Latest posts by Juliana Rincón Parra from February, 2009
Video: Community Radios Fill the Information Gap
In a highly globalized and digitalized world, sometimes we may forget that in many regions of the world, not even electricity is available, and the possibility of using internet as an alternative information source is still a distant dream. It is in locations like Guatemala, Chad and India that community radio rises as the alternative for native communities to speak about their concerns, hear news and stories, receive information and all this in their native languages.
Colombia: Restrictions and Curfew in Medellín
In Medellín, Colombia, Juan David Escobar is critical about the new restrictions for male passengers on motorcycles and a city-wide curfew for bars outside of designated areas [es]. He points out that in spite of what the government has been saying over the past 10 years about the arrival of...
Chile: NGO for Victims of Delinquency Brings Together Citizens
The NGO Víctimas de la Delincuencia [es] (Victims of Delinquency) was created in Chile's capital city of Santiago in 2006 to protect, guide and inform the victims of violence in this city. On their website, citizens have been marking episodes of violence (muggings, assault, robbery, rape and abuse) on a map, uploading videos and testimony of when and how they were victimized. The organization's goal is enable the changing of laws in Chile, which so far, according to Víctimas de la Delincuencia, tend to benefit delinquents instead of their victims.
Costa Rica: Twitter and Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Users of the Twitter in Costa Rica have been tuning in to the local version of the television program “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” With the tag #qqsm, they have been microblogging about the program, chatting and discussing the questions and even seeking answers to the questions that stump them.
Sudan: Video Declarations on Darfur Genocide by the Perpetrators
A video recently released by Aegis Trust shows the testimony of four men who state they actively participated in the violence and massacres on Darfur, and who are not afraid to call it genocide. The video was uploaded on The Hub and it is hoped that people will see it and then pass it on to others in order to spread this information.
Paraguay: Loofah and Plastic makes a home
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...
Video: Vlogging for the Blind
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.
