Joan Razafimaharo summarizes some of the achievements so far by the FOKO Bloggers:

• FOKO promoted Citizen Journalism during the 2009 Political unrest in Madagascar.
• FOKO's effort in promoting ICT in Education was mentioned in local media.
• FOKO's efforts in promoting social activism in fighting against poverty and climate change got international recognition.

In a latest report Joan reports on the people behind FOKO's success:

There are now bloggers who didn’t have mailbox before a FBC workshop who are very active on our Facebook/Google group mailing lists! There are bloggers who were very shy, who are now updating their blogs regularly! If there is a topic or an event important to be reported (and most of the time forgotten by mainstream media), you can be sure a Foko blogger will write a post, publish a picture, update his Twitter, tell it on Facebook or simply let the word out.

Since January 2009 FOKO Blog Club posted a series of interviews with its bloggers celebrating their first anniversary of blogging. Now let us meet through these interviews some of the enthusiastic and brilliant Malagasy Bloggers who are driving the success of FOKO blog Club.

Tahina:
Tahina, the Malagasy geek, has started blogging in English one year ago with his ICE Club mates. He was also active behind the Ushahidi-Foko and covered the political unrest in Madagascar in his blog.

The name of his blog is Madagascar Not The Movie. His latest blog posts include articles on swine flu outbreak in Madagascar, Afrobasket women championship and recycling and waste management.

You can read his interview here.

Jaona:

Jaona Rakotoarisioa (25) from Fianarantsoa was invited to the Global Forum on ICT and Innovation For Education in Monterrey, Mexico organized by the United Nations and the Global Alliance for ICT and Development.

He blogs in English and French. His interview can be found here.

Ariniaina:

Ariniaina from Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar started blogging on September 21, 2008 and emerged as a prolific blogger. The name of her blog is “Dago Tiako”. She explains:

Dago is a nickname given to Madagascar (especially used by Malagasy people living abroad) and Tiako means “I love”.

She celebrates the first anniversary of her blog and remembers:

September 21,2008, DagoMC, Moonlightgirl, Fara, Moma, Tahina, Andry and I were then invited to join the workshop led by David Sasaki and Joan who showed us the way to create a blog. And today, I am thankful to  Joan, David Sasaki, Lova, Tahina, Andry, and all FOKO.

September 21, 2009. What have I realized???

• 103 posts
• 439 comments
• 16,574 hits
• 98 fans on Facebook
• 433 tweets and 141 followers on Twitter

Here is her interview with FOKO blog club. Her Flickr account is here.

Andry (Rakotoniana Andriatahiana):

Andry is a Malagasy lawyer and a blogger from Antananarivo. He is an alumni of the ICE English club and blogs in English at “The Cyber Observer“. He shares his views on democracy and is never afraid to use the right words.

Read his interview. Here are his Twitter and Flickr accounts.

Solofo:

Solofo is a journalist from Antsirabe, Madagascar. He is a student of communication of communication at ESSVA (Ecole Supérieure Spécialisée du Vakinankaratra) where FOKO held its 13th workshop. He imparted photography lessons to mid-schools students at the workshop.

He likes to write about issues relating to the youth. Read his interview here.

Moonlight girl:

“Everyone just calls me the “Moon” because my real name is Volana which means the moon in malagasy,” explains blogger Moonlight girl. She had started blogging in September 2008 with her friends at ICE club. She is writing her first novel and she publishes some snippets on her blog. She dedicates her blog to all short story lovers. Here is a teaser for you.

Read her interview here.

Imahaka:

Imahaka is a student of the ESSVA school in in Antsirabe, the capital of Vakinankaratra and also the pillar of Foko Blog Club in the area. he is from Ikongo (former Fort Carnot), a region that lies between Fianarantsoa and Manakara.

He loves to write about Antsirabe which draws little media attention. He blogs in French. Read his interview here.

Patricia Rakotomalala:

Patricia is one of the oldest of the FOKO bloggers who has been blogging since March 2008 from Antananarivo. Patricia Rakotomalala represented FOKO Madagascar at Interdependence Day 2008 in Brussels, Belgium. Watch her presentation in that event. She later gave a presentation about her experience in Brussels at Madagascar's first-ever Barcamp.

Patricia blogs in French at Pati et Toi. Read her interview here.

Patrick:

Patrick is a blogger from Tamatave, Madagascar and writes about the town and and BUEC (Barikadimy’s United English Clubs) activities. He is a student of management at the University of Tamatave. He also works as a local tour guide.

Blogging is his favorite pass time. He blogs in English. Read his interview here.

Lomelle:

Lomelle is a citizen journalist from Mahajanga. Her writings of exceptional quality have been appreciated by the blogosphere and linked by the media for their relevance and activism.

She blogs in French. Read her interview here.

Today is the Blog Action Day and this annual event aims to unite the world's bloggers where they write about a single topic in a single day to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion on the subject. Some of the members of Rising Voices projects are also participating in this event and we bring to you a brief round-up.

One of the main focus of the Rising Voices grantee FOKO is make the citizens of Madagascar a crucial factor in their unique and threatened environment. Tahina from FOKO Blog Club in Antananarivo, Madagascar writes:

Today is the Blog Action Day about Climate Change, thousands of blogs are uniting to raise more awareness and put pressure on each individual and world leaders to take quick and apropriate actions. The fight is worthwhile since the future of our kids is at stake. I’m pretty skeptical on the direct impact of this online activism here in Madagascar but since blogging has once helped Baby Kambana, why wouldn’t it do the same for all of us. We want to tell the World as well that we do care.

He points out to the action required:

How many of the Malagasy homes are using coal and woods to cook? 80-90%? We just can’t afford other source of energy in the long term. And this is where higher responsibles should take actions.

Patrick from Tamatave, Madagascar: Looking for the right place where to plant a tree

Lyva, another member of FOKO writes [fr] from Antsirabe :

We believe that everyone should be concerned by this problem because no one ever knows what season we see. For example, is this spring or summer? The temperature varies a lot because there is no winter. It drops to 3°C while in spring and in summer it rises to 35°C or more. (machine translation)

Ariniaina tells what prevents people from taking action against environmental damage:

I think that the main problem here in Madagascar is that people are so busy to search for what they are going to eat today. We then become selfish and just think of ourselves. We forget our neighbours and our future generation.

I hope that the Bloggers’Action of today will wake up millions… billions of people… governments… poor countries… rich countries… and then, we will altogether rescue the Earth. What I can and already do now is planting my own trees.

Théophile Kouamouo from Abidjan Blog Camps project in Ivory Coast writes about a a private conversation between him and a 70 years old Ivorian politician:

Originally from northern Ivory Coast, he told me about his childhood and told me that in front of his eyes, two rivers have dried up in his village. He saw that as the deep wells have increased the likelihood of finding water by digging decreased. What is responsible for what farmers see as a disaster or a curse? The desert encroachment, climate change, but also agro-industrial policies requiring irrigation works, all are quite dangerous in the long term.

The politician spoke with conviction, even with fear for the future, because he had seen with his eyes the danger. (machine translation from French)

“Africa is one of the places of the world most threatened by climate change,” warns Théophile.

Cartunelo from Abidjan Blog Camps writes [fr]:

As a web developer there are simple actions we can take to save our planet and make us web developers eco-compatible in Abidjan:

1. Turn off the computer: Use the lowest possible standby and hibernation.
2. Turn off your external hard drives at night
3. Use Eco-friendly Bulbs
[..]

The issue climate change is addressed specifically by another Rising Voices project. Nomad Green trains Mongolian citizens how to spread awareness - both at home and abroad - about their country's environmental crisis. Read their blog to learn more about their activism to stop degradation of Mongolia's environment.

Stephane shared the proceedings at both conferences with live blogging and tweeting in Malagasy, French and English.

Reflecting on the conclusions from the Climate Change Conference, Stephane wished that more concrete measures were offered and a true collaboration between developing and developed nations: ( here is the original text in Malagasy):

Personnally I think that all the speeches were very vague and there were more promises than actions during this UN summit [..] Climate Change is already causing so many indirect or direct damages in Africa : wars, flood, famines,…and sadly religious extremism that causes terrorism. The lessons we have to take from this is that we have to preserve our environement and use green alternatives in order to reach development. Efficient collaboration between countries developed or developing ones is the only solution.

As Stephane followed the Climate Voice team to Pittsburgh on the 24th, he witnessed the heavy security and various protests.

Protesting the lack of airtime for poverty issue

taking photos of police forces

Stephane also inquired a few of the participants about the usefulness of such Summit for the developing world, here are two of the interviews he conducted:

Stephane offers the following thoughts on the G20 Summit :

“the developed countries' presidents present at G20 seem to worry about nothing else but themselves. I was very disappointed…”

Stephane's flickr photo album of the conferences.

Stephane's video collections from the conferences.

As Foko co-founder Joan Razafimaharo recounts on the Foko project blog, their efforts have led to international recognition - both in some of the largest media outlets and also in the form of invitations to major international conferences on development, poverty, and the environment.

Jaona (left) in Monterrey, Mexico at UN-GAID Summit

Jaona was invited to the Global Forum on ICT and Innovation For Education organized by the United Nations and the Global Alliance for ICT and Development. He traveled from Madagascar to Monterrey, Mexico where he explained how Foko is using digital tools to improve education and encourage innovation in Madagascar. Last week he posted a summary in English of some of the main conclusions he drew from the summit:

• Gender as a cross-cutting theme should be integrated in all GAID lines of action and all CoEs. This requires concrete actions.
• There is a need to “join forces among organizations working in gender and ICT and other players included in the development of the Information Society ” to avoid duplication of efforts and advance from local experiences to regional and global projects.
• This should be done step by step, using local experiences as good examples to move forwards.

This week Stéphane - who has been responsible for leading most of Foko's training workshops in Madagascar - is in the United States where he will represent Foko Madagascar at two major international summits: the UN General Assembly on Climate Change and this coming week's G-20 Pittsburgh summit.

Stephane with Tim Wirth, President of the United Nations Foundation.

Throughout the day Stéphane has been updating his readers in English, French, and Malagasy via Twitter and on his blog. Already Stéphane has posted interviews with Tim Wirth, the president of the United Nations Foundation and with digital communications strategist Mark Goldberg.

Reacting to the usual big promises by leaders from around the world, Stéphane writes (in English and French):

Rwandan President Paul Kagame added his voice to calls to assist African countries and encourage the success of the Copenhagen agreement. French President Sarkozy has also added his voice in calling on countries to help Africa, but also suggested that emerging countries reduce their emissions by 80% because his country has promised 50%. This statement earned him applause from the congregation.

Keep your eyes on Stéphane's blog for his continued reporting this week from the G-20 Pittsburgh summit.

Tibora Bea conducting Photo Workshop. Image by Tahina

FOKO Blog Club arranged a photo workshop at the beginning of this month. It was held by Tibora Bea, a photography instructor from USA and supported by Christi and others.

Tahina is delighted that now he knows all the advantages of the “manual modes” of camera:

As a newbie in photography, knowing all these options, when and how to use them is not obvious. Well, it’s hard to sum it up in a post but what I can say is that this workshop helped us a lot and now we the thing we need to do is practice more and more.

In this video Tibora explains the two main goals of this photography workshop:

Tahina posts some photos of the workshop in his Flickr page.

FOKO group photo after photography workshop. Image by Tahina

For those who are following the baby Kamba story, we have an update. Lova Rakotomalala writes:

I will always remember April 2009. [..] April was memorable because as Diana put it so masterfully, (baby Kamba) the youngest member of the Foko community passed on.

The loss hit everyone hard and prompted the question of what could have been done differently. In a more general setting, it poses the question of how to manage aid from and through the web effectively.

So what does one suppose to do after such a loss ?

Viviane and Kamba's mother, Image Courtesy Lova Rakotomalala

Unexpectedly, talking to Kamba's mum in July helped mend the wounds. She said that she was appreciative of everyone's effort and that although the loss of Kamba still stings deeply, she knows he is in a better place now thanks to all the love that was send to him worldwide. She believes Kamba's twin sister Viviane still carries a part of Kamba with her.

Furthermore, Majunga Foko blogger Zouboon has picked the ball and, through her volunteer work with an association that helps family in need, she successfully placed Viviane's family in a local support structure group so that the nutritional needs of Viviane can be monitored effectively.

FOKO blogger Zouboon at work

There is another good news for FOKO Blog Club. Lova continues:

Jaona of Foko Fianaratsoa was chosen as one of the few youth web activist (via TakingITglobal) who will travel to Monterrey, Mexico for the UN-GAID annual meeting on “ICT and Innovation for Education” in September.

And this news beats all other news. Lova informs:

ICE club and Foko dynamic contributors Arinaina and Andry are getting married today (8/8/09). Congratulations and much love to both of them.

We are waiting for the report and of course the pictures of the nuptials.

Image Courtesy Christi

Christi at One Drop In The Ocean writes that FOKO was featured in BBC News last month:

In Madagascar, old and new bloggers saw themselves turning into a vital conduit of information — text, audio, photo, and video — through which the world could stay informed on the unfurling of the 2009 political crisis. In the process, a citizens' media movement has been ignited…

Listen to BBC's Madagascar correspondent as she tells the story of some individuals at the vanguard of the island's blogosphere.

Tahina and Andry was also interviewed by BBC. You can listen to the interview from here.

On another sad news Stephane, a coordinator of FOKO who coordinates all of the foko activities, was attacked and robbed at his home. He describes the situation with pictures.

Now let us look at some recent blog posts from the FOKO Members.

Tahina writes about the reconstruction phase Madagascar is witnessing after the infrastructural damages in the recent political crisis.

Shops destroyed during the unrest of the past months are recovering little by little. By themselves or with the help of the government, I can’t tell, they are trying to shyly re-launch their business. In fact the former and the current administration pledged to give them help but I don’t know whether it has come to reality or not.

Bedrooms on the sidewalks. Photo by Ariniaina

In this post about the homeless people in the streets of of the Madagascar capital Antananarivo, Ariniaina compares why people leave a little brick house in countryside to lead this awful life in a little wooden house in the capital city.

Moonlightgirl talks about the exhumation rituals she witnessed at Andramasina Antemotra.

Andry at The Cyber Observer discusses about the perils of citizen journalists in Madagascar:

Today, our friend, Jentilisa wanted to take some pictures of some policemen, in Antanimena (downtown of Antananarivo), who confiscated banners from some legalist ralliers who were on their way to join the MAGRO place (Ankorondrano – downtown of Antananarivo). The policemen saw him picturing them. They wanted to confiscate his camera but Jentilisa did not accept. Finally, they let him go but warned him “Tadidiko ialahy!” (I will remember you!).

This is not a isolated case, such misadventure has already happened to many bloggers since the beginning of this crisis but till now, we can all admit that we are lucky …

Mammal at the shoreline. Image by Patrick

Patrick writes about a big mammal which washed ashore:

Few weeks before the famous « Tsola be » festival in Ste Marie: one whole was died along the Mananara-Nord sea side. At this time, many people are really interested to see how big this very large sea mammal is. Its length was 8m long. I guess almost of them there have never seen such a very big sea creature. Then one problem was coming out , the people ain’t satisfied of only looking at him without knowing how taste is he. They simply ate the sea mammal without asking : « What is the cause of its death ? » Fortunately, none of them get sick after having enjoyed to eat him. Thanks to God.

Cunie, a new blogger writes:

Malagasy always maintains some relations with their ancestors. For them, the deaths aren’t deaths; they live in the shadow of the living. In the Malagasy’s cosmogony, the ancestors protect and bless their descendants.

Every year, a ceremony, that is merely the “Famadihana”, takes place during the dry season, between June to September, for to make a feast with the deaths.

Nhari thinks that the solution to the recent political crisis in Madagascar is fresh elections.

Moonlightgirl informs in a Twitter message:

Swine Flu is attacking Madagascar : There are already 4 victims here in Tana

Here is a list of some new blogs from madagascar:

You will find a detailed list of FOKO bloggers at this page.

We will exchange ideas, lesson learned and shortcomings of digital media to inform and warn during crisis or events ( such as elections etc…).

The format of a barcamp will be utilized but panelists will present their experiences and expertise beforehand to pose the bases of the conversation.

Lova Rakotomalala, one of the facilitators, wrote a complete report of this event in Global Voices Online. Some snippets:

An estimated 80 to 90 people came from 5 different regions and 4 different countries.

I gave a quick overview of collaboration between traditional media and new media worldwide, its tremendous impact during crises and our hope that such a collaboration can come to fruition in Madagascar.

A smaller meeting that was part of the American Cultural Center-driven “Friday talk” between journalists and bloggers allowed for an open friendly criticism of both sides and showed that there are room for partnership and mutual growth.

Read the whole report here.

BARCAMP 2nd edition at ivotel, Photo by FOKO Madagascar

Lova Rakotomalala also wrote in his personal blog:

I saw the youth of Madagascar getting involved without fear and being encouraged and advised by elders who knew all about the importance of communication and independent journalism for a country aspiring to democracy. There was no bitterness or accusation, just statements of events lived personally and stories of everyday courage because that was and is the right thing to do. Mada Matin and Midi Madagasikara wrote lengthy articles about the un-conference and foko's contribution to it so the seeds for more collaboration are in definitely in play.

Bloggers had hoped for an increased collaboration with journalists for a while now because we were aware of the extreme pressure they are subject to (RSF, CPJ, Advox).

The FOKO bloggers also reported on the event. Ariniaina writes:

This year Foko has choosen the topic “Crowd sourcing info in Madagascar” presented by Lova Rakotomalala.

Claire, from Global Voices in French, talked about different cases of censorship all over the world.

Tahina, Madainitiative [fr], Avylavitra [mg], and Imahaka [fr] also chipped in with their experiences. Harinjaka and Ariniaina posted some pictures of the event.

Now let us look what the FOKO bloggers are discussing on other issues.

Tahina discusses about the problems implementing an SMS Alert System in Madagascar using FrontlineSMS for the Foko Ushahidi engine.

Ariniaina and Tahina wrote about the last tribute of Malagasy people to the pop legend Michael Jackson, proving he has fans in Madagascar.

Moonlightgirl, an avid reader, comments:

For us Malagasy people, I can tell you that we have great authors. I’ve read alot of malagasy books, not just tales but stories.

For me personally, I can’t live without reading a book.

FOKO also scores cooperation with like-minded activists : New York based Malagasy singer Razia Said and FOKO are now walking hand in hand in to promote conservation awareness.

FOKO is helping to set up new media facilities at the Press Center in Diego writes Stéfane. Another feat of the project is successfully conducting a blog and new media workshop for IST students.

On Saturday, June 13th, Stéfane, Pati, Tahina, Andry, Affick (SAVA's coordinator) and Ariniania together took the workshop.

Group Photo during the IST workshop

Tahina writes:

The IST (fr) is a renowned private institute located in Ampasampito (not far away from downtown) that proposes several fields of studies to its students.

The workshop went well in a good ambiance and the connection speed didn’t spoil it too much. We noticed that few of them were more curious than the others and that led Andry to jump on the basic uses of Twitter (yes, they wanted more and more) after being through with Wordpress.

Ariniaina writes how they lured participant as the event was not well informed:

One of the guys asked what was that “blog” mean. So I said “if you want to know more, you are invited to join us at the ESPATEL (the name of the cybercafé)”.

The FOKO bloggers are prolific in their writing and you will be amazed to learn many aspects of Madagascar from them. Ariniaina caught the joy of the Malagasy children playing kite in words and pictures, witnessed a fire at Esplanade Analakely, describes the works of the project that cleans water of Marais Masay swamp, writes about a Rickshaw manufacturer at Antsirabe and the business of wrapping gifts on the mother day. And the most interesting one, do you know “how to make a candle last?”:

The candle is covered with newspaper. Fold a sheet of newspaper, wrap up the candle with it. Doing so will help you have candle light for more than two hours. Clever!

Moonlightgirl portrays the quiet and peaceful country side in Madagascar. The blogger also writes about the damaged roads in Madagascar, driving on which can be a nightmare for everyone.

Pati writes about a sad incident; an university student was raped by robbers.

Tahina recalls the traumas of the political unrest in Madagascar, which started last January. This has divided the country and now even raising the green-white-red flag of Madagascar on the independence day can be interpreted as a poltical statement.

Besorongola writes that a recent multilateral negotiation to ease the tensions in Madagascar has failed. Fanantenana at Hope For Madagascar was skeptical about this negotiation:

The crux of the matter is that the foreigners behind the dialogue don’t want major changes happen that could bring real democracy to the country but rather put fat in the fire, Divide To Rule. The EU presents the country with an ultimatum again with the organization of an hasty election and Andry Rajoelina swallow the bait in his conquest for international recognition though already and widely recognized by all Malagasy, what’s matter the native Malagasy or the Europeans .

Andrydago at The Cyber Observer had the opportunity to attend a live broadcast of the US president Barack Obama's speech. The broadcast of the speech was shown at the ACC (American cultural center), Antanimena in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. He wrote about his reactions on the speech.

Raslmetal writes that Madagascar has entered in an era of strikes, when the strikes seem to be ubiquitous.

To celebrate Patrick's first anniversary of blogging, Joan took an interview of him:

Why did I start to blog?

To be frank, I don’t know. You know why? Because when Mr. Stéphane and Mrs. Valerian called me with my team from BUEC for the first time, I never even heard about that “BLOG” Then when I started and surfed around the old bloggers blog at that time, one thing came out from my mind: it’s the only one way where can I make my voice heard, the only one way to make BUEC known, the only one way to have a lot of friends in very short time, the only one way that I can listen from all around the world. That’s why I became fan of blogging.

To get more updates from the FOKO bloggers please visit their Netvibes page and their Flickr account.

Of course, it is not without its critics, but in the sixty brief years since its drafting, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has become the most translated document in the world, has formed the basis of international law, and has given rise to a multi-billion dollar industry of organizations, institutions, and academic departments that observe and analyze the status of human rights around the world, and advocate on behalf of those whose fundamental human rights have been violated. One of these institutions is the University of California at Berkeley's Human Rights Center, which earlier this month convened a conference to bring together leading technologists and human rights advocates in order to “share best practices and develop new strategies for incorporating technology to address human rights abuses.” In addition to the main event in Berkeley, California, there was also a parallel event with live presenters in New York City, and remote viewing hubs where participants contributed via chat and Twitter from Colombia and Egypt.

Rising Voices was well represented at the conference. I spoke in Berkeley about how human rights organizations can use citizen media tools to empower communities affected by human rights abuses to tell their own stories, rather than advocating on behalf of those communities as has traditionally been the model of most advocacy organizations. In New York City Lova Rakotomalala of the Foko Madagascar project explained how Malagasy bloggers used new media tools to report on the human rights violations which took place during the recent presidential coup, as well as to give context to the heated conflict for outside observers who might not know much about Madagascar other than what they have seen in Disney movies. In the small community library of San Javier La Loma, Colombia the participants of HiperBarrio - a citizen media project that just won a Prix Award for best digital community - gathered to view the live stream of the Berkeley conference and continue the discussion about human rights with local students.

Sharing his thoughts about the New York City Human Rights barcamp with the rest of the Foko community, Lova Rakotomalala writes:

As you know, Foko's primary mission is to document the everyday lives of Malagasy citizens and local agents of environmental change, not record potential human rights violations by their government. Yet, the ongoing crisis decided otherwise for the time being. The hub was a great opportunity to meet and learn first hand from Human Rights activists present at the event.

The presentation went over the background of the crisis, the known human rights violations that were documented since January 09, the use of new media by tools by the dynamic new media users' community in Madagascar (both related and non-related to Foko) and the obstacles for more extensive reporting of current events. We also posit that among all the past and current human rights violations in Madagascar (military repression, limited freedom of speech, arrest etc..) the most glaring offense in our opinion is the 400,000 people (mostly children) currently at risk of hunger in the South because the political deadlock prevents an effective response.

The slides from Lova's presentation are available on Slideshare:

On the outskirts of Medellín the citizen media project HiperBarrio invited students from the neighboring school to sit and watch the live transmission.

San Javier La Loma librarian and HiperBarrio project coordinator Gabriel Vanegas describing the purpose of the conference to students from the community's school.

Catalina Restrepo later described the events of the day on the project's group blog:

At one in the afternoon, the students from the “Educational Institution Loma Hermosa” arrived at the library. The objective was to watch the conference “The Soul of the New Machine”, but the language barrier made it difficult to keep their attention.

Because of this, Gabriel Jaime decided to speak to them a little about human rights, the French Revolution, and about our project.

The different groups of students arrived at intervals. Some were more attentive than others, but they were all witnesses to an event that discussed topics very close to the hard realities that our community lived and continues to live. Here we still haven't seen any process of justice, truth and reconciliation. The victims cry to their relatives in silence and some of the perpetrators pass through the streets of the neighborhood as if nothing happened.

During the last visit of students Professor Álvaro directly interpreted what the speakers of the conference were discussing, such as the importance of databases in gathering information about crimes and massacres in countries like Peru, Guatemala, and Chat, and the enormous challenges facing experts who must organize, protect, and encrypt the data in case the hard drives are stolen.

Despite all the language-related difficulties, the technical language of the experts, and the lack of seating in our small but precious library, the simple fact that a community like our own can take part in a conference of experts discussing the topic of human rights from thousands of kilometers away is a milestone without precedent.

HiperBarrio is, in fact, a perfect example of the new era of human rights advocacy. Before Professor Álvaro Ramírez and Gabriel Vanegas decided to teach young library users from the community how to blog and upload short video documentaries to YouTube, the only online references to San Javier La Loma all came from foreign activist-journalists and human rights organizations eager to portray the violence that took place in the region throughout the 90's, and up to 2003. In his own words, Gabriel Vanegas wanted to rescue the community's history, culture, and idiosyncrasies so that its online representation was more accurate of its offline reality. That is not to say that the project's bloggers haven't covered the violence that affected, and continues to affect, all of their lives; Deneiber Xady has written compellingly about growing up in a near warzone. However, the bloggers of HiperBarrio are also happy to point out all the positive aspects of San Javier La Loma that are often overlooked by outsiders and residents alike.

Some human rights organizations have already realized that they can better serve a community by training its residents how to tell their own stories online, rather than speaking on their behalf. The Jesuit Refugee Service in collaboration with Ancla 2, for example, has trained a group of youth who have been affected by violence along the Venezuela-Colombia border how to publish photos and stories to a group blog. Similarly, Panos London worked with the African HIV Policy Network last autumn to teach HIV-positive immigrants living in London how to produce their own videos. Open Society Institute's support of Rising Voices health-related grantees have enabled bloggers like Pavel Kutsev to describe first-hand what life is like in a community that most of us choose to ignore, such as injection drug users.

Still, the majority of multi-million dollar human rights organizations spend their time and money gathering statistics and publishing reports without ever giving the communities they work with a chance to speak for themselves. There is a long road ahead, but we seem to be on the right path.

Foko Blog Club members from Tamatave and ESSVA arranged a get together in front of TLC in Barikadimy’s campus in Tamatave and they had a wonderful time. Patrick posts a video (above) where we can see the participants enjoying their time.

But a tragedy overshadowed their trip. Frédéric Tsiatosika Rakotondrajao (21), a student of ESSVAcomm, unexpectedly died in a tragic accident in Tahiti Kely Beach during his stay in Tamatave. Randy writes:

It was at Tamatave, on the beach said Miou-Miou, while he was swimming with her classmates in a study trip. The sea current is treacherous. Frederick has learned to its cost.

He went on to describe the lack of rescue boat and facilities, which could have saved him.

New Media Workshop For Malagasy Journalists At The APC - Photo by Tahina

On April 24th a workshop on new media was held at the American Press Center. Heri Zo, who previously worked with FOKO led the workshop helped by the Telomiova crew and Foko members. Tahina writes:

We started with the micro-blogging on Twitter.

Ando was among the journalists who were interested in the workshop. And here is a video of her telling what she thinks of it.

After explaining them the basis of Twitter and its basic use we told them that it is also possible to tweet from a mobile phone. A very useful feature for a reporter on site. We tried to activate their mobiles but the setup was costly. The international SMSs are 5 times more expensive than the local ones and this is still a big issue in developing countries like Madagascar.

Ariniaina writes about Tanà miblaogy (Tanà blogging) – a gathering of bloggers from Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar:

In fact, this “Tanà miblaogy” was the 5th edition but was the first one my friends and I attended. My first impression was good cuz we had a very nice talk.

Some faces were new for me: Tattum, Tony Rakoto and Elsifaka. Nice to meet you guys.

Tana Miblaogy 5, Photo by Ariniaina

Tattum describes the bloggers of the meet. In this meet the bloggers used the opportunity to share about their experiences on blogging. Tahina wrote:

The most interesting part for me is no doubt when they shared their experiences during the on going political crisis. The difficulties bloggers have to face when they are on site.

Lova Rakotomalala writes in details how Foko Madagacar was represented in the Soul of the New Machine Human Rights Conference in New York. He tells:

Foko primary mission is to document the everyday lives of Malagasy citizens and local agents of environmental change, not record potential human rights violations by their government. Yet, the ongoing crisis decided otherwise for the time being.

Tahina, one of the managers of the Foko Ushahidi platform discusses about the background of the initiative in an interview with Solana Larsen for Global Voices Online.

Graffiti on the wall. Photo by Tahina

Diana describes about a car blowing up in front of her as part of the violence that ensued the strikes in Madagascar.

For more updates please follow the FOKO Blogs and FOKO Twitters.

A couple of weeks ago we got this sad news from Avylavitra that baby Kamba suddenly fell ill and has died after he was taken to a hospital. Avylavitra shares some words of resolution:

Let’s remember the wonderful work we did together for Kamba, keep it in your minds as one of the most beautiful memories and don’t give up on the many little Kamba who still need your help (…)

Diana wrote an emotional piece in her blog:

Thanks to him I know a lot about life. I keep thanking all those angels up today. Kamba, a farewell to the smallest Foko member.

Surely what the FOKO bloggers did for baby Kamba will be remembered by many across the world and be an inspiration for more social activism.

Image courtesy of Pakysee

Joan highlights the bloggers of ESSVA (Ecole Supérieure Spécialisée du Vakinankaratra) in Antsirabe where FOKO initiated its outreach activities in October 2008. Many who learned blogging there are still continuing. As Joan writes:

Imahaka, Raslmetal and Micramia were also very alert and took part at relaying news during this 2009 political crisis (they joined Facebook, Twitter and the Ushahidi Squad). We were also very happy to learn from Randy that the bloggers are still very motivated and have helped opening dozens of new blogs since.

Here are what some of the bloggers from ESSVA wrote:

Pchutedia urges others to watch the movie Slumdog Millionaire which is based on India.

Andrikely wrote:

After the manifestation of pro-Ravalomanana to Ambohijatovo in the city of Antananarivo, Antsirabe people led by the local authority began to express their distrust in government. The demonstrators have been meeting at the Avenue of Independence in the city since 25 March.

Imahaka writes that the current Malagasy society faces aids because they do not take enough precautions.

Now lets focus on the other FOKO bloggers. Patrick writes on the unsafe fashions of the Malagasy youth:

There are many young people who imitates a foreign fashion ..without thinking of the consequences such as: to tattoo, to do a piercing,…. In this case, it effects our precious bodies. Just imagine a young girls aged 18 ..with their small miniskirts which let others to see their buttocks, that provokes a rape temptation.

Rondro contemplates on the origins of the current political crisis in Madagascar:

Seems that the origin of all these crises are searching for property of a developing country and wanting to exploit the wealth of the poor of Madagascar. If so, open your eyes malgaches, we are no longer in the era of colonization … ..

Julienne wrote about the nails mystery.

Foko bloggers were highlighted in the international media for their role during the recent political crisis in Madagascar. They continued to send eyewitness accounts of the political turmoil.

Image courtesy Stephane

Here Andrydago writes “I remember that it happened on Saturday March 28th, 2009″.

Ariniaina posted photos of the protests of Ravalomanana supporters, who was ousted by Andry Rajoelina. Ariniaina also reports that citizen journalists were threatened by the military.

Tahina posted some backgrounds on the protests against Andry Rajoelina power takeover. He also posted a video of Razily, who protested on the March 28, 2009. He was later arrested and this video has made him a hero among supporters of Ravalomanana:

Tahina also posted photos and accounts of the protests on that day. More photos can be found in his Flickr account.

Image courtesy Ariniaina

On March 19, 2009 FOKO Madagascar organized a workshop on how to use Foko-Ushahidi, the crisis monitoring tool. Ariniaina writes about the proceedings:

This workshop was organized by Stéphane and led by Tahina…Recently, FOKO has signed up at this website called Ushahidi which means “Testimony”. Yes, and, from now, you are all invited to share all events you have witnessed at this link: http://foko.ushahidi.com

Tahina explaining the use of Ushahidi. Photo courtesy Foko Madagascar

Diana explaining the use of faecbook on twitter. Photo courtesy Foko Madagascar