Stories about Humanitarian Response from May, 2011
Haiti: A Different View of Cite Soleil
“We want to showcase local talents, and change the image of the youth in Cite Soleil. We want to get people planting again and eating Haitian food”: Throwing Down the Water profiles “a neighborhood committee called ‘La Difference’ [which] formed a movement to clean up their few blocks” and is...
Syria: Light a Candle for Syria
Musician Devin Rhode shared a video entitled Light a Candle for Syria, where we can see touching footage of some major events of the uprising continuing in the country for more than two months. Writing about the objective behind the clip, Rhode says: “I hope this becomes a good tool...
China: Old Woman Performed Self-surgery
Jacky Huang from China Hush translates a local news story about an old woman self-performed a surgery by slitting her belly because she was unable to pay for hospital fee.
Serbia: Arrest of Ratko Mladic
Ratko Mladic, former Bosnian Serb military leader was arrested today by police in Serbia, the country's president, Boris Tadic, confirmed on national television. General Mladic has been on the run since 1995 facing charges of genocide for his role as Bosnian Serb military commander during the 1992-95 civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Japan: Aiding the Aid Workers
After more than two months from the earthquake around 110,000 people are still living in evacuation centers. Along with victims of the disaster, some of the volunteers, doctors and aid workers helping them are beginning to suffer from emotional stress and fatigue.
India: A Day In The Life Of A Beggar
Vanillasense recreates a day in the life of a beggar in India.
Kyrgyzstan: KIC reports stirs controversial responses
Marat Sartpaev analyzes the reaction of Kyrgyzstani establishment and society to the report by International Inquiry Commission on the inter-ethnic conflict that took place in June 2010.
China: editorial on 2008 earthquake blacked out
China Media Project has translated an editorial from liberal newspaper Southern Metropolis Daily commemorating the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. The piece, which featured references to detained artist Ai Weiwei, who had attempted to investigate the deaths of children and collapse of school buildings in the disaster, was removed from the newspaper's website...
Russia: Opposition Blogger's Trial Starts After a Year of Detention
Caucasian Knot reports on [ru] Alauddin (Aleksey) Dudko's trial that started only on May 10, 2011, year after his arrest. Dudko (LJ-user ingushetiya_ru), opposition blogger, had been charged with drug and explosives possession. Dudko's lawyers claim, police set him up in order to prevent his blogging activity. According to the...
Italy: How technology can help manage emergencies
In a crisis, how can Web 2.0 be of use to social movements and what practical help can it offer to facilitate collective action? In reality, there is no shortage of platforms which, established on a voluntary basis, using free software, harness the internet and mobile phones to gather and share information, sourced...
Cote d'Ivoire: An Aid Worker Diary
Oxfam aid worker, Charles Bambara, describes his journey through war-torn Côte d'Ivoire, visiting communities of displaced people. He says people are in urgent need of food and sanitation in overcrowded shelters.
India: The Poor And Their Poverty
Atanu Dey opines that the people who are best equipped to address poverty are those who are not just good academically but have tons of empathy — the ability to imagine how it must feel to be very poor. What do you think?
