Global Voices and the Power of We · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Have you ever wondered how we at Global Voices do what we do? Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how the 700-plus members of our diverse, global and entirely virtual community pull together stories. Every day our section leaders, editors and volunteer authors and translators work together across borders, time zones and language barriers to amplify the best of citizen and social media, report on online freedom of expression and support others in joining the global conversation.
To kick off this year's holiday fundraising campaign, this breakdown of how one article came into being shows how the coordinated efforts of many people combine to make GV so unique.
October 23, 2012: João Miguel, from his home in Fortaleza, Brazil, e-mails his fellow volunteers on the Portuguese language team mailing list about an incident involving the Guaraní Kaiowá, the second largest indigenous ethnic group in Brazil, who are under threat of eviction from their ancestral lands in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Janet, in the UK, quickly writes up a short post in English, while six other members of the group in five different cities in Brazil, Portugal and Spain get to work researching the story.
October 24, 2012: Sara, Global Voices’ Portuguese language editor, publishes the story in Portuguese in collaboration with Diego, Elisa, João Miguel, Luís and Raphael.
October 25, 2012: Janet begins translating the piece into English, leaning on our Multilingual Editor Paula in London and João Miguel in Fortaleza for help with subtitling the embedded video. The English version is sent to the sub-editor mailing list, where it's picked up by Kevin in Melbourne, Australia. Kevin proofreads the post, and it's published on the Global Voices in English site.
In just a few hours, nine people on three continents, five countries and seven cities have collaborated to spread the story of “The Cry of Resistance of the Guarani Kaiowa” to the world in Portuguese and English.
October 26, 2012: Ines translates the post into French.
October 31, 2012: Cristina, Mario and Gabriela translate the post into Catalán, German and Spanish, respectively.
November 2, 2012: Giulia translates the post into Italian.
Right now, other Global Voices teams are doing exactly the same, across borders and time zones and languages, to amplify important citizen-driven stories the mainstream media doesn't have the time or interest to cover.
We're thankful for the funding we receive from the foundations who've supported us over the years, but in order to keep doing what we do, and to stay independent, free and sustainable, we also depend on the generous support of independent friends and readers like you. Your donations help cover the cost of server space, administrative costs, our microgrant programs and Global Voices staff.
This holiday season, please consider a gift to Global Voices.
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