Stories
May 5th, 2008
Haiti: finding relief for hunger in children 
· 15:28
· Americas
The international food shortage and crisis is doing its rounds on the blogosphere, and videos are no exception. From Haiti: people eating dirt to survive, and a plan to help feed the hungry Haitian children. Haiti is the poorest country in the American continent, and hunger for them has been an important issue since before this crisis took to the headlines.
In YouTube, toddgsapp shows us a video of the process by which a family makes mud cakes, not only to eat themselves, but also to sell. These dirt cookies or mud cakes are made out of dirt, shortening and salt, and is sometimes their only means of sustenance.
Food for thought, isn't it?
However, it seems that most seem aware of the problem, but there is precious few that we can do to help out. lovinitwithhim uploaded a video on the Haitian Food crisis for Kids Against Hunger you can see here.
With the following Current TV video by robhill_productions for Meds and Food for Kids (MFK) in Haiti we are given an insight into an NGO seeking and testing a possible solution for malnutrition in children, based on a high energy peanut butter product that is ready to use and to be given to the children. This boosted peanut butter is said to contain peanuts, powdered milk, sugar, oil, vitamins and minerals and is produced locally using Haitian peanuts harvested from local farmers and all the other supplements are purchased locally as well, helping the economy. According to MFK, it costs $68 for a full dosage of the ready to use therapeutic food, or Medikal Mamba as it is known locally, to be given to a child and bring them back to life.
1 comment · »»May 1st, 2008
Chile: political messages in online music video stir the population
· 06:33
· Americas 
SubVerso (SubVerse) is the artistic name of Vicente Durán, author of Inform Yourself, a political critique Hip-hop song and video distributed mainly online, which has caused a stir in the Chilean community and unleashed a flood of comments, both in favor of the message it gives of informing yourself and not taking information on TV at face value, and others lashing against certain lyrics which tell people to go throw rocks at foreign company's windows as a way to protest. The full lyrics [es], can be found following the link. Here is an excerpt that speaks about Chile's president, Michelle Bachelet, translated into English:
Bachelet lo sabe bien porque aprendió de los gringos Estudiando con los milicos allá en los Estados Unidos Hizo un magíster en defensa y seguridad nacional Así que no le compren na’ su falsa imagen maternal
Tiene ADN familiar militar y dirigente Y aunque incompetente armó un equipo potente pa’ disparar Contra el enemigo interno, que no es el ladrón de terno Sino tus primos, tus vecinos y tus niños pequeños
Te lo enseño en estos versos que son como yo, SubVerso Pa’ que no nos hagan lesos como en el cuento de los “quesos” Si querís adelgazar, bota el peso de tus cadenas Y vamos a romper ventanas de las empresas extranjeras
CORO
Infórmate antes que te formatee la TV Lee, y aprende de la calle también Al rico le conviene mantenerte ignorante Y ocultarte información con la función de esclavizarte
Bachelet knows it well because she learned from the gringos studying with the military there in the USA. She earned a degree in defense and national security so don´t buy that false maternal image.
Her DNA is familiar, military and directive and though incompetent she formed a potent team to shoot against the internal enemy, which isn´t the thief in a 3 piece suit but your cousins, your neighbors and your small children.
I teach you with these verses that are like me, SubVerso so that you don´t play stupid like it happened with the story of the “cheese”. If you wish to lose weight then eliminate the weight of the chains and let´s go break the windows of foreign companies.
Chorus
Inform yourself before the TV re-formats you, read and learn from the street as well The rich ones would rather have you ignorant and hide information from you in order to enslave you.
Inform Yourself could possibly be the Chilean equivalent to Billy Joel's We didn´t start the fire, completely loaded with names, places and events relevant to the current political situation in Chile. This video has come out at a time when the 111 day hunger strike Patricia Troncoso started on behalf of Mapuche Indians rights, the longest one in Chile's history, came to a close and following the death of Mapuche activist and student Matías Catrileo by Chile's Special Police Forces.
On an interview Sebastián Larraín Saá had with SubVerso [es], Vicente Durán explains how the video was built collectively by all the people who uploaded the material used on YouTube, and that his idea was to denounce explicitly the corruption in Chile, using examples from real life and not just making veiled references to what is going on: instead, he uses names and events so that listeners can check and corroborate… and inform themselves.
The Inform Yourself video [es] , as uploaded by conspirazion, the collective SubVerso belongs to:
SubVerso performed live last March 6th in front of the London 38 house, a torture and detention center in downtown Santiago run by the Chilean Secret Police during the Pinochet regime. The concert was organized by Memoria 119 [es], a collective which wishes to turn this house into a “memory house” to honour the victims of the brutal tortures which took place. SubVerso's performance was uploaded by pavelaravena:
SubVerso has joined with other Hip-hop artists in his hometown of Villa Francia as part of the CoN$PiRaZioN group and they have put out a CD, Apaga la tele (Turn off the TV) which can be downloaded free from the group's MySpace page.
1 comment · »»April 26th, 2008
PangeaDay: Videos to change the world on May 10th
· 13:26
· Americas , Central Asia & Caucasus , Middle East & North Africa , South Asia , Sub-Saharan Africa , Western Europe 
On May 10th 2008 at 18:00 GMT, 24 films will be broadcast during a 4 hour event. What makes this different is that this event, PangeaDay will be broadcast from six locations worldwide in seven different languages worldwide to be viewed through internet, television or cellphones with one unique purpose: to make each other know about the lives of others and focus on what makes us similar, instead of what makes us different and let us work together towards peace. This initiative came from Egyptian filmmaker Jehane Noujaim's wish. As a TED Prize winner she was granted a wish in addition to a $100 000 USD award. PangeaDay is her wish, to change the world and create a day in which people of the world could come together through film. Her 2006 acceptance speech can be found here.
Because PangeaDay is about bringing people together, an invitation made for audiences to upload their own videos on the pangeaday video channel where you can view the 1037 videos people uploaded in reply.
As an example, one of the uploaded videos is about an Art student in Tanzania, telling his story of his day to day life and how he wants to teach homeless kids about art. Following, the story of Chado by jamesstephenbrown:
The logistics of PangeaDay are awe inspiring: from Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro, films, live music and speakers will come together to inspire the whole world. The films chosen have been selected from more than 25000 films from over 100 hundred countries.These movies all share some characteristics such as being able to inspire, transform and enabling us to experience life through another's eyes. Queen Noor of Jordan, will be one of the speakers, along with musician and activist Bob Geldorf, Christiane Amanpour from CNN and the Iranian rock group Hypernova. While at these locations people will be getting together, all around the world parties and groups of friends can sign up and show that they will be tuned in: you can attend an open event in your hometown or even host your own.
However, Pangea Day isn't just about getting together during 4 hours. The idea is for the event to get people inspired, talking and making changes. It has also allowed others to participate not only as viewers. Through partner organization Nokia, aspiring filmmakers in different locations throughout the world have been given video enabled mobile devices to some people in rural areas, refugee camps, and film schools, so they too can portray their stories. People can also upload their own videos for a chance to win a Nokia N95 8GB mobile device. This partnership brings us a Myanmar refugee in India recording children's laughter, an Iranian family in a refugee camp in Afghanistan recording their idea of Hope, and an Indian in Bangalore filming the cutting down of Banyan trees… and children planting new trees. You can view these and other videos on this page.
So there are many different ways to participate. Don't miss the chance to be a part of this and make sure to tell others and spread the word.
4 comments · »»April 22nd, 2008
Dominican Republic test drives new metro system in Santo Domingo
· 17:59
· Americas 
People scream, yell and cheer as they see it pass: in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, the newest celebrity is the Metro transportation system. The city is buzzing at the new metro system which starting last Saturday began operating tentatively for testing to bring visitors to and from the Santo Domingo Book Fair [es]. Excited Dominicans have been recording the metro passing by their houses on the different test runs and uploaded videos of themselves walking into the completed metro stations and travelling in train carriages which are so new they still have bubble-wrap on the seats.
User noe0324 has uploaded a video that manages to transmit the overwhelming expectation and pride for this massive public transportation method. On the first minute you can hear and see the excitement of the people who standing on their roofs at the side of the metro track, cheer, wave flags and clap as it passes by. The video can be seen by following this link or by viewing it on the embedded video that follows.
DJBlastor shows us another view: people standing in line 3 people deep waiting to get aboard the metro cars, and then the people rushing into the cars to see if they can get a seat. He has 3 other videos recorded that same day, with political commentary which seems to be the underlining current of support for the actual president as well as rare footage of people crammed inside a metro car, and most of them cracking brilliant smiles.
As mentioned previously, the metro seems to have raised President Leonel Fernandez' popularity, and it was high to begin with, since it's his second non-consecutive presidential period. The following video was uploaded by macaco993 and you can hear the crowd cheering and chanting “Leonel, Leonel, Leonel”:
Supercrackers also recorded last week's calmer entrance into the Metro system, where she travels through the station, down stairs and sits, while watching children and adults happily pop the bubble-wrap between the seats.
April 21st, 2008
Japan: Comfort Women Video Calls Attention to a Still Unresolved Issue.
· 14:11
· East Asia More than 60 years have passed since the World War II, but women who claim to have been abducted under Japanese Military's orders to serve as sexual slaves on military “Comfort Stations” are still waiting for the government's public apologies and material compensation even as the government still denies the claims that they were behind these brothels. After the war ended, the women who served the military were abandoned, adrift in a foreign country and in cases, murdered. Through online videos we can learn more about the plight of the “Military Comfort Women” and efforts elsewhere to bring this subject to the light.
On Witness' The HUB, one of the most viewed videos is on Japan's Comfort women, women used as prostitutes for the Japanese army during the World War II who were often conscripted, kidnapped, coerced or forced to go into the sexual slave trade. This issue isn't only affecting women in Japan, but also women from China and Korea and others territories under Imperial Japanese possession at the time who were also used to supply the Japanese military brothels. The video combines photographs, text from letters and drawings to portray the extreme conditions these women had to live in. The video follows, or you can click here to see it at the HUB.
The subject is still under debate since the Japanese government has switched back and forth between accepting the charges and denying them. The public itself is also debating whether this happened or not, and whether it would be the military's responsibility or not that this took place if it did. Amnesty International has an ongoing campaign asking the Japanese government to apologize and compensate the women. In London, England, a presentation of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues were organized last March to raise awareness about the story of the Comfort Women of China, leoocunha shows us a piece of the presentation and you can see it by following this link.
Fallbluesky from Brazil has uploaded the following video showing the stories of these women along with footage of some of the Comfort Women in the present, ceaselessly trying to get the government to admit that it did wrong and they were victims of their actions.
Spritejune in Japan has posted a video of a manga comic book style vignettes depicting the stories of the Comfort women, with dialogues written in English. It is a two part video titled Born again as a flower (for the comfort women) which follows the main character from the moment she gets a job at a factory and is instead taken to a brothel, to the Wednesday Demonstrations these women have been doing since Wednesday January 8th in 1992 in front of the Japanese Embassy to ask for them to be recognized as victims and for their story to be recorded in history textbooks, among other points. Following, part one and part two.
Thumbnail image used is Japanese naval flag by futureatlas.com
1 comment · »»April 18th, 2008
Chilean Shorts: Micro and Mini Movies on the Web
· 00:33
· Americas From Chile, three examples of online video creation: first, a Chilean pre-candidate for the presidency takes advantage of online video tools to produce documentaries and interviews for web distribution, next, two independent short film producers with videos which talk about poverty, disabilities, old habits which don't have such a hard time dying and, why not? Love.
Marcelo Trivelli, previously mentioned on Global Voices for his interest in promoting the One Laptop per Child project in Chile as part of his presidential program. The following video was uploaded on his YouTube channel, and speaks about the situation of children living in the streets of Santiago de Chile, where drugs and theft are their means of life. It is subtitled in English, you can view the original version in Spanish by following this link.
Also making videos about issues that matter to him is vlogger José Cordova Llanos: he won the “Genera” online video contest against abuse with his short film titled “Whisper”, which despite the language barrier, carries a message about the effects of psychological abuse that can be understood by people from all over the world. His next two videos also participated on an online 1 minute video contest, in this case, the Teleton in Chile: his touching “Teach me” video carries a message in favor of teaching children not to discriminate illustrating it with the simple image of a child cutting paper dolls, while “limited” is a humorous scenario that shows that being “common sense” impaired is far more limiting than being unable to move unassisted.
A quirky third video by josecordovallanos which I really liked is the “Bad Habits” video, mocking the current paranoid trends on security. Subtitled in English, it follows:
The last video, by YouTube user Patton1212 is simply titled “I love you”. You can view it subtitled at the end of this post, or directly on its source.
Thumbnail image used is “Puro Chile, es tu cielo azulado…” by Blue Diego used according to creative commons license.
0 comments · »»April 14th, 2008
Vlog International: collaboration across borders
· 06:53
· Americas , Middle East & North Africa , Western Europe 
Vlog International is a project bringing together Spanish speaking vloggers: people submit their ideas, one is chosen and everyone records their piece, someone edits them together and they are published on their site. They began in 2006, when a group of friends got together to do a video homage for a vlogger friend [es]: it was through his website that everyone had met, and they wanted to recognize that fact publicly. The next project happened organically: the friend who had organized the first collaborative video was going through a rough spot in his life, and everyone else decided to record a birthday wish on video: they recorded themselves singing happy birthday, playing the song on instruments, dancing and sitting in front of cakes with candles, and that video can be found by following this link[es].
They began calling these experiences “Sancocho de Video“: sancocho is a name that refers to many different soups from all around Latin America. The latest video by the Vlog International group is about a walk around the block. Vloggers in Colombia, Israel, Canada, Germany and the USA all shared their surroundings. You can see it by clicking here or by pressing play on the following video.
Vlog International already has 31 collaborative videos up on their blip.tv page and they are always hoping to add more video bloggers to their site. All that is needed is for the person interested to make a 1 minute video: 30 seconds explaining where they are and who they are, and 30 seconds recording the following “mission” video, then uploading the video and emailing them the link. Instructions in Spanish can be found here.
These videos have all been released under a Creative Commons license, and you can share in on the process by reading their wiki. Browsing through their different episodes is a great way to get a global perspective on the same issue. On the following video[es], the Vloggers take us on a tour away from the supermarkets and into the different traditional marketplaces of France, England, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, the USA, Chile, Spain and Colombia.
5 comments · »»April 9th, 2008
Video on Flickr: An apple of dischord
· 23:13
· Americas , East Asia , Sub-Saharan Africa Seventeen hours after its creation, the Flickr group “NO VIDEO ON FLICKR!!!” already has more than 5475 members and 670 items. What is even more amazing is that another group, “We Say NO to Videos on Flickr“, created 2 hours later, has more than double the number of members of the previously mentioned group, and both are composed of Flickr users who oppose the idea of having video on the platform traditionally used for uploading pictures. On the other hand, the groups created for uploaded videos hardly have more than 30 members yet. What is the reason for this insatisfaction with Yahoo and Flickr's decision to make video uploading and viewing possible on their site?
Most of the users in these groups are concerned that video upload will interfere with their user experience in browsing pictures, leading to lower speed and picture uploads, and others are upset that the main reason why they joined Flickr was for photography, and not for video. They fear that the supportive community they've found in Flickr will disappear and become into what a community “mainly reduced to flaming people about their beliefs, intents and capabilities.” You can read these and other perspectives by following this link. However, even among these groups there are those who believe that because only pro users can upload videos, that that will become a sort of quality filter, and that it will make it less likely for new users to get into Flickr just because of video. Others hope that it becomes a tool for photographers to make slide-shows or stop motion animation with their pictures, and use it to give their products an added value. There have also been requests for discussion threads in Spanish, and a translation of the petition they are signing has been posted.
So what sort of content has been uploaded so far?, CreepySleep uploads a video of a deep leg wound cleansing in a young boy, and it is only one of many different videos he has uploaded on life in South Sudan.
Another video is this one featuring children playing instruments and singing for tourists at the salt plains of Uyuni in Bolivia, uploaded by i-ren ishii. Mr.Frosted uploaded the following video where you can see the bright blue garbage collector truck with its trademark song in the streets of Vietnam. He also has several other creative commons videos on different locations throughout the world.
The last video I´ll present has actually been chosen by the Flickr team to be a part of the Video! Video! Video! group where they've been amassing the best examples of video on Flickr so far. The following is “Mount Fuji from the Shinkansen” by antimega:
Whether you agree with Flickr being used for videos or not, people are using the new option and uploading their content: it will remain to be seen how Yahoo and Flickr will will respond to the groups unhappy with this change.
Thumbnail image is No to videos on Flickr by the Monkey 2332 image used according to creative commons license.
6 comments · »»April 6th, 2008
Argentina: high school students use online video to report their issues.
· 19:31
· Americas By uploading a video on YouTube, argentinean high school students managed to get mass media's attention[es] to their plight: the need for a building where they can receive classes. Currently the Ipem 112 “César Iñíguez Montenegro”, in Sebastián Elcano, a village to the north of the Cordoba capital in Argentina are receiving lessons at an elementary school. However, because the elementary school has double shifts, the high school students are forced to receive evening classes, as if it were a night school.
The parents of these students took over the building at the end of March, and they decided they will not move until they see machinery and the start of construction for their promised building, or at least get a formal start date. Earlier this year, it had been promised that by March they would have the school. The INEM students receive classes in social sciences and communications and they shoot newscasts for a local tv channel, and all this content they upload on the web to reach a wider audience. As a matter of fact, it was through their YouTube channel that this news managed to spread throughout Argentina.
On the following video in Spanish, the parents speak about how they've been waiting 20 years for the government to build the IPEM 112 school, discuss how the principal of the Carpani Costa Elementary School, where the high school students have been receiving classes, agrees to the peaceful occupation, and how they will take over the school completely and undefinitely, until they see construction begin on the promised building.
0 comments · »»April 3rd, 2008
Video and mobile video contests for global citizen journalists.
· 05:17
· Americas , Middle East & North Africa , Western Europe Three different video contests open for video bloggers from around the world to participate in, either especifically geared for citizen journalists or with a category for them. One for mobile movies, one to promote causes you care for and the last to report news through online video. So bring out your cameras and read on to discover how to participate.
From Spain, ElPais.com brings us the Movil Film Fest, an online mobile 1 minute video contest. Although it is geared primarily to locally made movies, which they call “national”, there are no restrictions regarding nationality of the producers, although only the local films will compete for the main awards, videos from outside Spain will have their own category. All the videos have to be less than 1 minute long and have been shot with cell phones or PDAs, what they call mobile communication terminals. There is time until April 21st 2008 to submit a video.
The novelty is that this year they will have an award for Best Citizen Journalism piece, although they haven´t yet mentioned what the prize will be. There will also be a honourable mention for the best foreign film and the best “made 4 mobile” film. Judges will vote for the main categories and viewers will get to vote for their favorite for a final viewer´s choice category. Last year voting took place through SMS messages, but this year they eliminated that and opened it to online vote. Last year´s submitted videos can be found following this link.
The second contest is a worldwide contest based on myspace.com social networking site. They are requesting for youth between 14 and 24 years of age from all around the world to “Film your issue” in more than 30 seconds but less than 2 minutes. Prizes include internships at different organizations such as USA Today, The United Nations and the Humane Society, however there are citizenship restrictions and mostly the winners will have to pay for their tickets, lodging and meals during their internships, and the $5000 USD College scholarship is only valid for US citizens, making the prizes themselves less attractive for international participants. However, the winning videos would be broadcast on different networks, TV stations and websites, making street cred and bragging rights the likelier reward for the foreign participants. Already some videos have been uploaded for this contest, and participants have time until April 14th to participate in any of the several issue categories.
Last year's International Jury Selection winner was Dolly Ovadia Nahon from Haifa, Israel, who wrote:
“I chose woman trafficking because it feels to me that its a subject that has fallen out of the social agenda, prostitutes are stigmatized and that makes there freedom less viable.
800,000-900,000 women and children are trafficked and prostituted against their will worldwide each year. This is the story of one of them. Modern Slavery must be Stoped!!!”
The winners for the “UN Department of Public Information – FYI Award and Audience Award for International Film” were 10 International Relations students from Brazil, presenting this insightful piece on urban violence in Rio de Janeiro:
Another chance to win money and make a name for yourself is the citizen journalism video contest is being organized by VideoNews24.net[es] . Although it is used mostly by Spanish vloggers (video bloggers), it is open to any person who wishes to participate. The contest opened on March 1st and will run to July 31st. The top three videos will be chosen from those with more hits and highest ratings given by other users and then the winner chosen from them. The complete guidelines to participate can be found by following this link [es].
Here are three contests open for citizens of any nationality: do you know of any other contests for citizen media videos in your country or region? We would love it if you shared this information in the comments!
2 comments · »»
About Juliana Rincón Parra
Peruvian-Colombian with a BA in Drama working as a bilingual copywriter, translator and blogger. Rabid reader, I also dabble with SEO, primitive html coding in notepad and am now studying dental lab, just for variety´s sake. Juliana Rincón Parra's Space
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