Global Voices Online » 2008 » February

Stories

Inmates use blogs to start a reform of society

Rezwan · 19:44

lingua → pt · zht · zhs · es

Originally published on Rising Voices.

The concept of prison diaries is not new. Back in 2001 National Public Radio in the U.S. recorded an intimate portrait of five inmates behind bars using audio journals. British best-selling novelist Jeffrey Archer wrote a three volume memoir called Prison Diaries which was later converted into a play. Last year celebrity Paris Hilton also wrote a brief account of her days in prison.

But what we are talking about here is completely different from all of the above.

Rising Voices second round grantee Prison Diaries, based in Jamaica, will use citizen media tools like blogs, video and podcasts to share the daily journals of prison inmates, allowing all Jamaicans to learn about the realities of Jamaica’s overcrowded prison system with the hope that this will help counteract false ideas generated by the mainstream media.

(Image: CrimsonNinjagirl from Flickr -used under creative commons license)

It all started in 1999 with the S.E.T. Foundation, an inmate driven transformative program that has been successfully reducing the rate of recidivism in Jamaica’s prisons through reform of Jamaican society at its most grassroots level. Through S.E.T., the inmate becomes a constructive player who can contribute meaningfully to society, while the community, in turn, gains a new citizen who can contribute to the process of restorative transformation and economic growth.

Its leader Kevin Wallen describing his vision, writes, “I closed my eyes for a moment and when I opened them I found myself in hell and this is what it looked like, this is what I saw. In order for us to turn this back into the paradise it is is not difficult at all, it’s simply all for one and one for all.”

Kevin Wallen has been doing notable work using motivational workshops within the penal institutions. Jamaica's law and order situation has deteriorated in recent times and it has been branded internationally as the ‘murder capital of the world.’

Kevin points out the goal of the Prison Diaries project:

Much of Jamaica’s culture of crime has been blamed on the popular veneration of gang leaders. The project will attempt to confront this ‘badboy veneration' by training current prison inmates to blog and podcast.

In their introductory post on the Rising Voices project blog for Prison Diaries Kevin writes:

The S.E.T. Prison Diaries project will allow inmates and ex-inmates to tell their stories so that a greater understanding of the experiences, social and economic conditions which compel them to engage in criminal activities can be recorded and utilized as an authoritative source for studying criminology and designing rehabilitative programs regionally and internationally.

The inmates will primarily generate their own content with the training they have received through the S.E.T program. They will record and edit audio and video clips and these will be uploaded to our blog and accessed by the general public.

More ideas are coming up from the Prison Diaries team:

For those persons who have told their stories on paper and may not want to do a audio or video interview, we have decided to do dramatic readings of their stories which the inmates themselves will edit using the skills they have learnt.

You can learn more about the Prison Diaries project from their recently published press release. Already a few stories have been recorded and will be published soon. We are eager to read the diaries of the inmates. Please keep an eye on the Prison Diaries Blog or subscribe to its RSS feed.

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Jordan: Wikipedia and Prophet Muhammad

Amira Al Hussaini · 18:14

lingua → es · zht · zhs

Another storm is brewing in the Arab world regarding the depiction of Prophet Muhammad in drawings after Wikipedia refused the demands of more than 180,000 people who called for the illustrations to be removed.

According to the Guardian:

More than 180,000 worldwide have joined an online protest claiming the images, shown on European-language pages and taken from Persian and Ottoman miniatures dating from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, are offensive to Islam, which prohibits any representation of Muhammad. But the defiant editors of the encyclopaedia insist they will not bow to pressure and say anyone objecting to the controversial images can simply adjust their computers so they do not have to look at them. The images at the centre of the protest appear on most of the European versions of the web encyclopaedia, though not on Arabic sites.

Roba Al Assi, from Jordan, announces her support for Wikipedia, drawing a barrage of comments from readers. Roba explains her stance saying:

History doesn’t just belong to modern-day Muslims, especially if it is related to Islam as done by Muslims of other centuries. After all, modern-day Muslims are a very, very small part of all the Muslims in history, and these modern-day Muslims have absolutely no right to try to negate the history of Islam’s other Muslims.

Historical negation aside, these images were taken from Islamic manuscripts intended to actually SPREAD Islam by using images when most people in the world did not know how to write or read. That actually makes them a pretty lofty cause as far as Islam is concerned, because they did manage to convert some Berber, Persian, and East Asians to Islam.

Commenting on the post, Abed Hamdan writes:

The historical manuscript you claim says that Muslims used pictures of the prophet to “SPREAD” Islam. I still don’t understand how pictures of the prophet would be used to SPREAD Islam.

FYI, in Islam the sketching of human figures is forbidden. That was in Islam, a rule, since the dawn of Islam. “Modern Muslims” didn’t make it up, because Islam didn’t changed since then. Quran hasn’t been tampered with since then.

FYI, “SPREADING Islam” is not the actual duty of a Muslim, “explaining Islam” and “showing Islam” to other cultures IS the responsibility of Muslims. After having this right granted, “SHOWING ISLAM”, then it’s up to people to take it or not. And showing pictures will not spread Islam or any religion. Even if it does, then it’s not allowed in Islam.

So if Wikipedia is showing these pictures of the holy prophet, then it gives a false image about how Islam was “SPREAD”. Even if some “modern Muslims” find it convenient, this doesn’t change the Islamic law.

(…)

I like Wikipedia, but as an honest Muslim it’s very obvious that this is not the correct view of Islam. Islam is different that Christianity in this sense, and to each his own.

He further adds in a follow up comment:

If the pictures are part of a history, then they should be referred to as a history not as a part of Islam as a religion. Some Muslims could’ve used these images, but this is against Islamic rules. So for the sake of intellectual honesty, it must be removed from anything related to Islam, and must be put in context of mentioning those groups who used those images.

Egyptian Sandmonkey tunes into the argument. In his response to Hamdan, he remarks:

I find it hard to believe that the muslims of the 14th and 15th century were less islamic than their 21st century counterparts, to the degree that that they would commit such a “blasphemous act” as to picture the prophet in art, when we, the good muslims of the 21st century, like to burn embassies and kill people when others do that same thing.

(…)

Here is what I propose though: Wikipedia removed the pics from the arabic version, but are keeping them in the english one. Those pictures, whether you agree to them or don’t, belong to the human heritage at this point, and neither you, nor I, nor anyone, have the right to remove them just because we don’t like them anymore or they don’t fit in our current set of beliefs. And even if the entire world turns muslim and believes that those pictures should be removed, rest assured that me, or someone like me, will tell all of them that they can’t. Burning books, removing images, or destroying graven idols of other religions is the stuff of the dark ages. It’s a national shame that such thinking is allowed to exist till today.

A Western By Stander also weighs in, writing:

Why is there a prohibition against having pictures of the Prophet Mohamed?

From my reading of the Koran, it appears to me that Prophet Mohamed did not want be prayed to as an intermediary, as was a common practice in the Eastern Orthodox Church at the time with Christians Saints, Mary and Jesus. Since only God should be worshiped and prayed to, he was preempting the Icons and the practices associated with them.

The Prophet Mohamed stated he was not better than any other prophet such as Noah or Abraham. I felt he was saying – “it’s the message, not the messenger,” or in more colloquial terms “I’m like a telephone. You wouldn’t worship the telephone, would you?”

If this is the case, I think he would be horrified that someone would kill somebody for making a drawing of him, because that would be elevating him to a position that he was trying to avoid.

More on the issue could be found on this Wikipedia page. According to the site:

There has not been an original argument against the showing of the pictures in well over a year. Every point brought up on this page has been discussed in the past to the point of exhaustion and time and time again we have decided the pictures are appropriate.

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Ecuador: Government Declares Emergency Due to Flooding

Milton Ramirez · 17:10

lingua → zht · zhs

Picture under Creative Commons License and published by Mikelos

Recently the Ecuadorian government wrote a decree, which declares a National Emergency in Ecuador due to heavy flooding in various regions. This decision was made in order to protect and provide assistance to Ecuadorians, as the previous declaration made on January 31 only included certain regions particularly on the coast. Tungurahua was one of these provinces that were declared in emergency because of activities of the Tungurahua volcano but, President Correa signed the document backed by 47th Article of the Ecuadorian Constitution and declared the emergency not for the eruption of the volcano, but for the heavy rains across the country.

Ecuadorian bloggers, of course, are following the events and here a roundup of what are they thinking:

Gaby Salas [es], for example, quotes the article 5 of the government's decree and explains what should be the course of actions for all involved:

Se declara la Movilización Militar, Civil y Económica en todo el territorio nacional en todos los Frentes de Acción de la Seguridad Nacional, de todos los bienes, servicios, empresas, industrias y alojamientos que deban prestar su colaboración para superar la presente emergencia, para lo cual se autoriza al Jefe del Comando Conjunto de las Fuerzas Armadas que determine todas las movilizaciones que sean necesarias y emita las directivas para la ejecución de los trabajos de todas persona natural o jurídica, nacional o extranjera. Eso siginifica, que todos quienes estamos en el país en algún momento dado tendremos que ayudar en todas las formas a quienes estan sufriendo por motivos invernales.

Military, Civil and Economic Mobilization is declared throughout the country on all action fronts of the National Security in regards to all goods, services, companies, industries and accommodations that must cooperate to overcome this emergency, which has been authorized by the Chief of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, who will determine the necessary mobilizations and issue instructions for those people, national or foreign, to carry out this work. This means that all who are in the country at any given time will have to help in every way to those who are suffering from this weather.

Ciudadanía Informada [es] echoes what's going on in Ecuador and summarizes the list of benefits delivered by the government to those affected:

El Presidente Correa manifestó que los afectados por las inundaciones que reciben el Bono de Desarrollo Humano podrán acceder al “Bono de la Emergencia”, para lo cual trabaja el Ministerio de Inclusión Social en el levantamiento de datos. El bono es de USD90 que serán entregados en dos partes la primera que será de USD45 en los próximos días y la segunda en el mes de marzo por la misma cantidad “para que puedan disminuir en algo la crítica situación en la que se encuentran”, acotó el mandatario. Los agricultores que han perdido su ganado y cultivos serán beneficiados con el “Bono de Emergencia Agropecuaria” el mismo que les permitirá acceder a semillas y fertilizantes gratuitos, una vez pasada la emergencia. A esto se suma la entrega de nuevos créditos a través del Banco Ecuatoriano de Fomento. El mandatario destacó que los municipios podrán utilizar los dineros que el Estado entregó como parte de su presupuesto normal, pues el decreto suscrito permite que estos fondos sean utilizados en acciones de emergencia “y todo se les repondrá, no se les perjudicará en dos reales de su presupuesto normal”.

President Correa said that those affected by the floods, who receive the voucher of Human Development may access the “Bond of Emergency”, and the Ministry of Social Inclusion will work to collect information. The 90-dollar bond will be delivered in two parts, the first of 45 dollars to be hand out in the coming days and the second in March in the same amount “to diminish the critical situation in which they find themselves,” said the President. Farmers who have lost their livestock and crops will benefit from the “Emergency Agricultural Bond” which will allow them to access free seeds and fertilizers, after the emergency. In addition, new credits will be provided through the Development Bank of Ecuador. The government's representative stressed that the municipalities may use the money from their normal budgets, as the decree allows these funds to be used for emergency actions “and everything will be reimbursed, it won't affect not even two cents of their normal budget. “

To show the cruel realities in which some people from the Ecuadorian Litoral have faced, El Blog de Naranjal [es] writes an extensive report about Naranjal, an area of Guayas province and the intervention of the local Red Cross:

El desbordamiento de los ríos Bulu-Bulu y Cañar, invadieron extensas zonas agrícolas del sector. Los muros de contención cedieron ante el impresionante volumen de su caudal. El nivel de la cota llego a 46, (el límite tolerable es 36). La población de las zonas inundadas se vio afectada, ya que se registraron en algunos sectores 3 metros de inundación, perdiendo sus pertenencias. Por fortuna no hubo pérdida de vidas humanas.

The overflow of the rivers Bulu-Bulu and Cañar, invaded large areas of the agricultural sector. The retaining walls buckled under the impressive volume of the flow. The level of water hit the 46 cm (the tolerable limit is 36). The population of flooded areas was affected, and in some sectors there was 3 meters of flooding. They lost their belongings. Fortunately there was not loss of life.

Secular groups started preparing early for this kind of situation in Ecuador, considering that it is a cycle Ecuadorians have to live with every year when winter arrives. This is what is being reported by E-zine SUD [es] page, where Ecuadorians are finding ways to remain alert. One of the rescue workers said, “it is better to prevent, than to lament.”

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Syria: The Changing Face of Syria

Yazan Badran · 14:27

lingua → es · ar · zht · zhs

Syria, is a country that is still “officially” considered a Socialist country. The socialist policies in Syria date all the way back to 1958, when Egypt and Syria formed the United Arab Republic, under the leadership of Gamal Abd el-Nasser. It was a very short lived republic that ended in 1961 but which marked the turn of Syrian politics and economy into the socialist thinking. That continued after the Baath party took power in the March 8th coup d'etat. But all that is changing now.
After president Bashar Assad was elected in 2000, a lot of changes took place, shifting the economy into more liberal free-market thinking. Damascus is in a process of transformation. A construction boom is in place, and the financial judicial structure is being reformed and revisited. In many ways Syria is going through the Egypt model of transformation from socialist economy to a free market economy. And Damascus, is more and more starting to look like Cairo. That includes the widening gap between the rich and the poor.

Wassim laments the changing face of Damascus and Syria in this post,

There is a lot of Gulf money pouring into Damascus, a lot of investment and much being said about new “malls”, apartments and what not. You get the eyesore which is the Four Seasons hotel charging prices most Syrians would never see in a lifetime of work, I mentioned already the 600 lira cup of coffee. There are the $900 pairs of jeans on sale, the latest mobile phones and cars, the trendy night clubs and restaurants and bars. But if we are disappointed that this isn't really developing the country we miss the point. It's not about ordinary Syrians, it's not even about development. It's about siphoning off the money in Syria and prostituting her ‘real' wealth gradually. The wealthy elites who made their money through corruption or smuggling might not have had anywhere to spend it but Beirut and abroad in the old days, but today, they can spend their money on anything they fancy right at home in Syria.

One of the many examples of where this new money is going, is the construction boom Syria has been witnessing. But, if you think it is one about infrastructure of affordable housing, then think again. The new construction boom is focused on new shopping malls, luxury housing projects on the outskirts of cities, like Aleppo's Cordoba Hills, or the much talked about, Damascus's Eighth Gate. Alex introduces us to this new project on Joshua Landis' blog, here:

Emaar Properties and IGO, the offshore investment and property development company, unveiled details of a joint venture that sets in motion plans to develop a mixed use furnished apartments, commercial and retail development in the Yafour area, approximately 15 minutes from the center of Damascus. The US$500 million project will recreate the luxury and style that are features of Emaar’s world-class Dubai developments.

The post has attracted a large amount of comments, many of them question how many Syrians are actually going to be able to enjoy such a luxurious project while others note that the project will help provide job opportunities and lift the Soviet-style architecture that Damascus has suffered from for the last four decades.

This is what Sasa had to say about the Eighth Gate:

Have no doubt, this will change the face of Damascus. Damascus in the wider sense - not the Old City, not even the New City. But Damascus and its environs. I'm not sure I am completely behind this. There seem to be too many penthouses and not enough affordable housing (building a certain proportion of affordable housing was a condition for granting Emaar a licence to build this development).

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Kenyan Bloggers Outline Political Solutions

Rebecca Wanjiku · 12:28

As the dust blown by fleeing residents of Kenya's violence prone areas settles, the fires of political hatred are finally subsiding and leaders are coming to their senses.

From the high street cafes to the dark alleys in Nairobi's river road (down town), Kenyans can be heard discussing what former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan should prescribe as the compromise. There are voices of hope and optimism as well as prophets of doom who see the current exercise as mere puppetry. The role of the international community has also been discussed accross the divide.

This situation is also reflected in the blogosphere.

Kenyan Entreprenuer gives their take on news about what the opposition wants from the talks and sums up that President Kibaki will not agree to the demands:

Finally, some news is beginning to trickle out about what ODM is looking for in it’s talks with the government. There’s no way in hell Kibaki is going to agree to these stipulations, which are:

An Executive Prime Minister who’d be the head of government and share power with the president

-A two-year period to review the constitution before a re-run of the election
-Half of all the cabinet positions should go to ODM
-Civil service jobs should also be distributed proportionally (which really means “ethnically”)

I don’t think Koffi Annan fully grasps the historical roots of Kenya’s current crisis. I don’t think he understands the players involved (both on the government side and on the opposition side) and at this point, Kibaki needs to find a way to spare Annan the public embarrassment and allow him to leave the country gracefully (I have no idea what Graça Machel and Mkapa are doing or why they were even invited).

Power sharing is the biggest stumbling block to the peace deal. Kumekucha feels that power sharing is not coming soon:

Sharing power is fraught with its own unique dynamics. Things can be so unpredictable once the interim administration acquires a life of its own. Imagining such a development must be scaring the octogenarians who detest anything seen to upset their glittering status quo. They are home with life as defined in their secluded comfort far away from the average Kenyans.

Kenya remains a bleeding hostage to tribal elite whose only common ideology is nationalized BIGOTRY. In the eyes of these owners of Kenya any attempt to empower the hollo polloi would be akin to sharpening the very knife whose blades they will be forced to kiss. In the eye of their twisted minds they must keep any trace and smell of blood from the sharks’ path.

Eyes on Kenya feels that the optimism is contageous and soon peace will prevail:

This optimism is contagious and is slowly affecting me. However, I still retain that a lot has to be considered and changed within the political environment between those involved and Kenyans in general. This is based on an analysis of the facts surrounding the nature and evolution of political parties in post-independence Kenya.

After a detailed analysis of the political crisis, the post concludes:
Kenya needs a fresh start in conceiving, feeding and maturing political parties that differentiated from each other in terms of ideology, a critical fact that would take them away from the current ethno-based party quagmire they are entrenched into. We need political parties not ethno-representatives.

The role of the international community has equally been controversial.wherethemadwomanresides opines about where/why the International Community comes in:

I’m very cross with Mwai Kibaki, Raila Odinga and their respective hardline surrogates today, for putting us in this position where the “International Community” have all the excuse they need to swagger into our sovereignty and order us around.

Because Condi, Milliband, and that tall German whatsisname guy with an unkempt moustache would not be all up in our faces being patronizing if Kenya's erstwhile leaders just left their mountain-sized egos outside the negotiating room and got their acts together already. We want back our country and our pride. Give us back our country and our pride.

Kenya Imagine sees USA's involvement as motivated by the global war on terror:

The State Department at first congratulated President Mwai Kibaki on his re-election but later rescinded as European Union and other observers reported irregularities in the vote-count. Since then, the Bush administration has been trying not to take sides in the election dispute and his Ambassador taken unofficial role as the Spokesperson for the entire International community pressuring Kenya's political elite to come to a compromise. To America, it is unfathomable that one of its most reliable and crucial partners in the “war against terror” was going to crumble in its lap.

The US is concerned about the security ramifications in the Greater Horn of Africa which it has been trying to hold together. A quick look at the map of Eastern Africa gives America little solace. Somalia is in anarchy with a multitude of warlords and radical Islamists, Sudan is involved in the Darfur war and Ethiopia is near war with Eritrea, which the US accuses of sponsoring terrorism. Between the grim sketches is Kenya, America's hope in the region which is now teetering on the verge of instability.

Kenya's political situation unravels at a time when the 2008 US defence budget has substantially increased reinforcing the Bush administration's persistence that its long “war on terror” will remain at the centre of its security strategy. The core budget for 2008 is expected to be $481.4 billion, compared with $441.5 billion for 2006. In raw terms, the US defence budget is now at similar levels to those during the height of the cold war in the mid-1980s.

Sir Ken wonders whether Annan should have integrated some known Kenyan mediators into his peace team:

He failed to search and incorporate ‘eminent' Kenyans in his team and assumed that no Kenyan could have helped resolve the impasse. The truth of the matter is that the resolution lies with Kenyans and a spice of Kenyan mediation leadership could have helped. A good starting point would have been Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat, Rtd General Lazarus Sumbeiywo, Washington Okumu and representatives from religious, legal, business and civil society. If the two sides could not have greed on common Kenyan mediation leaders they would have been allowed to nominate their own. Such leaders would have provided good background of the crisis and co-chaired/moderated the sessions to lead to a Kenyan solution that would most likely be accepted by a majority of Kenyans.

The constitutional review in Kenya has been pending since 1992. There has been many midwives to a new constitutional regime but nothing yet. This constitutional complications are threatening to derail the peace process.

Sir Ken explains:

There has been debate whether there is a constitutional crisis in Kenya that allows for the current constitution to be altogether suspended or selectively applied as some have been advocating. It is true that Kenyans have always wanted a new constitution dispensation. The assumption has always been that the current constitution be in place fully until the new one is enacted. At no one time have Kenyans envisaged a transition period where there is no constitution, new or old. The question is, should at that point, the military be allowed to take over?

Kenyan Jurist gives an opinion about the constitutional issues:

The reason there is negotiation or mediation to resolve the current political crisis is because the constitution and the present institutions have failed us. To adopt a purely legalistic stance, that all negotiation must take place within the confines of the current constitution is to negotiate without negotiating. As I have always argued in this blog, the current crisis facing Kenya is not a legal problem but a political one. Once a political settlement of all issues is reached, the necessary legal instruments including the constitution can be enacted and given legal force. What we must not do or what we must avoid is use the law or place legal impediments in seeking solutions.

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Are languages free? Thoughts on the International Mother Language day

Rezwan · 09:17

lingua → es

Today is the International Mother Language Day, an annual event in UNESCO member states to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. This is mostly the international recognition of the Language Movement Day called ‘Ekushey February', which is commemorated in Bangladesh since 1952. The date of 21st February was chosen in homage to a number of ‘language martyrs' from Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) who were shot on 21st February 1952 in Dhaka, during public protest. They were demonstrating to establish their mother language Bangla as a national language along with Urdu, which was chosen as the sole official language in the then newly created Pakistan.

Shaheed Minar

Photo: Shaheed Minar, a solemn and symbolic sculpture erected in the place of the massacre. The monument is the symbol of Bangladesh Nationalism.

How important is the mother language?

Our mother tongue is more than a language, a soul inside us. It is an armory of the human mind; an archive of the history. We invent the world through language.

Mrunalini feats her mother tongue Telugu:

“How sweet our languages are, how proud they make us. How much we miss talking in our mother tongue. Especially, when we are away from it.”

Ripon Kumar Biswas in Bangladesh watchdog says:

“Mother tongue is the language of nature, which is intimately related to the individual because it is structured and upheld by local laws of nature, which structure the physiology of the individual.”

But it is even more than that. “One does not inhabit a country; one inhabits a language. That is our country, our fatherland –and no other;” said E. M. Cioran, the Rumanian-born French Philosopher.

That is why some times we see nationalism sparking in the world based on languages and language matters!

The freedom of languages in the world:

Thousands of local languages used as the daily means of expression are absent from education systems, the media, publishing and the public domain in general because of state policies.

We learn better in our mother tongue when it is taught in school (Mother tongue Dilemma –UNESCO News letter). But this is not the case of all minority languages. 476 million of world’s illiterate people speak minority languages and live in countries where children are mostly not taught in their mother language.

From Southern Azerbaijan under Iranian rule BayBak, Voice of a Nation says:

“It is more than 80 years that Iranian Fars authority has banned other nationalities language, such as Turks (majority in Iran), Arabs, Baluchs, Turkmens and Kurds. Every year in 21st of February all nationalities celebrate the International Mother Language Day named by UNESCO. But as before, of the day of celebration Iranian police will ride on the crowd and will arrest many.

Regarding news from Southern Azerbaijan, preparations for the 21st of February are continuing widely compare to last year. Also thousands of flyers been spread in Azerbaijan’s major cities. Capital Tebriz has been well prepared and the time for demonstration been set.”

The Unesco Courier:

Several thousand years old, the Ainu language spoken in northern Japan was dying out due to political pressure from the central government. At the end of the 20th century, this trend was reversed. While Ainu’s future is still not guaranteed because it isn’t taught in schools, the resurgence of interest is undeniable.

Sid writes in Picked Politics:

“International Mother Language Day deserves celebration in Zambia. The country has worked hard to establish and maintain political unity over the years. But as other societies are learning too late, it would be a tragedy if this hard-fought unity should be maintained at the expense of the variety of languages and dialects that have long called these lands home.”

Is your mother tongue facing extinction?

About 27 percent of the world's languages (about 6000) are threatened to be extinct. The Foundation for Endangered Languages says 83 percent of the world's languages are restricted to single countries, making them more vulnerable to the policies of a single government.

Abhinaba Basu at Geek Gyan says:

“A lot of people speaking English natively forget the importance of mother language due to its predominance. They take their language for granted. However, each year a bunch of languages become extinct, the latest being Eyak, which got extinct exactly a month ago with the death of Marie Smith Jones the last native Eyak speaking person.

I believe that if we don't actively try to preserve our mother language they will slowly become extinct. One of the most important things to preserve a language is to ensure that they are better covered by technology.”

Using ICT in Mother Language advocacy:

Citizen media is a great tool to promote own languages. According to Technorati there are more than 100 million blogs out there. A previous year’s report show that about 37% blogs are in Japanese followed by English (36%), Chinese (8%), Spanish(3%), Italian (3%), Portuguese (2%), French(2%) among others. And there are other growing language communities and they will rise eventually.

There are ICT based advocacy sites like Bisharat which promotes research, advocacy, and networking relating to use of African languages in software and web content.

Global Voices Online also supports and promotes the diversity of languages. Its Lingua project translates the contents of its main English page in a dozen languages. Now that is one example many international online media may want to follow to secure meaningful transfer of information to global readers.

Thumbnail: UNESCO poster

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Kazakhstan: State of the Nation

Adil Nurmakov · 05:10

The main event in the country’s politics never passes by the bloggers’ attention. This week it was the time of presidential State of the Nation address. All TV stations and state-controlled newspapers provided its aggressively propagandistic coverage, that bloggers were unhappy with [ru].

As megakhuimyak jokes, “our president does not need the always assenting people – that’s why when he says “No”, we all shall say “No”. [ru]

However, many observers felt quite sincerely positive about the speech, which was more realistic than the earlier ones, with more pragmatic and unpleasant things like the stressed need for economy.

A comprehensive review of the president’s address came from count-asylum, who notes the bookmarks – increased pressure on the foreign companies working in the extractive sector, taxation system reform, strengthening of the state-owned holdings and governmental regulation of the financial sphere together with a welcoming stance towards foreign banks [ru]. (more…)

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