Stories about Development from September, 2009
Barbados: listening to Chalkdust
The Bajan Reporter attends a lecture on “Calypso and Crime” by Trinidadian calypsonian Chalkdust, and files a report. “In the Question & Answer section, I got a chance to ask if Bloggers and Calypsonians serve the same purpose in showing problems and solutions few would dare touch normally.”
Barbados: Clean-Up Day
Living in Barbados reports on Barbados Clean-Up Day, when volunteers collected garbage from the island's beaches. “How many meals on plastic plates? How many cups of soda in plastic cups? … I have no idea what figures to put to these questions but they still went through my head as...
Bolivia: 43rd Anniversary of “Constructing Progress” in Santa Cruz
Andrés Pucci celebrates the 43rd anniversary since Santa Cruz, Bolivia “began constructing progress” [es] with the 11% of revenue sharing given to the 9 departments, which was 21 years after the law was passed.
Africa: Samasource puts Africa's digiratti to work
TMS Ruge blogs about efforts by Samasource to put Africa’s Rising Digiratti to work.
Georgia: Radisson SAS Iveria Hotel
LJ user cyxymu writes about (RUS) and posts photos of Tbilisi's Iveria Hotel, which was built in the mid-1960s, housed refugees in the 1990s (and was “the symbol of Georgia's shame” then) and has recently re-opened as Radisson SAS Iveria Hotel.
Barbados: tourism focus
Barbados Free Press asks if the country's tourism authorities are paying enough attention to potential visitors in the Americas. “We’re chasing after the Chinese market which is fine, but why should we be ignoring a substantial market that is much much closer?”
Guyana: “many waters”?
What happens when drought hits the “land of many waters”? Guyana-Gyal wonders. “A rice-farmer living in my mother childhood village say that the water in the artesian well is running rusty. Rust. The colour of blood drying.”
Afghanistan: New Blog in Kunar
Joshua Foust writes that the Kunar Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan has a blog with news and some great pictures.
Peru: Looming Problem of the Inambari Hydroelectric Power Station
A 4-billion dollar hydroelectric power station is planned for the Peruvian Amazon, which will provide energy to neighboring Brazil. However, there is concern how the construction will affect the Amazon and other parts of the country.
Trinidad and Tobago: budget “daggering”?
Writer Attillah Springer blogs her most recent newspaper column, comparing the Trinidad and Tobago government's annual budget presentation with the violent “daggering” trend in dancehall music.
Jamaica: development or destruction?
Snailwriter reports on the illegal bulldozing of an area of forest near Jamaica's sensitive Martha Brae River. “The situation … well illustrates why the destruction of Jamaica's natural resources continues unabated.”
Cuba: no substitute for beauty
“The economic crisis in Cuba forced us to find substitutes for almost everything, including cosmetics.” Generation Y reflects on the sacrifices ordinary Cubans once made “in their desire to look more beautiful.”
Sri Lanka: 1000 XO Laptops Deployed In 9 Schools
OLPC Lanka Foundation is working with the Ministry of Education of Sri Lanka and the World Bank to deploy 1000 XO laptops in 9 schools of nine provinces of Sri Lanka. Danishka posts some photos of the OLPC installation in Sri Lanka.
Françafrique casts shadow in Gabon, Madagascar, and Mauritania
Recent violence in Gabon and Madagascar, and a contested election in Mauritania, have added fuel to the idea that France 's influence looms large in the political arenas of her former African colonies, where it still has wide-ranging political and economic interests.
Russia: Okhta Tower
St Petersblurb posts an update on Gazprom’s Okhta Tower controversy.
Ukraine: Prices, Earnings and iPods
Ukrainiana cites this year's Prices and Earnings report by UBS, Europe's second-largest bank: “On average, it takes 82 hrs of work to buy an iPod Nano in Kyiv, compared to 10.5 hrs in Toronto, 9 hrs in New York, 36 hrs in Moscow and 45.5 hrs in Warsaw.”
Bangladesh: New Paradigm Of Microcredit
Unheard Voice suggests a new paradigm of microcredit: “The agenda of development through microcredit should move from ‘microcredit-as-the-goal model’ to ‘microcredit-as-the-means model.’ The latter essentially looks at microcredit as the means to other development goals that can generate long-term economic growth.”
China: How artistic these buildings are!
MOP forum posted a number of photos on some newly constructed residential buildings in Guangzhou. From a far, one can see some “artistic” white pattern. When getting a closer look, their are all cracks. These buildings have all passed the quality check.
China: Are syringe attacks terrorism?
Fresh protests broke out in Xinjiang this week following news that Uighurs had been attacking people with syringe needles. Is this terrorism? Why resort to a tactic like this? Just some of the questions being asked of the autonomous region, still disconnected from the Internet after two months.
Translator of the week: Boukary Konaté in Mali
Boukary Konaté teaches French and English in a high school in Mali. Joining Global Voices in French has steered him onto a new path: he is now involved in Web projects to promote his native language, Bambara, and train rural communities in Mali to use the internet.
Morocco: Bastard Modernization
eatbees assesses the modernization of Morocco and posts a conversation between himself and a reader.
