Stories about Development from May, 2006
Ukraine: Village Life Videos
Ukrainian-American blogger Stefan of Dykun now has a vlog, but he'll be cross-posting Ukraine-related entries to his blog. The first two videos – both shot in Sept. 2005 – have to do with West Ukrainian farming and village life: an old woman feeding fowl in Ternopil region and villagers gathering...
China: Three gorges dam
“They might have moved 1.3 million people, flooded archeological wonders and more,” says Simon at Simon World with a post on and a link to photos of the recently-completed Three Gorges Dam, “but it's quite an achievement.”
Barbados: 20,000 cruise ship passengers?
Cruise ships will land whopping 20,000 passengers in Barbados on the day of the Cricket World Cup final in April 2007. “While this will obviously provide taxi drivers, shops, island vendors and restaurants with an considerable increase in business,” writes Linda Thompkins, “one also has to wonder if 20,000+ cruise...
Bahamas: Consultation & Arawak names
“The old colonial idea advocated by one resident that the government can just hand things down from on high is no longer acceptable in the Bahamas,” says Sir Arthur Foulkes in his appeal for the development of a “culture of consultation” in the Bahamas. In the same post Sir Arthur...
Jamaica: Ghetto tourism?
Francis Wade remembers taking tours of “slum” areas in South Africa and Brazil, and the lessons he learned from these experiences. “It would be powerful if we in Jamaica could get over our embarrassment long enough to realize that we are the ones in the way of giving structured tours...
Sri Lanka: NGOs Attacked
Moju has statements issued by “two NGOs, Non-violent Peace Force and ZOA, who have been attacked in Trincomalee on Sunday.“
China: Rights news roundup
Celia in her China Activist Weekly news roundup this week looks at Kofi Annan's recent visit to China, the media ban on coverage of the fortieth anniversary of the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, the completion of the Three Gorges Dam, another mine collapse trapping at least forty miners and...
China: Discoveries in the desert
Haven't had time to follow the news out of northwestern China's muslim-dominated Xinjiang province over the past three months? Davesgonechina at Musing Under The Tenement Palm rounds up the relevant stories, including two discoveries in the desert; one of a 2,200 year-old peach-shaped city and a 26 year-old mummy, the...
Haiti: Among 10 Highest Producers of Mangos
“The place occupied by the Haitian mango is threatened on the international market given the demands of foreign consumers looking for a quality product,” says (Fr) Haitian newsfeed Alterpresse. “Ranked among the 10 highest worldwide producers of mangos, Haiti needs to do everything to better exploit this niche. A study...
Haiti: New Blog CollectifHaitideProvence
CollectifHaitideProvence [Haitian Collective of Provence, France] is the name of a new French and Creole language blog launched by a Haitian organization of the same name made up of nine organizations that seem to be based in either France, Haiti or both. Their first entry posted yesterday explains (Fr &...
Montenegro: “It Looks Like Europe Has a New Country”
This past Sunday, 55.4 percent of the voters of Montenegro, the smallest of the six former Yugoslav republics (population slightly over 600,000), decided in favor of independence – by a narrow margin of 0.4%, in a heavy turnout. Below are some bloggers’ reactions to the May 21 referendum results. Doug...
Jamaica: Missing generation
Francis Wade thinks about the “missing generation” of middle-class Jamaicans who emigrated seeking better lives for their families, and suggests four reasons for expatriate Jamaicans to return to their homeland, as he himself did. “We probably should not be so ready to encourage our children to migrate, selling them on...
South Korea: Don't call me that!
Hunjangûi Karûch'im‘s Antti Leppänen looks at updates to and blurring of Korea's complex set of terms of interpersonal address.
Grenada's Chinese Village
From the Caribbean Free Photo photoblog: This rather quaint archway marks the entrance to the construction site for Grenada's new National Stadium in Queen's Park, which is being built with funding, expertise and manpower provided by the People's Republic of China. With 500-plus construction workers from China living and working...
China: Three gorges update
An update on an old but ongoing environmental story from AB at Me Old China: “As the construction of the Three Gorges Dam comes to an end, the battle for hearts and minds has intensified once again. Propagandists with the Three Gorges Project Corporation and the state government have been...
African Diaspora: Victory for Sarkozy's Immigration Law
” [French Interior Minister] Sarkozy's immigration law [CESEDA] passed in the French National Assembly! ” says (Fr) Aimafrica . “For a country like Mali, this could be the beginning of an economic catastrophy. France … after having looted our riches and our people, wants business as usual. She no longer...
Barbados: Time-share development
Why is the government of Barbados getting involved in a time-share development, asks Barbados Free Press; is it “a scheme to pour yet more public funds” into a private hotel chain?
China: Beijing's new facelift
From Will at Imagethief: The original painting of the retouched version currently hanging from the gate to the Forbidden City is going up for auction, and while old Beijing's bird whistles are increasingly being replaced with the sound of jackhammers, a recording of hutong sounds has been put online for...
Afghanistan: Reconstructing
In the wake of an international business conference in Kabul to explore ways to invest in Afghanistan, Afghan Warrior goes through many things that need attention
Bahamas: “Generation property”
Nicolette Bethel argues that the Bahamian institution of “generation property” — communally owned land — which many have come to see as a burden, is actually an important source of power and independence, and “lies at the core of the independent spirit of the Bahamian”.
Ukraine: Kyiv's New Mayor
Scott W. Clark of Foreign Notes writes about Kyiv's new mayor: “Sometimes the mayor makes a lot of sense and sometimes he sounds crack-brained.”
