One of the initiatives is Sadaka Reut, and this is what they say about their program:

With the majority of Palestinian and Jewish youth physically segregated from one another (in separate communities and schools) and fears, racism and prejudice the result, we look to build alternative models for interaction between the two groups. The ‘Building a Culture of Peace’ program seeks to create a space in which both Palestinian and Jewish youth may feel equal, respected and recognized as individuals and as national collectives.

The members of their program have also been participating in the One Minute Video Project, where they learn about video activism during a one-week workshop. Here are some of the results, and you can see the rest by clicking through to their site:

Arab:

AM/FM:

Few Love Singing:

Another initiative is the Windows for Peace project, which started back in 1991 as an effort to produce a bilingual and bicultural magazine for youth as a way for them to connect and learn about the conflict, promote equality and empower youth. However, it hasn't been easy, as they explain on their site:

It is no simple task for Israeli and Palestinian youth to overcome the vast amount of misinformation and stereotypes they are taught about one another. The limited availability for interaction, a result of living in mostly segregated communities and exacerbated by the ongoing violent political conflict, perpetuates the historical fears, prejudice, and hatred that divide the two peoples. Windows is therefore dedicated to fostering large scale change in the way Israeli and Palestinian youth see themselves, “the other” and the conflict. Participants in Windows programs go through experiences that promote conflict transformation among both peoples, towards a peaceful reality with which both sides can live. We believe that a just and lasting peace must be based on democratic values, human rights, and mutual knowledge and acceptance of “the other.”

They are also working on a new initiative called Through the Lens, where 15 to 17 year old youth who “graduate” from the magazine continue developing skills to create short films, news pieces and other video productions to further “productive, peace-building dialogue and positive interaction”.

Here is a video where the participants of Windows speak about their experience in the group and how they have dealt with the challenges it represents to get out of their comfort zone and speak about difficult topics such as the conflict between Israel and Palestine:

As the children in the video state in so many words: they may have a hard time dealing with many of the opinions and perceptions other children express, but having the space to discuss issues in a safe and secure manner helps them understand the world they live in with a possibility to interact, learn and share with other children and youth and even change these perceptions.

In a previous post we announced the UN Citizen Ambassador contest where video bloggers had to record what they would say to World Leaders if they had the chance, to effectively win the opportunity to speak directly with Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon at the UN Day on October 23rd. The winners were chosen and notified through YouTube as well, and here is the video announcement by the United Nations Channel:

Emily Troutman from the USA, who we recently wrote about in relation to her Congo Matters video, was one of the winners. In her UN video response, she spoke about how World Leaders should remember that they are responsible for more than 6 billion of other human beings, one person at a time:

Jeremy Walker of Canada was another winner, who asked the UN to prove that it still can help solve worldwide problems, to return hope to those who still want to believe that there can be change:

Breno Coelho from Brazil uploaded a video answering what is needed to be done to make this world a better and safer place, where it is answered by many different people, all offering their solutions: more love, less greed, less hate:

Maricarmen Ortega of Mexico also included the voices of many in her video, this time in several different languages:

Kirsty Matthews of Canada had a short message, straight to the point: what is needed is equality, sustainability and justice for all:

United Nations TV uploaded a video showing the 5 Citizen Embassadors in NYC at the UN Day:

Congratulations to all!

baby by gabi_menashe

When a woman dies during pregnancy, childbirth or due to complications after delivery, it affects not only the family, but also the whole community. These videos, by different human rights organizations, go beyond statistics to tell us the stories of women and their families as they struggle to understand why it is that so many women are dying during childbirth and what needs to be done to stop this.

First, the White Ribbon Alliance produced a four minute video titled Birth and Death explaining the seriousness of Maternal Mortality and how it can be stopped:

UNICEF also created a two minute video to raise awareness about this issue, with 5 steps that can be taken to diminish maternal mortality: education, respect, empowerment, investing and protection.

In this next video, In Silence: Maternal Mortality in India by Human Rights Watch, photographer Susan Meiselas and reporter Dumeetha Luthra traveled to India to follow the story of a woman who died after giving birth:

In Peru, as told by this piece done for CARE by Phil Borges, the Watchmen for Lives program to decrease maternal mortality has proven to be a success: by empowering and educating women from within the communities in the importance of healthcare during pregnancy and by making a chart for midwives with warning signs on when to send women to a clinic - so more are going to clinics to give birth, dramatically reducing the numbers of deaths due to complications during labor.

Amnesty International has this documentary piece, 18 minutes long, about Maternal Mortality in Sierra Leone. One in 8 women die in Childbirth there: the inability to pay for medical attention, a practically non-existent healthcare system, lack of trained medical practitioners and understaffed and understocked clinics are the main reasons. As the women in the video tell: everyone there knows a woman who has died during pregnancy or labor.

And from Australia, students from the Nursing and Midwife program at the University of Sydney have created Birthing Kits that they've delivered to developing countries to try and prevent unnecessary deaths. It includes a plastic sheet to put under the mother, surgical gloves, scalpel blades, gauze, soap and string to tie off the umbilical cord. In the video, they tell of their initiative and the successful experience they've had in Bangladesh.

Do all pregnant women deserve equal human rights, or do pregnant women in prison forfeit those rights?

There are a few questions that come to mind regarding a pregnant woman's right to live and to raise her child when she has been convicted for some sort of crime:

• What is it like for them to be pregnant and have their child behind bars?
• Should they be a priority when there are other women outside of correctional facilities without medical assistance?
• Should maternity overrule any other legal conditions to ensure a pregnant woman's human rights?

USA: women in labor no longer to be shackled.

Could you imagine a woman giving childbirth with her hands in handcuffs and her feet shackled to the bedposts? Malika Saada Saar, founder and executive director of the Rebecca Project for Human Rights, tells us about this practice which still happens in the United States of America, where pregnant women serving time have been routinely shackled during labor and childbirth as a common practice in some correctional facilities, even though it is dangerous for the health of both mother and child. Following is a video interview included in the same article written for RH Reality Check, an online community on sexual and reproductive health and rights which does information and analysis for reproductive health:

What happens to an inmate's baby after childbirth?

Different countries have different regulations regarding children in prisons. For example, in Argentina, according to Ajintem, an information portal for migration information, a law was passed last year specifying that pregnant women, women with children younger than 5 and those with handicapped children would benefit from spending their prison term at home under house arrest. This law would benefit not only the mother, who in prison wouldn't receive suitable health care during her pregnancy, but also the child, who would either be raised in an unsafe environment deprived of freedom with deficient health controls and food, or be raised away from the mother, causing another series of problems. However, the message is for magistrates to follow the spirit of the law and grant this permission to those women not involved in violent crimes, to ensure that the rest of the civilian population doesn't see pregnancy as a get out of jail free card.

In the Canary Islands, according to the Prisiones y Penas blog, which writes about the issues surrounding jails and prisons, women are allowed to keep their children of up to 3 years of age with them in their cells, but in the company of other inmates, which isn't the best environment. Thus, pregnant women or women with children under 3 are told upon entry to the prison that it isn't good for the child to grow up behind bars, and options are given for them to send the child off to family members. This is also the case in Peru and Russia. In the US, there are only two correctional facilities which allow for this, in New York and in Nebraska, as told by renowned photographer Jane Evelyn Atwood in her 3 part photo documentary for Amnesty International, called Too Much Time, where she visited dozens of prisons all over the world to record and document the lives of inmates.

Why does the US correctional system not generally allow women with babies to keep them? Atwood explains that due to the hostage situation, it is not allowed. In the Prison Photography Blog they address this claim:

Children are excluded from all but a couple of US prisons. The security threat is cited as the reason: a child inside a prison is a constant vulnerable life and constant hostage target. The claim seems a little bogus when penal systems of other countries are brought into consideration.

The Atwood documentary in the Amnesty International site features both a section on the process of giving birth in shackless as told in Vanessa's Baby and another on prison systems and motherhood, with fotographs of the women while the photographer reads an essay on her experiences visiting the prisons and taking the pictures.

Pregnancy as a bargaining tool?

Why are rights for pregnant women in prison so controversial? In Russia Today, a Russian broadcasting channel, the subject is mentioned when discussing children born and raised in the Russian correctional system:

Skeptics think some mothers deliberately get pregnant simply to ease life in prison. Hospital leave, then lots of scheduled time with your child – it is all better than sitting in a stone cell, they claim.

And there are women for whom it seems that pregnancy is the only way to escape a sentence, as was the case back in June, when a British woman incarcerated and sentenced to death in Laos due to drug smuggling got pregnant in prison and escaped being executed, since the Laos government would not execute a pregnant woman. The claims made according to the Daily Express, a British newspaper, are that she got artificially inseminated “to secure a more lenient term”.

In their words: Women tell of their children and prison life

Geraldin Rodríguez, an Argentinean spending time in an Ecuadorian jail due to drug trafficking tells Marcos Brugiati, a writer who contributes with the art related online publication Plastica-Argentina, the story about acting and performing in jail, getting pregnant in prison and having her child. She was allowed to keep her baby with her, but decided that the child needed to grow up free:

“Decidí que salga para vivir, tenía miedo que sufra de grande los traumas que hoy tengo. Se lo llevó al año mi hermano quien se hice cargo con su esposa”.

Juvinete is in a Spanish prison, and was pregnant when she was incarcerated for drug trafficking. She tells her story to regional Spanish newspaper NorteCastilla. Three years after giving birth to her baby in prison, her child had to leave her side, and was sent to a foster family. Juvinete sees her daughter every 15 days and every two months she gets a 2 week leave to spend time with her. However, things don't seem to be looking up: there is a chance Juvinete will be deported to her natal Brazil, and she fears for the consequences this change would have on her child. She does have advice for any woman who decide to get pregnant while in jail:

-Intento convencerlas para que no se queden en estado dentro porque ver a un niño privado de libertad es muy duro, es irresponsable. Ellos no tienen que pagar nuestros errores.

In Woman and Prison, a website dedicated to visibilizing women's experiences in the correctional system, inmate Kebby Warner speaks of her own pregnancy while doing time in a US prison, and how she was treated during her pregnancy, labor and afterwards, when her child was taken away from her. Here is an excerpt where she writes about the birthing process:

During the labor, no one is allowed in the delivery room. My family didn't even know I was in labor or had her until after I left the hospital. During the three days some of the guards stayed in the room, but most of the time, when the nurses asked them to sit outside the door, they complied. I have heard horror stories of women being chained to the delivery bed. I am so grateful as to have not experienced this. Most of the nurses treated me as a human instead of a prisoner.

You can read more testimonies about growing up with a parent in prison and the different effects incarcerating women may have on their children in Women and Prison.

So what do you think? With pregnant women around the world not receiving health care of any sort, should additional efforts be made to benefit women who are in prison? Is there a difference between mothers serving terms in correctional facilities and those outside? Should they be treated differently?

Image used to illustrate post is “17 de noviembre” by daquella manera.

Babygate: trafficking children to cover demand

Malinda, an adoptive mother of two Chinese girls,  writes in her blog Adoption Talk about the lengths some corrupt individuals are going to ensure the steady flow of adoptable babies to people able to pay the pricey adoption fees. In her post Adoption Corruption: Trafficking in the news she highlights recent cases in Cameroon, where children are kidnapped in order to be placed for adoption; Korea, where young parents put their baby on sale on the Internet; Guatemala, where the army abducted and sold more than 333 children for adoption and where recently babies and children were put up for adoption without parental consent; and Ethiopia, where unregulated agencies are convincing families to give their children up for adoption, promising them the children will later return to them or that the agency will help support the remainder of the family. Similar cases have been seen in numerous other countries.

Mothers coming together to secure their human rights

Some adoptive mothers do what they can to ensure one woman's right to motherhood doesn't go against the reproductive rights of another mother.

One such option is open adoptions, a sometimes controversial decision where the child remains in contact with the birth mother and is aware that due to other circumstances, she wasn't able to take care of them.

One woman in the United States, Leigh, writes a blog called Open Adoption Round Table about the challenges of giving her child up for adoption in a semi-open arrangement.

Another blogger and writer Dawn Friedman tells a story in her blog from the opposite perspective of adopting her daughter, Madison, while keeping an open line of communication with the birth mother. Friedman is also an activist for adoption reform in the United States. She believes pregnancy counseling in unplanned pregnancies too easily pushes women towards giving up their babies for adoption without informing them adequately of how difficult it is. Friedman also recommends that the process of adoption counseling should include a post-labor session where women are accompanied through the decision making process and advised of their rights and possibilities after giving birth, in case they are having second thoughts or have additional concerns.

Birth mothers

Lorraine Dusky in the United States, who runs the Birth Mother, First Mother Forum had medical history that made her think that birth control pills she took during pregnancy could have affected the child she placed in adoption, but when she tried to contact the adoptive family through the agency to let them know, they refused to send over the information.

She relinquished her child with no particular coercion, but the laws for “closed records” in adoptions may have cost her daughter's life.

But what about natural mothers in developing countries? Where are their voices? Some of them have written letters to the children they've placed for adoption, as Pam Conell of families.com tells us in her book review of I Wish for You a Beautiful Life: Letters from the Korean birthmothers of Ae Ran Won.

Others are telling their stories through documentaries, or after being reunited with their natural children. And there are some others who tell of women who don't regret giving their children up for adoption, considering it was the best alternative. However some women, like  Malinda in the USA,  adoptive parent of Chinese Girls who writes AdoptionTalk believes that these last representations have to be taken with a grain of salt:

These representations of foreign birth mothers allow us to divorce ourselves from the experience of these birth mothers, to minimize their pain, and to justify how much better off our children are with us than with them.

The Voices of the Adopted:

Mary Grace in China by endbradley

The voices of the adoptees are as varied as any of the other parts of the adoption triad. But in general they share some points of view in common: The desire to know about their origins and the reason for their adoption and the hope that their birth mothers made an informed decision to part with them.  They also believe in the right to know their history if they choose, to know about their adoptee status from early on and have it acknowledged as part of their identity.

For example Susan from ReadingWritingLiving, an adult adoptee born in the 1960's, identified with TV drama Mad Men, particularly in their portrayal of adoptions in that time period, where women hid their shameful unwanted pregnancies until giving birth and how adopted children where seen as discards. She sums it up in her post Mad Men: A Window into my Own Past

Yes, it was painful to hear this but also WILDLY refreshing to have someone just come out and SAY it.

In the I am adopted [es]blog in Spanish, David Azcona writes about his difficult childhood, adoption at the age of 6 and the instability and inability to bond with people [es] he's felt since. It is also a place for other adoptees to post their adoption stories, and to share their experiences. In the comment threads of his about page, stories about apropriated babies [es] with no knowledge of their birth parents, twins separated at birth[es] by nurses who told parents one of the babies had died[es] and requests from birth mothers trying to contact their children as well as the other way around.

An adoptee answers a question asked on a website regarding love between adoptees and adoptive parents:

I was adopted as a baby by the two most loving, caring and supportive parents a child and young adult could ever wish for. I also have a younger adopted brother.

I don't think my biological parents could have loved me more than my adoptive ones.

Other adoptees with similar experiences chime in, some with relationships with both natural parents and adoptive parents and others who have only known their adoptive families. In this particular thread, the experiences are overwhelmingly positive towards adoption.

Some adoptees advocate against adoption. Lost Letters, an adoptee herself who writes in the Anti-Adoption livejournal community believes that instead of using so much money to aid in adoption processes and fees, it should be spent in improving the conditions of the birth parents so they can take care of their family. She adds:

I understand that my actual position on adoption is going to piss people off because people want to believe that adoption is a win/win/win situation for everyone, because people think that middle class white women deserve children no matter what, because people think that our western society is so wonderful that all children should be bought up here.

AmyAdoptee who posts in the Adult Adoptees Advocating for Change forum writes:

The adoption industry intentionally pits us against each other.  We are letting them do it.  In fact, the adoption industry gets a wonderful kick out of this.  Here is an article that supports generally our point of view but they ask that we refrain from attacking adoptive parents.  There is nothing wrong with a healthy discourse.

PhilM, in the same forum thread discussing how adoptive parents perceive them, clarifies:

I’m angry at a society that ignores the problems of adoption, and the harm it causes. I’m angry that when I try to talk about these things, I am marginalized and dismissed with comments along the lines of “well, everyone experiences it differently” and “most adoptees I know love their adoptive parents” and others. I am angry that, because I speak out about adoption, people question my love for my adoptive family. And, I admit, I get angry when individuals parrot these messages.

I don’t need a lecture for how to behave in dialogue. I need people willing to engage in it.

The way forward

As with any delicate issue, it touches a sensitive chord for all those involved: adoptive mothers, birth mothers and adopted children. However, it seems they all meet and agree on one important point: Transparency in the adoption process is vital to safeguard the human rights for the mothers and the children, and discussing adoption openly encourages transparency.

EDITED TO ADD:

We have removed a reference to a blogger who didn't wish to be quoted or mentioned in this post. To her, our apologies, it was in no way our intention to infringe on her or offend, but to provide a multiplicity of visions regarding a sensible subject.

In her post, she wrote:

Soy un poco ilusa. Hasta el minuto antes que comenzara la ceremonia del María Moors Cabot –celebrada ayer– pensé que el gobierno cubano iba a cambiar su decisión y dejarme salir. De ahí que guardé la grabación que hice en la Oficina de Inmigración y Extranjería el lunes 12 de Octubre. Hoy, al comprobar que sigo en el mismo sitio, me he decidido a publicarla, pensando especialmente en todos aquellos que están pasando por situaciones similares.

La emoción, el tener tanto que decir, me hicieron hablar a una velocidad difícil para subtitular, pero siento el alivio de haber dicho ante esos uniformes militares todo lo que pienso de ellos y de sus restricciones absurdas.

In the video she repeatedly asks the official behind the counter to give her the reasons why she is not allowed to travel. This is how the conversation goes:

Well, I'm coming to see if the prohibition to travel which I've had for over a year has been lifted.

-You can't travel yet

Still? And when will this ban be lifted, do you have any idea?

-Ban?

Well, if I can't get on a plane, it is a ban.

-You are not yet authorized to travel.

And what are the reasons?

-I don't know the reasons.

I don't have any legal causes pending, I am not being processed before a tribunal…

-Go to Citizen Affairs…

I've gone there many times, they know me there, but what I want to know is if this is a ban for life, if I'll be able to leave this country some day. If I should keep trying. What do I do?

-For the time being you are not allowed to travel.

You know this is a violation to my constitutional rights

You are, here, violating my rights as a citizen to be able to move, come and go from my country. This is very serious. For a military institution to deny a civilian citizen a fundamental right, that is like the right to education, to food, the right to move.

- For the time being you are not allowed to travel.

Yes I already have heard that, I know. But what I want is that whomever made the decision, who has the answer, to show their face.

-I am showing my face.

No, you are not giving me an answer, you are repeating the same thing which is written in these papers.

I want an answer to why Yoani Sanchez can't leave the country. Are they so scared of me outside of Cuba?

-For the time being you are not allowed to travel.

Why don't you want me to put a foot on the plane? What are they afraid of? That this 110 pound little person could what? Make a tsunami? Then, why don't they let me leave the country?

-I have told you…

You are embarrassing yourselves. No, but I want to repeat it. You are having the most shameful moment in your lives.

This institution, what you represent, this permission to leave will one day come to an end. My grandchildren will not live under these conditions. When I tell them the story of how the institutions in my country violated my right to move, they won't believe me. What are you going to tell your children? That you were dedicated to violate the rights of Cubans? Is that what you are going to tell them? Because honestly, I feel sorry for you, who are going to have to tell this to your children one day. Not me. I have never violated any one's rights. I just want to be able to exercise my right to behave like a free person. Why can't I? Why? Why am I systematically denied permission to leave? Who is the person making this decision? They should stop being cowards and show their face and tell me: “Yoani Sanchez, you can't travel because of a, b and c…” But no…

-I am giving you the answer

No, you are just saying no. You are not giving me the reasons. Why? I am not being processed in tribunals, I don't have pending causes, I've never been in the military, I don't hold state secrets, I'm not even a doctor, for whom you don't allow travel for the first 5 years, they need a liberation. I am none of that. I am a person dedicated to the pen. Why can't I leave? aaah. I do know why I can't leave, but I'm waiting for one of you to tell me.

Because you have an ideological filter. This country is a big jail, with an ideological fence. A partisan fence. And citizens here are judged by political colors. Here we have first rate, second rate and fifth rate citizens…And I don't know in which category I am, but I must be in an underground one, right? Why? Because of an ideological filter.

But this one day will come to an end. Because this nation has nothing to do with an ideology, with a party, this nation has been and will be before and after you. And then, you will have to account for your actions of all the violations made to us Cubans. Honestly, I'm really sorry, but the future isn't with you. The future is with us. I am 34 years old, I'm going to live, I´m going to live it, and I'll be very happy when I can move freely. And the only thing you are doing is pulling the rubber band very tight. When I can put a foot outside this country, the consequences are going to be a lot greater because that's how you wanted it. That every time more people read my blog, because that's what you have caused. That more people admire me and greet me on the streets, because that's what you have provoked. With prohibitions, with authoritarianism, with police surveillance.

The only thing you have provoked is that all what I do becomes more attractive. So, if I have to thank someone, I have to thank the organisms of State Security, The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Immigration who have contributed to the phenomenon that is my blog, each time greater. Honestly. Thanks!

She also sent in a video acceptance speech to the Maria Moors Cabot award ceremony at Columbia university:

Periodismo Ciudadano (Citizen Journalism) blog also posted a full account of Yoani's situation, including several other videos regarding her current situation. One is from a Miami news channel, where Yoani is given a phone interview where she once again tells of her experience, and Martí news station who is echoeing Amnesty International's call to attention to Yoani's situation.

Are human rights related to motherhood reserved only for married women? Philippine men and women are blogging about a new legislation related to a pregnant woman's right to study and work.

In Philippines, a landmark legislation on Women's Rights recently passed after seven years of debates. It is the Republic Act 9710, also known as the Magna Carta of Women. It states that womens' rights are human rights, and their rights need to be respected at home, at work and in school, also addressing the subjects of planned parenthood, pregnancy, and pregnant women's rights.

One of the most discussed points in the Magna Carta has to do with the rights an unmarried pregnant woman has to maintain her job and be able to stay in school. This is the specific text:

Expulsion and non-readmission of women faculty due to pregnancy outside of marriage shall be outlawed. No primary or secondary school shall turn out or refuse admission to a female student solely on account of her having contracted pregnancy outside of marriage during her term in school

The Magna Carta clearly states that it is unlawful to fire a pregnant woman even if she is unwed, but the Catholic Bishop's Conference for the Philippines (CBCP) is insisting on an exemption for women who study or work in Catholic schools: They believe they should have the right to fire or expel unmarried women who are pregnant since it goes against the Catholic Church's moral religious teachings.

To find out a bit more about the Magna Carta, here is a video by the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women where they explain why the Magna Carta and all its provisions are important:

Reactions to the Catholic church

A Philippine blogger, Lindy Lois Gamolo criticizes the Catholic church's position. Not only did they try to boycott the Magna Carta for Women by threatening to excommunicate and deny communion to the politicians who voted in favor, but now that it passed the are insisting that they will not support any candidates who are in favor of the Magna Carta because it doesn't include the addendum they wanted to add to the text, exempting Catholic schools from following the law. She asks the politicians to not give in to what she calls blackmail because:

Let us remind them that they [politicians] are accountable to the sovereign Filipino people and not to the Catholic Church and not to the bishops.

However, there are some bloggers who do understand where the Church is coming from to propose this exemption. Such is the case with one of the comments of a blog post in The Feed, where olive writes:

i agree that if you get pregnant in highschool when studying in a catholic school, they should kick her out. why? it doesnt set a good example. imagine they teach us to only have sex during marriage and somebody walks around with a baby in her belly!?!?! its like in your face, sucker!

In fact, not all Catholic schools agree with this proposed exemption. According to Rachel C. Barawid who writes for the Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation there are some schools who believe that denying education to pregnant women who are unmarried will cause greater harm than good, and she quotes the Dean of Student Affairs of one of these schools who explains why they don't expel students:

If you expel students out of wedlock, it’s a double whammy for them. Now that they immediately become mothers, you immediately negate their chance of earning a college degree and therefore becoming a professional and providing for their child. Not only is she faced with the prospect of being a single mother, she is also facing the prospect of not getting a good job because she is not a college graduate and will not be able to provide well for her child,” she explains.

Legalizing discrimination against pregnant women?

Philippine bloggers are also discussing whether it is fair that the Catholic church, on the basis of their religious teachings is trying to deny human rights, like the one to hold a job or to receive education, to unwed pregnant women but doesn't mention the unwed father. It seems to be the just the type of discrimination against women that the Magna Carta is trying to correct.

Bong C. Austero insists that the Catholic church's proposal ruling is pure discrimination against women and goes against Catholic teachings of punishing the sin and not the sinner:

It penalizes women simply for being women; for having been assigned the social responsibility of bearing life. Catholic schools do not punish with expulsion or dismissal male teachers who get their girlfriends pregnant when they are also just as responsible for the pregnancy.

In the I am Nobe blog, where the author humorously steps into a different set of shoes for each post, it is the turn of the Unwed Mother

Now you’re telling me that I can’t go to school? Or go to work? (insecure)

I did not have this baby via asexual reproduction! If you should really do this to me, let those unwed fathers have a slice of the bitter cake too! And for crying out loud, stop giving God a bad name! (beyond hormonal)

Joyce Talag, a single mother herself and blogger, puts forth an argument that illustrates why, even if the Catholic church penalized unwed fathers as well, it wouldn't make things better for the mother. Since most single parents are mothers, denying them of work opportunities or schooling while they are pregnant will mean they won't be able to provide for themselves or the child:

A case in point: the single parent. Being one actually means having to provide both the economic and nurturing needs of the child. What puts women instead of men at a disadvantage is the fact that they comprise most of the solo parent population. (Only the US Single Parent Statistics was found on the Internet. It says that “in 2006, 5 out of every 6 custodial parents were mothers.” The Philippines' should not be any different.)

A Philippine law blogger, Jun Bautista, points out that it is unlikely the Catholic church will include the unwed fathers into the discussion, since the laws under discussion discuss mainly women.

What this means is that this exception would have to stand on its own, as the denying of education and work only to pregnant single women, going against their human rights, and putting their lives at risk, since some even state, this will morally backfire: if Catholic schools expel and fire pregnant unwed students, would this push them into having abortions or a life of destitution? A First District Representative, Janette Loreto-Garin, seems to think so.

So, what do you think? Does a religious organization have the right to decide who they employ or accept as students, or do the rights of the pregnant woman overrule these restrictions?

Image illustrating this post by Photo Mojo, used according to Creative Commons attribution license.

More than 14000  Costa Ricans who were away from TV sets today at 3pm were able to view online the judgment of ex President Rafael Ángel Calderón when at least 3 different websites decided to present the ruling via online streaming services, a record for the Costa Rican online community. Not only was streaming used, media also uploaded images through twitpic to be used  on twitter.  All these are recent developments as media starts to adapt to social networking tools for journalism.

Through microblogging tool Twitter, using the tag #sentencia, #cajafischel or #Calderon, viewers followed and commented the ruling, where the ex President was convicted  and will have to serve  to a 5 year prison sentence for corruption charges.

Presidential candidate Ottón Solis has already uploaded a video commentary on YouTube regarding the sentence.

Journalist Amelia Rueda also tweeted the happenings inside the tribunals. She posted a short audio clip where the accused ex president spoke about his hopes regarding the veredict, which you can hear by clicking on the player at the bottom of the post.

Journalist Cristian Cambronero posted an entry on his blog where he refers to the ex president's now crushed intentions of running once again for president, confident he would be declared innocent.  Lucía comments in that post:

El jalón de orejas no es solo para para Calderón y compañía (pobrecito nada¡¡¡¡ si no quiere ir a la cárcel no sea corrupto, así de simple), es para la clase política en general, que aquí como en otros países creen que uno está para serviles y no ellos para servir …
Más valioso que el dinero que tienen devolver (no se cuanto es) es el haber recuperado cierta confianza en el sistema político, y como dice un conocido anuncio de tarjetas de crédito, eso no tiene precio…

You can also view the sentence videos on UStream, uploaded by the newspaper AlDía, which shows how traditional media in Costa Rica is evolving to take advantage of online media and social networks: the first part includes the moments prior to the sentence, which starts at about the 45 minute mark.The second video continues with the judges reading of all the charges and reasoning behind the sentences for all those who had been accused, of which ex president Calderon was the main figure.

And twitter user Mauricio sums up the experience of watching the veredict through online tools like this:

la sentencia de #calderon ha hecho que twitter + la tv se muevan juntos, como en los mejores tiempos de #qqsm

And well, it wasn't even minutes before someone, in this case marenoztro, took the viral joke featuring Kanye West and did their own mashup with the president. The “Chema” referred to in the image is ex president Jose Maria Figueres Olsen who when accused of receiving 900,000 USD and not declaring the income or paying taxes. When it was discovere, the taxes were hurriedly paid up and he presented documents legalizing the income as consulting fees.

image mashup by @marenoztro

floods

In less than a week, earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons have struck several different countries in Oceania, East and Southeast Asia.

Previous Global Voices posts have kept us informed about what is going on at ground level in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Vietnam with Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) and about the series of strong earthquakes in Indonesia (1 and 2) just a day after the Samoa Earthquake which triggered a tsunami.

Through video uploading platforms, citizens who are experiencing these natural disasters and their aftermath have shared their video clips, so that people from other regions can identify the extent of the damages.

YouTube's CitizenTube blog have written a couple of posts regarding these events. This first one has a playlist of clips of the Samoa Earthquake and Tsunami aftermath:

And this other post has several videos of the aftermath of the Sumatran earthquake.

This one has families outside their homes, running to grab railings in case there's an aftershock:

This other shows a street view of what seems to be a shopping center with extensive damage and an area on fire:

This next video regards Typhoon (Ketsana) Ondoy, which hit the Philippines. In it you can see the extensive flooding, and the cameraman writes this in his description:

I just got back from the river's edge 5 minutes ago. A 10-15 feet height differential between the Marikina River and the embankment has now been reduced to the point that water is splashing against the high-rises of Eastwood, Metro Manila. A security guard for this sealed off area approaches me and covers me with his umbrella while I snap pictures from my phone. “Where are the police or firemen?” I asked. He first points at a speck in the middle of the river 300-400 meters out to my right. “That was a woman with her 2 year old infant clinging on to her. She passed through here in the middle of the river - waving at us for help. There was nothing we could do - she had passed though within 5 seconds. We've been seeing other people washed away.” We watched helplessly at the 20+ people 200 meters away that are now sitting on top of their corrugated roof-tops as the river rages beneath them on their submerged homes… waiting for emergency personnel yet to come.

This video, also about the flooding, shows a different face to the emergency, in the rapidly rising waters, a group of children can be seen playing and enjoying themselves:

It seems that humor has become one of the ways to cope with natural disasters for Filipinos. For example, in this blog post a message by Gwendolyn So is reposted, where she tells of her 10+ years experiencing flooding in her home at least once a year, you can see that even in the midst of trying to rescue furniture, goods and family, there is a space for having fun:

5. You can have fun in the midst of disaster so I took out our cameras and starting taking pictures. It was to make everyone have a good laugh as we surveyed the chaos around us, the cockroaches and rats swimming by, the black inky spots of oily stuff occasionally floating around.

At the end, she puts things in perspective:

It is easy to go insane after this kind of calamity, to despair of the material things we lost (especially the cars), but please be thankful you got away with your life and that of your family and loved ones

Image used to illustrate post by IronChefBalara according to CC attribution license

Image by Basykes

What would you say to world leaders if given the chance? Let them know in a video lasting less than three minutes what you believe needs to be done to make the world a safer and better place for a chance to win a visit to the United Nations Headquarters for the 64th UN Day.

Actor George Clooney is a UN Messenger of Peace, and in the following video uploaded by United Nations Television he explains how you can participate and be one of the 5 winners who get a chance to participate in this VIP event in New York City.

The guidelines are quite simple:

1. Create your own video, no more than 3 minute duration.
2. Upload the video to your YouTube account.
3. Add it as a REPLY VIDEO to the video you are watching right now.
4. Deadline for submissions: 10 October 2009

Selection process:
1. The best 5 video entries will be selected by a committee based on compelling content, originality and creativity.
2. The finalists will be designated Citizen Ambassadors, and will be invited to United Nations Headquarters in New York on the occasion of the 64th UN Day.
3. They will take a special guided tour of UN Headquarters, have their photo taken with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and receive VIP seating at the UN Day Concert, to be held on Friday 23 October 2009.

So far, less than a handful of video responses have been posted, two from the United States (1 and 2 ), one from Canada and one from the United Arab Emirates. The deadline is October 10, so grab your camera and make your original, creative and compelling point!

(Image  by basykes used to illustrate post according to Creative Commons Attribution License)

candy by Yomi955

In Colombia, people don't celebrate Valentine's day on February 14th, but instead, celebrate the whole month of September with the peak during the third weekend.  On these days not only romantic couples give each other presents, but friends also get together for drinks or to eat, and one of the most frequent ways to celebrate the month is through gift exchanges, quite common in workplaces and classrooms.

Juan Felipe Beltrán writes on his blog:

Es el mes donde las personas, amigos, parejas y enamorados se reúnen para pasar un mes de felicidad, alegría, armonía y vida. En algunas partes las personas juegan al amigo secreto, el juego trata al principio en que un monitor encargado del juego da una bolsita a cada persona y debe sacar un papelito, en ese papelito hay un nombre de una persona y nombre que te aparezca ese tu amigo secreto, a ninguno de tus amigos le puedes decir quién te tocó por que la gracia del juego es no revelar al amigo, porque si lo revela ya no será amigo secreto, entonces en cada día corresponde dar a tu amigo secreto algo, por ejemplo en un dia corresponde algo salado, el otro algo dulce, el otro algo ácido, el otro la broma y asi sucesivamente hasta que llegue el último dia que es el día del regalo especial. En Colombia es unos de los meses mas esperados y el más especial del año. [Ed. Note.- spelling corrected for clarity. ]

However, not many share this point of view regarding gift exchanges. Emmanuel Ariza writes about why he dislikes this celebration:

Aun hoy me atormentan las pesadillas de mis época de colegial, tener que comprarle un regalo a un “amigo secreto”, que por más que me esmerara, siempre iba a ser poca cosa para él. Todo para que a fin de cuentas, el pelafustán que tendría que darme el regalo a mí, diera cualquier bicoca comprada ahí de afán.

From youtube, creative online video collective Internautismo Crónico, has posted a video where one of their most famous characters, the Zarco (meaning someone with blue eyes), explains why he doesn't play secret friend anymore. The character of el Zarco represents many of the youth that live in marginal areas of the city of Medellin, and speaks with a specific slang called parlache. In the video, he explains his reasons for not playing secret friend.

The reasons El Zarco gives are the following:

• it is a comercial invention and as such, it requires money, which he doesn't have
• he gets picked by the laziest one who doesn't make an effort.
• effort is not rewarded, and gifts given are not similar in value
• picking out names from a bag and getting someone he dislikes is annoying
• getting IOUs instead of candy from lazy secret friends.
• not getting candy but having to give, and seeing everyone else get theirs.
• day of unveiling secret friends is annoying, people holler cat call and expect kissing and hugging.
• he is always single and depressed during love and friendship month but…
• if he  is not single, he has to split himself between friends, girlfriends and lovers.

At the end the Zarco proposes making this month a time to spend with friends and loved ones, taking the time to make peace with anyone with whom we don't get along very well, but not a time for these meaningless games… however, he admits that he will be playing this year again.

The game has taken an online tint as well. Secret Follower (or #FollowerSecreto) is the new method by which Colombian twitters are participating with their friends from the popular micro-blogging platform.  The methodology is explained in this page and through this tool, people can send their secret follower messages, and anyone can also check out their own present. Click on the menu button and select a twitter user to see the types of gifts they have received: phrases of friendship, images of cute animals or candy, videos, poems and more.

The small gifts are popularly called “endulzadas” which means “to sweeten”, and in this online version they consist of nice pictures to share, links to fun websites or to sites where they can download their specific present. One of the presents is the following example, a short video made with popular internet images:

So happy Month of Friendship and Love to all!

(Image by Yomi955 used according to Creative Commons attribution license)

The rules are very similar to last year's. Basically, you should enter a video that's less than 3 minutes long which completes the phrase “Democracy is…”. It should either be in English or have English subtitles, and it can be any style: animated or live action, a documentary or fiction. The deadline for submitting entries is January 31st, 2010; after which a selection process will take place including community voting until 6 contestants from 6 different geographical regions are chosen, and they will be the ones to travel to the USA to speak with people from government and media.

Here is the video they have made to promote the contest:

The contest is a collaboration between YouTube, the State Department and other partners, and more details about specifics to be considered before submitting the video can be found on the State Department's YouTube channel by clicking on Important Details.

On the YouTube blog you can view a clip from the 2009 winners' television appearance, and if you wish to know a bit more about the winners, 4 of them submitted a video portrait of themselves.

Aissa Peñafiel from the Philippines:

Rodin Hamidi from Iran:

Anna Israel from Brazil:

and Lukasz Szozda from Poland:

Need inspiration to participate? Why not take a look at the 2009 winning entries?