Author Archive for David Sasaki
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About David Sasaki
Director of Outreach, Global Voices http://globalvoicesonline.org
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Recent Posts
Blogging the Dream: Mental Health and Healthy Communities
Here in Câmpulung Moldovenesc, a small city in northeastern Romania along the banks of the Moldova River, a group of inspiring activists would rather focus on their mental health than mental illness. They advocate for a community-based approach which integrates mental health service users into society, rather than the usual segregation and stigmatization. "Be interested and understanding with your neighbor," the homepage of their website declares, "do not ignore him, do not fear him, help."
[Video] Does New Media Outreach Lead to Westernization?
It is always easier to criticize than to get involved and one of the criticisms we hear most often at Rising Voices is that helping under-represented communities join the online global conversation will inevitably lead to their westernization. Álvaro Ramírez and Diego Gomez, co-founders of the HiperBarrio project, addressed this question while they were in Austria to pick up their Golden Nica award.
Foko Bloggers Represent Madagascar at World Summits
Two members of Foko Madagascar were recently invited to major international summits to represent their country and community in discussions about development, climate change, and poverty.
[Video] Interview with Pablo Flores
The day after Pablo Flores gave his presentation at the Ars Electronica Symposium about cloud technologies and education we were able to sit down with him for a few minutes to find out more about his projects and his current year-long sabbatical in which he will be visiting OLPC projects around the world and creating a multimedia website which compares his observations from one to one computing programs in different countries.
Rising Voices at Ars Electronica and Highway Africa
It was a busy weekend for three Rising Voices grantee projects as representatives from Blogging Since Infancy, Voces Bolivianas, Abidjan Blog Camps, and HiperBarrio all spoke about their projects at major international conferences.
[Video] Pablo Flores at Ars Electronica
Pablo Flores from Plan Ceibal, Uruguay's One Laptop Per Chile project, and Blogging Since Infancy presented at this year's Ars Electronica Symposium on Cloud Intelligence.
Pablo asked the audience to consider how those who have the most to gain can benefit from the information amassing online. The value of intelligence, after all, is in solving problems facing society. Flores points to housing, nutrition, and education as three major social issues which can be improved with more access to better information. In order to bring intelligence and information from the cloud to everyday citizens in Uruguay, for example, they need a network of connectivity and devices.
[Video] Álvaro Ramírez at Ars Electronica 2009
HiperBarrio was represented at Ars Electronica by Álvaro Ramirez, Gabriel Jaime Vanegas, and Diego Gomez. Álvaro's presentation introduced the history and evolution of HiperBarrio and how the group of young bloggers and citizen journalists in San Javier La Loma have managed to maintain a sense of community while still introducing new members to remain open and inclusive.
Blogging Positively Guide Encourages Open Conversations About HIV/AIDS
We are pleased to announce the release of "Blogging Positively," a collection of case studies, interviews, and best practices about citizen media related to HIV/AIDS. You will be introduced to some of the leaders and veterans of the HIV-positive blogging community, and also to citizen media projects which aim to spread more awareness about the pandemic. The guide contains tips for workshop facilitators and teachers, and points readers to helpful resources for new bloggers just getting started.
Liberian Bloggers Show Everyday Life in Monrovia
Liberia was afforded a rare glimpse of international media attention this week when United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the capital Monrovia and Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Most of the coverage focused on basic facts about Liberia. To learn more about everyday life we must turn to the country's bloggers.
Catalina Restrepo Awarded Miss Talent Medellín Award
The success of the Colombian citizen media project HiperBarrio has been the fruit of endless hours of dedication by many young leaders who pushed the project forward on their own initiative. Catalina Restrepo, one of the first and most dedicated leaders of the project, was recently awarded the "Mujeres Talento" award by the Medellín municipality.
