· February, 2009

Stories about Development from February, 2009

Trinidad & Tobago: Love of Pan

  10 February 2009

“Today Carnival belongs to all Trinidadians – each year it expands and breathes a healing breath into the nation's pysche”: My Chutney Garden attends Panorama and offers a glimpse into the history of steel pan music.

Corruption in the Philippines

  10 February 2009

Rebelmind comments on the recent scuffle between World Bank officials and the Philippine government on the issue of corruption. “Whom to believe… is a no-brainer. It’s not that the World Bank is a bastion of integrity (usurers are not saints, right?); it’s just that the dollars used for the projects...

China: Worst Drought in 50 years

  9 February 2009

A worst drought in 50 years, affecting more than 12 provinces and more than 9.3m hectares, in northern China has hit 43% of the country's wheat crop. The Office of State Control and Drought Relief Headquarters warned that 3.7 million people and 1.85 million livestock had lost access to drinking...

Armenia: Tax Lottery

  8 February 2009

Unsuccessful with punitive measures to prevent widespread tax evasion, the government of ex-Soviet Armenia has introduced a monthly national lottery based on an 8-digit number found on the back of sale receipts. From increasing sales to encouraging male customers to hit on female shop assistants, bloggers think the initiative to make businesses accurately report sales and pay taxes has the potential to prove a win-win situation for everyone.

On Overseas Filipino Workers

  7 February 2009

That Word in Me reflects about Overseas Filipino Worker (OFWs). “OFWs are not heroes. They don’t work abroad so they can help ‘alleviate’ our country’s economic status by their remittances… There are very little jobs that can sustain an ordinary Filipino and I bet if he had a choice, he’d...

Cuba: Two Agendas

  6 February 2009

“The duality, in which we are caught between the official version and the on-the-street reality, also characterizes the demands emerging from this Island”: Generation Y blogs about Cuba's “two agendas”.

Haiti: Baie d'Orange

  5 February 2009

“Living in Haiti brings me face to face with the most urgent and painful result of our environmental crisis: the death of children and the elderly in a village where environmental degradation has led to poverty and starvation”: Konbit Pou Ayiti takes a trip to Baie d’Orange.

Ukraine: IMF “Problems”

  4 February 2009

Abdymok comments on the statement by the director of the IMF’s European Department: “you don’t have to be a genius to figure out that it’s a big risk to dole out billions of dollars to ukraine’s inept leaders. um, so . . . what, exactly, is the problem?”

Paraguay: Loofah and Plastic makes a home

  4 February 2009

Loofah gourd (luffa cylindrica) by Laura512 Paraguayan innovator Elsa Zaldívar has won the 2008 Rolex Award for Enterprise thanks to her project which consists of not only training women heads of households about processing the luffa cylindrica gourd to make bath scrubbies and sandals, but also in mixing the leftovers...

Brazil: “The police only advance when Globo [TV] is live”

  4 February 2009

A confrontation between police and the inhabitants of Paraisópolis, the second biggest slum in São Paulo, left four policemen and at least two people injured on the night of February 2nd, and has led to over 300 riot police occupying the slum. Bloggers compare the coverage by the media getting angry at the way the conflict has been reported.

Jamaica: Learning from Black History

  3 February 2009

As Jamaican blogger Stunner recognizes Black History Month, he says that “not just people of the black ethnic group, but everyone…can learn from these pages of history.”

Video: Vlogging for the Blind

  3 February 2009

A Bolivian activist explains how Open Source Software designed for the visually impaired helps him communicate online with chatting, emailing and blogging. Meanwhile, in Ethiopia, an organization trains the blind and those with visual disabilities on how to use computers and communication technologies, and an employee and advocate of the ENOVIB network for the blind speaks to youth about how blindness can be an opportunity instead of a disability. In Spain, a designer comes up with videogames that visually impaired people can play, and in Nigeria and Canada, a young woman blogs and vlogs about life as a deaf person who is rapidly losing her sight.