Stories about Development from February, 2010
Armenia: Diplomatic Academy
Armenia: Higher Education & Sciences reports that a Diplomatic Academy supported by the EU, OSCE and UN has been opened in Yerevan with the purpose of creating future career diplomats. The blog notes that several among the first intake were women.
Silence Speaks: Multimedia storytelling in Republic of Congo
Amy Hill, the director of Center for Digital Storytelling, describes the process and ideas behind a 4-day digital storytelling workshop in November 2009 with seven women affected by Congo-Brazzaville’s (also known as Republic of Congo) civil wars from 1997-2003.
Russia and US to Broaden Collaboration Online
Vesti.ru wrote [RUS] about the visit of the U.S. “innovation delegation” [EN] led by America's Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra [EN]. The plans of the Russian-U.S. cooperation include launching e-government Web sites and visits of Twitter, Cisco and Mozilla representatives to Russia in June 2010.
Russia: Sakhalin Island Fails to Connect to Broadband
Blogger w7062c wrote [RUS] about two unsuccessful attempts to connect Sakhalin island [EN] (island in the Pacific north closer to Japan) to the broadband network of Russia. The third attempt is scheduled for 2011. Until then, 580,000 inhabitants of the island are able to go online via satellite only.
Ghanaian students contribute to virtual media library
We are interviewing Jonathan Thurston who carried out a book-making project with students in Elmina, in the Central Region of Ghana using simple, portable technology to inspire creativity and social media tools to network with like-minded individuals and organisations.
Armenia: Working conditions
Adrineh Macaan details the trials and tribulations of working in Armenia. The blog says that conditions are inconvenient and lacking, hours are long, and salaries sometimes take months to be paid.
Africa: MILEAD Fellows Program for African Women
Moremi Initiative for Women’s Leadership in Africa is pleased to announce its call for applications for the 2010 Moremi Leadership Empowerment and Development (MILEAD) Fellows Program for young African women leaders.
Barbados, Haiti: The Widening Gap
Barbados Underground says that “the recent catastrophic earthquake which rocked Haiti has exposed one of the weaknesses of modern civilization; the failure to narrow the gap between rich and poor countries.”
Azerbaijan: Healthcare
Emotions on Air, Mind Mute comments on healthcare in the oil-rich republic. Despite legislation guaranteeing access for all, the blog says, the situation is far from perfect and especially when it comes to bone marrow donors.
Azerbaijan: In this part of the world
Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines comments on the lack of democracy in the Caucasus in general. However, the blog says, some progressive youth are struggling to effect change and are the key to the future as they are the future.
Congo: The Coltan Conflict is in Our Hands (and Cellphones)
Coltan, columbo-tantalite, is a mineral used to make resistors in our cellphones, video games, computers and home electronics. Like blood diamonds, its mining has not only caused ecological damage, human rights abuses, but some say is also fueling the conflict in the Congo.
Ghana: African programmers developing games for iPhone
In this post we are interviewing programmers Eyram Akorfa Tawiah from Ghana and Wesley Kirinya from Kenya who are co-founders of Leti Games, a Ghanaian start-up building games for the iPhone and other gaming platforms.
Ghana: Model oaf African Self-Sufficiency
Part III of Chris Lydon podcast series, Ghana Speaking: “We are making the full village rounds here in Aburanza, near Cape Coast, with a strong-minded, strong-willed modern chief. From furniture works to dress-making class to palm-nut oil pots, Dr. Kofi Sam is barking out variations on his evangelical theme…”
South Korea: Little Manila
CINA collects local news report on the gentrification pressure in Seoul city on Little Manila, the marketplace for domestic migrants.
Azerbaijan: Urban development
Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines comments on the continuing construction boom in Baku, Azerbaijan. The blog says that new urban development in the city is haphazard and is starting to adversely affect the old part of the city, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Macedonia, Turkey: Connected, not Divided by History
Chris Deliso, a travel writer and founder and director of Balkanalysis.com writes in an oped in Today's Zaman about the mutual fondness between citizens of Macedonia and Turkey, which is there despite the fact that one century ago, “Macedonia suffered tremendously during anti-Ottoman rebellions.” He sees potential for using the...
Afghanistan: Prospects for exporting Baghlani Gouda
Peter Marton reports on a cheese factory in Afghanistan. It was started 30 years ago, destroyed in the 1980s and re-launched again in 2006.
Video: Mobile Libraries of the World
The mobile library has become a staple in many library systems, bringing books to those who cannot access the libraries themselves. However, in many places due to bad road conditions or lack of funding, the traditional system of rigging a bus or truck as a library is not possible. Thus, library trains, donkey libraries and motorcycle libraries have come to stay as viable options to bring books to the communities.
Trinidad & Tobago: “Dat is Carnival”
MEP Caribbean Publishers explores the question of what constitutes Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, while My Chutney Garden adds: “That the ‘mas’ has become sanitised is beyond dispute.”
Bangladesh: Bangla Spell Checker Add-on For Firefox
Belayet informs [bn] that Ankur ICT Development Foundation has recently released the updated version of a Bangla spell checker add-on for Firefox, an indispensable tool for Bangla computing.
Haiti: Relief Efforts & Dangers
Almost a month after the earthquake, which ravaged a significant portion of public facilities and private buildings in Port-au-Prince and nearby cities, French-speaking bloggers discuss the different realities of people who survived the disaster...
