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Global Voices in Spanish [2] is interested in encouraging blogging and promoting blogger networks, and is currently doing so through its ‘Festivales de Blogs [3]‘ (Blog Carnivals) [es]. The Carnival helps generate original content with a certain level of reflection and analysis, and participating bloggers can at the same time benefit greatly from the visibility their work gains by being referenced on Global Voices (GV). Let's look at the details of this new Carnival:
Scope: Nicaragua
As the geographic base and center of our second 2011 Blog Carnival, GV has chosen Nicaragua [4], a Central American country that frequently does not receive adequate media coverage. In Nicaragua [5] we have a number of collaborators and blogger friends who this time were the ones who took full responsibility for this virtual event.
Although most bloggers, and the best known, are located in Managua [6], we also expect participation from bloggers from other cities. Furthermore, due to the Carnival's topic (migration) we expect Nicaraguan bloggers living abroad to also participate.
We would like to clarify that participation is not restricted to Nicaraguan bloggers or blogs that are dedicated exclusively to the topic indicated in the following paragraph – any blog and blogger living in Nicaragua can participate.
Topic: Migration
As in many Latin American countries, migration is present from the beginning of Nicaragua's history; from the first indigenous groups who reached the territory, the African slaves who arrived to the Nicaraguan Caribbean coast and the Spanish who founded cities, to the Chinese, the Dutch, and the English pirates who occupied the territory to hide.
Migration is an important phenomenon in the country due to war and military conflicts that led to emigration for survival and political reasons: frequent earthquakes, hurricanes, and volcanic eruptions have also led to internal migration. Even economic reasons have influenced personal decisions to migrate.
What are the stories behind the people who migrate? The drama families experience is incremented by the migration of mothers and parents. Children and adolescents grow up without adult care, and some children also migrate to work and help their families.
What impact is the constant migration of Nicaraguans having on the country's social fabric? 7 in 10 young Nicaraguans say they want to leave the country; 26.9% of Nicaraguan professionals live abroad and will continue to leave the country because there are no signs of economic improvement through work. What is being discussed about this issue on the Nicaraguan blogosphere?
Participation:
This time the weight of the Carnival has been assumed by a group [7] [es] of enthusiastic Nicaraguan bloggers, who invited their peers to blog about the proposed topic from September 1-10, 2011. However, as in previous versions of the carnival, any Nicaraguan blogger can participate by posting a post on migration in Nicaragua on his or her own blog. The post has to be original; in other words, written by the blogger, not copied from another source. The structure, style and extent of the post fall under the blogger's discretion.
This group of volunteers has created a blog [8] [es] for the festival, and they are actively using social networks like Facebook [9] and Twitter, where you can follow the Carnival with the hashtags #BlogsNi [10] and #Migración.
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At the end of the period of participation we will proceed to arrange and summarize the participating posts in order to publish a summary post for Global Voices. Depending on the amount of participation we will be able to quote posts or not, this is mainly due to reasons of space. Any questions may be directed here [12]. You can see results from our previous Blog Carnivals in Colombia [13], Ecuador [14], Venezuela [15], Peru [16], and Mexico [17].
Note: This is not a competition, therefore there will be no winners or losers. It is about looking for contributions, collaborations and testimonies on the proposed topic, in order to develop a broad, varied and updated picture on the topic.
We look forward to your support, collaboration and participation!