Stories about Development from January, 2011
Liberia: Improving Liberian Education
Jenny discusses the works of Concern Liberia, which involve constructing classrooms, separate toilets for boys and girls, providing furniture, textbooks and other essential learning items like blackboards, pencils and copybooks.
Saudi Arabia: Jeddah Rain .. Again
Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port city of Jeddah has been lashed with rain again, bringing back the ill-fated #Jeddahrain hashtag to our Twitterfeeds. Following are reactions from netizens, who poured their wrath on corruption and Jeddah's deteriorating infrastructure.
India: Environment, Common Sense & Social Media
Munna on the Run hopes that social media conversations will work as a gentle persuading force against the profit-at-any-cost market forces and re-ignite a common sense approach to development.
Bulgaria: Sofia's Sugar Factory Tragedy
Maya's Corner writes about Sofia's Sugar Factory, where two people died in 2009 when the neglected building collapsed, and the fate of other landmarks owned by “predator ‘investors’.”
Ukraine: The Newest Euro 2012 Scandal
Foreign Notes writes about the latest Euro 2012 controversy in Ukraine: “In other words, the Ukrainian national team could find itself banned from the Euro 2012 football tournament that the country is itself hosting…”
Swaziland: My work with social centers
Josh writes about the project he is working on in Swaziland: “Basically, my office operates 4 Social Centers in my town. There are 6 wards but only 4 Social Centers. The basic duties of the Social Centers are first it is a pre-school that operates during regular school days, second...
Lesotho: My visit to Lesotho
Sue blogs about her visit to a school in Lesotho called Leseli (the light) begun by Kieke Van der Zwaal. Leseli School started in Kieke’s gara
China: A Subversive New Years’ Video Card
C. Custer from ChinaGeek translates and analyses a subversive New Years’ video card, “Little Rabbit, Be Good!”. The video addresses most of the social conflicts happened in the past few years, such as poisonous milk, forced demolition, and etc.
Argentina: Experimenting with Natural Dyes
Jade Scully blogs about the experiments with natural dyes that are taking place in The Argentine National Institute for Industrial Technology (INTI).
Brazil: Neo-Colonialism in Africa
Leonardo Sakamoto refutes [pt] the statement of the foreign affairs adviser to the Brazilian presidency, Marco Aurelio Garcia, that “A neo-colonial relationship is only established if neo-colonizer and colonized are in agreement.” For him, it is necessary to examine the complicity of local elites and the situation of colonized countries...
Bahamas: economic “Bahamianisation”?
Rick Lowe of Weblog Bahamas responds to those who argue that “all economic activity” in the Bahamas should be “reserved exclusively for Bahamians” by pointing to a 2003 paper on foreign investment.
China: Domestic national image film
If you found China Red irresistible, check out the kind of Chinese national image film that gets played to a domestic audience, via Joel Martinsen at Danwei.
Kenya: A blog featuring Kenyan jobs
Jobs in Kenya is a blog with up-to-date career information, advice and current Kenyan jobs. Featured fields includes : Accounting, finance, Banking, Health, Hospitality, IT,Telecommunications and many more
Mali: Cars « Made in Mali » to Be Sold on the West African Market
Ouestafnews writes (fr) that : ” A factory capable of producing 2000 cars a year will soon be inaugurated near Bamako. The first Hyundai cars «made in Mali» are expected for June 2011.”
China: Better metrics for measuring Asian happiness
With Spring Festival just around the corner, Tsinghua University economics professor Andrew Sheng proposes a more enhanced approach to measuring quality of life: We need Stiglitz Report 2.0, with more Asian input.
Taiwan: Product placement and the petrochemical industry
If a petrochemical company treats bloggers to a cushy on-site tour, do posts that follow count as corporate astroturfing? What, as some have alleged, if the excursion was funded by the government? And, what if the bloggers weren't shown the whole story?
Zambia: Zambia is rich but poor
Potpher Mbulo argues that Zambia is rich but poor: “mean, Zambia is greatly endowed with minerals, fertile land and fresh water yet it is gifted with bad culture.The reality on the ground is that more than 80% of Zambians live below the poverty datum line.”
Ghana: Ghana Library website offers over 500,000 books
Ghana Library website offers students over 500,000 academic textbooks and literature spread across all subject disciplines.
Africa: Kabissa Network and Online Platform
Learn about Kabissa online platfrom and network in Africa: “As of this writing, Kabissa has 1,558 approved organizations in the network, 215 of them new in 2011, that have been taking excellent advantage of Kabissa to showcase themselves and connect with each other for peer learning and information sharing.”
Lusophone Culture: Buala “Giving Voice” to Contemporary African Cultures
They propose “to create new views, free from prejudice and colonial judgment,” of contemporary African cultures, and in an interview with Global Voices, Marta Lança and Francisca Bagulho talk about the creation of Buala: “an interdisciplinary web portal for reflection, critique and documenting Portuguese-speaking Africa.”
The last rural village in Singapore
The Long and Winding Road revisits the last rural village in Singapore
