly or indirectly for their livelihoods, and there are 800,000 pullers in Dhaka alone. However, rickshaw pullers have some of the lowest social status going.”
Tom is involved in a small advocacy project (more…)
Links for Thu, 2007-03
neweurasia has a collection of 11 posts on minorities in Central Asia and Afghanistan in its latest cross-blog survey.
At the CRD/TI Armenian Election Mointor 2007, a student from Yerevan writes about how the Prosperous Armenia party targets students.
Afghanistanica says that the well-known writer on the Taliban, Afghanistan, and Central Asian Islamism, Ahmed Rashid, seems to have a bit of a problem with Uzbeks.
Registan.net says that Uzbekistan has not shown the change of heart regarding its human rights practices that some European Union officials claim it has.
The sad plight of migrant workers in Lebanon comes under the spotlight in an article by Syrian blogger Yaman which appears on Migrant Rights in the Middle East.
(Warning: the item linked to in this post contains graphic and upsetting images)
With the release of the movie 300 in Singapore, people are talking about Greek history. Modernburrow.lah.cc takes on a history teacher's letter to a newspaper in a bid to reflect the history more accurately.
Israeli blogger Yaeli suggests that her country responds to the Saudi initiative using the analysis being made by a Lebanese.
“If Israel’s position is reasonable - and I think it is (the green line needs to be renegotiated, among other things), then these opinions should be put to the Arab delegations softly. To Arab diplomats, the whole point of negotiations is to keep the negotiations going. They are not a waste of time if nothing gets done,” she quotes the report as saying.
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