2nd Abidjan Blog Camp. Image by Nadine Kouamouo

The event took place on the 14th of November 2009 at the Fondation Les Amis de l'Excellence in Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast. Information about the program and participants can be found here [fr].

The project leader of Abidjan Blog Camps Théophile Kouamouo wrote [fr] about the expected participants in an invitation published in his blog:

The target? People who already blogging and want to share their more experienced “tip”. Stakeholders? Those who have a theme to develop in twenty minutes, and who are willing to distinguish themselves through a comment below this post.

He listed [fr] the program:

There will be four speakers:
- Nadine Kouamouo, who will speak of liveblogging, notably about Twitter and CoveritLive.
- Israël Yoroba of Le Blog De Yoro, who will speak about referencing and maintaining a blog over time.
- Manassé Dehe (cartunelo) will show how to produce audio podcasts and video and publish them.
- Theophile Kouamouo (myself). I will speak of blogging in the workplace.

Register by clicking this link: http://abidjanblogcamp.eventbrite.com

2nd abidjan blogcamp. Image by Nadine Kouamouo

10 participants with blogging experience attended the blog camp. However, Nadine Kouamouo mentions [fr] that they had hoped of more participants. This event was live blogged by Nadine [fr]. The transcript tells that there was a bonus for the participants - a discussion on blogging under pseudonyms.

Here is a video [fr] of an interview with Israël Yoroba, who talks about the blog camp:

Theophile looks back [fr] at the success of the workshop and announces future plans of the project:

It seemed important at the outset to educate journalists, opinion leaders and influential, who have the habit of writing, the practice of the blog. We subsequently created the framework for cross-training of those who are already blogging - and will continue to meet and learn from each other within the BlogCamps.

Now it is for us to go to groups less naturally well disposed but which would benefit from blogging. We want to start by artists, writers and musicians. Perhaps in a single session, perhaps two, depending on enrollment.

We expect bloggers, blog readers and members of these groups they help us to have contacts with writers, musicians, agents and managers. This will help them share our project and to organize the next BlogCamp in early December.

2nd Abidjan blog camps participants. Image by Nadine Kouamouo

In a recent post Theophile wrote about the linguistic barrier which divides the African web (bloggers, developers, entrepreneur) like the “Berlin Wall”.

It may seem almost impossible to read afro-bloggers who write in a language we do not know - although a friend pointed out to me that Google Translate is not for dogs

Beyond what can be considered like interpersonal communication problems, it seems that the linguistic challenge is also a technological and economic challenge for us. For example, large platforms like Facebook and Google are safe to translate their interfaces in as many languages as possible, simply because they want to expand their user base and their financial value, simply.

Should we not do the same? How many Kenyan or South African start-ups are interested by developments in Côte d'Ivoire and Gabon? How many Cameroonian startups would benefit to cross the border and conquer Nigeria? I think that investor’s interest would increase if we could develop online brands which go beyond language barriers. In this regard, the blogging platform Maneno shows the path.

Ivorian Wedding. Image by Elia Varela Sera

It's really a shame that the Abidjan lagoon (named Ebrie), is now extremely polluted and in some parts of the city it stinks like a dumpster. But at night, when you can't see the fowl color of the water and the trash littering its banks, it's really quite a lovely view to enjoy sit on a terrace next to it sipping a beer.

Now let us look at some posts from Ivorian blogs [fr]:

Houedanou explains “how to create a personal website in 3 steps”. The blogger also writes about the African email scams and the Google Money kit scam.

Euclid Okolou writes about the spread of scams via sms to mobile phones instead of emails.

Israël Yoroba informs that Avenue 225, a local radio station has launched the first ever radio webcast in Ivory coast. Yoroba also writes about a debate which took place in the Deutsche Welle akademie titled “New Media for a New World: Democracy and Development“:

Roger Kasse writes a multi part report on the ill practices of private medical clinics and shops in Vavoua region. He also writes about the challenges the African bloggers face to blog - the internet is slow and costly, it takes time to blog, tools like pc and camera are not easily available etc.

Richman posts this interesting picture with the apt title “Sustainable development”:

Sustainable Development. Image by Richman Mvouama

While it can run, let's go. The decor is done with the resources available. It is also sustainable development.

Nadine Kouamouo writes about a local geek who engaged in the community service voluntarily and helped many:

I have learned through Facebook this morning. My friend Manasseh Dehe was made available to all for providing help on how to use the WAP service for mobile phones. [..] He was happy to help twenty people today [..] and I too can now “twitter” on my phone.

Telecommunications companies should support such initiatives. Those of who opens the eyes of users on specific applications. It is not enough to just note that the “customers” do not use many applications available to them by the operators. We must help those who are willing to “educate” … only “glamorous” advertising campaigns are not enough.

Tobias Eigen at Kabissa hails the project:

The founder, Ruthie Ackerman, was recently interviewed on Media Bistro, which you can listen to online here. (via Rising Voices mailing list)

I recommend the interview if you have the bandwidth to listen to it. In it, Ruthie explains Liberia and the project to an American audience - her perspective is very interesting and she's clearly committed to Liberia and to providing a platform for Liberians to have a voice and to connect with each other, both in Liberia and in the Diaspora.

The blogging project is described as “hyper local” which I found illuminating and worth emulating in other communities, the idea being to create blogging clubs in local communities that meet regularly and encourage more people to get involved in blogging - in this case in Staten Island, New York and Monrovia. The benefits then are larger since it is a social media powered online project, so people around the world can participate.

350.org, an international campaign dedicated to building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis, thanks Ceasefire Liberia and writes:

On October 24, Ceasefire Liberia, a citizen media project of Rising Voices, joined members of their own community, and the rest of the world, in lending their voices to demand swift action on climate change. The day included a parade, educational programs, and the signing of a global petition, as well as enabled Liberia to connect their efforts to the global 350 movement.

Saki G writes in the CeaseFire Liberia Blog:

In Liberia, the youth of Wood Camp in collaboration with the Youth Crime Watch of Liberia in Paynesville, added their voices to the global chorus, challenging key stakeholders who will be meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009, to commit themselves to the climate deal that will define a new direction in the fight against climate change.  The campaign, which started with a parade through the principal streets of Wood Camp, saw students from three schools in Paynesville forming part of the campaign.

Saki G took this video in the Wood Camp area of Paynesville, Monrovia as part of the day of climate action on October 24, 2009:

In a recent roundup of the project, Ruthie Ackerman notes:

October has proven to be our best month yet (so far). We have hit a new record with the sheer number of blog posts we have published on the site and we are being inundated with requests from bloggers to blog for us. This proves that Liberians want to interact more in the blogosphere and just needed a space to do so collectively. Many of our bloggers are now on Facebook as well so the social media contagion is really catching on.

Read the roundup in details.

Now we will highlight some of the interesting blog posts written and published by the Ceasefire Liberia Bloggers:

Liberia is launching new biometric passports:

The new biometric Liberian passports are being introduced in order to put Liberia on par with all other countries the world over to meet the global requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Compliant Machine Readable Passports.

Photography workshop Monrovia -by Ruthie Ackerman:

Photographer Glenna Gordon recently concluded a UNICEF-sponsored photography training workshop in Monrovia, which trained Liberian journalists on editing, picture taking skills, and street photography.

Glenna Gordon comments on the workshop:

The hardest thing is communicating the idea that you have to spend a lot of time working at taking pictures before you actually take good pictures. And a lot of time in one place, working on one story. Everyone in the workshop wants to do that, but wanting to do that and having the resources to do that are two very different things.

Combating Corruption:

Saliho Donzo urges Liberians to use common sense to combat corruption:

many Liberians are asking themselves this simple question: What is the way out? I strongly believe that there are ways out. Below are some possible solutions:

• 1. Nationalism: We must at all times demonstrate love and devotion to our country. This is the only way forward as a people.
• 2.Government Priorities: One way to minimize corruption is for the government to prioritize the following: construction of infrastructure, building of roads or the reconstruction of already damaged roads, the availability of safe drinking water and electricity, good health system, and education, and paying civil servants on time.

Pavel Kutsev taking medication

A week ago Rising Voices published a story about a visit of a delegation from Russia harm reduction activists to Ukraine and methadone site in Kiev. As it was mentioned, a journalist from one of the biggest Russian news paper Moskovskiy Komsomolets, Anastasia Kuzina was a member of the delegation.

After a visit Anastasia wrote a detailed report about the implementation of substitution therapy programs in Ukraine, concluding that such programs could help to stop HIV/AIDS and the TB epidemic in Russia. The leader of Drop-in Center, Pavel Kutsev featured her article.

Here is what Anastasia wrote about the visit on the Methadone site:

10 AM. There is a short line next to entrance of the pharmacology clinic called “Sociotherapy”. I see a poster on the wall in Ukrainian: “Not all people are alcoholics or drug addicts, but all alcoholics and drug addicts are people”. This is “the site” – a place where patients of substitution therapy receive pills of Methadone and Buprenorphine.

There are no very young people in line. Most of them are in their 30's, but there are a few of 40's and older. Each person has a story. There is a person with crutch, a mother holding a small child …

I am entering the site together with Pavel Kutsev. He is a journalist. He is 48 and he is an opiate addict. He and his wife Yanina, the editor-in chief for a newsletter for drug addicts “Motylek” has been in the program for a year and a half.

“Sometimes I hear that substitution therapy is a legalization of drugs” says Pavel. “No, it is the legalization of drug addicts. Addiction is a snowball of problems. Starting substitution therapy you start dealing with them. Later on you can start thinking about givin drugs up completely.”

“What are the most common associations that people have about drugs?” asked Pavel “Everybody would say: death, crime, children without parents, infections, asocial lifestyle. Now let's take a person taking substitute medications. He will not die because of drug overdose. He does not participate in criminal activity. He re-establishes relations with the family. He is able to treat HIV, TB and hepatitis. Moreover, he stops taking drugs intravenously, thus reduces risks of spreading infection. Substitution therapy reduces the most dangerous consequence of the drug addiction.”

A nurse is greeting us. She has to assess the health of the patient, provide the medication, and make sure the patient has taken it (sometimes she crushes the pill with a glass) and make proper records. The nurse is taking three pills from a bottle and, with a piece of folded paper, put them directly to Pavel’s mouth. He is swallowing them up with a bit of water and showing his tongue to the nurse. There is nothing in the mouth. The nurse is nodding and the next person enters the site.

A significant part of Anastasia’s article focused on analyses of whether it would be useful to implement harm reduction programs in Russia. She writes:

In Russia, Methadone is perceived with bewilderment and indignation. But this is because just a few people know how it works.

All over the world there is a category of people with drug addiction which can not be treated by traditional therapy or rehabilitation. Among the reasons are age and the lifestyle of a person. Here I have the statistics on Ukrainian participants of substitution therapy.

Kiev – 55 people, average age – 32, years on drug – 13, all 55 are HIV positive, 53 are positive on hepatitis B and C, 18 have TB.

Odessa – 55 people, average age – 40, years on drugs – 20, HIV positive -38, positive on hepatitis – 20, TB – 12…

With such medical records a person will not be accepted in any rehab program. Substitution therapy is right for them – for people who were rejected by all clinics and hospitals. For 10-20 years they have been living in a circle “to get money – to inject – to get money –to inject”. But “to get money” means to steal, “to inject” means to transfer infections or receive an overdose of drugs…

When a person comes to the program for the first time, doctors select a dose which fits him/her, a dose which allows a normal life rather than looking for street drugs. Taking opiate medication excludes even the possibility of taking street drugs as they just stop working - they do not have any effect any more.

The journalist continues her article with an overview of the situation with substitution therapy in the world. She wrote:

A person has to choose. That is why all over the world the substitution therapy exists together with prevention programs, clinics and rehab centers as well as a group therapy. In many countries only 20 to 40 percent of the drug addicts go for substitution therapy …

Substitution therapy is not just a tool to stop the HIV epidemic; it also helps revive one's own life: get back personal documents, a family, a job; receive a social security and legal assistance. Substitution therapy can be used to increasing motivation in the treatment of HIV and TB. Normally substitution therapy patients have high levels of adherence to the treatment - they do not miss intake of medications and tests.

Anastasia finishes her story quoting a professor from Kazan State University (Russia) and WHO expert Mr. Vladimir Mendelevich. He said:

A drug addict normally pays 30-50 dollars for a drug. While participating in substitution therapy people stop buying drugs thus taking away millions of dollars from the drug market. The cost of the treatment of one patient is $480 a year. That is why a million of people participate in substitution therapy in many countries, including Muslim countries such as Iran and Afghanistan. There are 500 Methadone centers in China alone.

Hiperbarrio member Camela is appalled by the theft and she calls it a “desecration”. Argos points out what the library means to the community:

This is our workplace, our meeting place and the only place of public open permanently to the community in a territory that has no parks, public spaces or platforms.

The robbers came through the roof and used the shelves as ladder

Catalina Restrepo writes:

“For eight days our souls have departed“, said Gabriel Jaime Vanegas every time they ask him about what happened in the library of La Loma. Today there are many voices calling for the dissemination of this press release through their sites and social networks:

“If you consider the public library as a place of encounter, knowledge and service to the community for over 50 years, it is unacceptable that some take for themselves what belong to another property, intangible assets and property that belong to the community. [..]

“Thus our community today requires and demands the presence of the authorities responsible so that these criminal acts are not repeated.”

Alvaro Ramirez wonders who are behind the robbery:

The theft is consummated and many questions remain in the air. The key may be what motivates these thieves to enter in a library? [..]

As the statuette was abandoned, I think think this may be (the work of) drug addicts. It is very sad to accept, but in Colombia today, they proliferate and their desperation to get money makes them steal, even from their own family and friends.

And he urges that the pain of this tragic event should be converted into action:

It strikes me that if I were now in Medellin, I would go to all the schools in La Loma. To speak with teachers and offer them a class of an hour with each group to tell them about the theft and ask the kids what they think of the event. It is not going to preach the importance of being honest and to respect the community in which they live. We do this often. It is something more radical. To ask questions and engage into deep thinking with them, and let them express themselves with their own mind and think about the future that awaits us.

Suppressing crime is important and must be stopped. But at the same time it is important to discuss these acts of vandalism, with children, young people and older people to find ways to stop this wave of thefts, threats and intimidation within the villages where we live. I think it important to mobilize quickly, and from below, while putting pressure on government authorities to act.

Argos explains how the society has been ignoring the crimes and the pain of the youth:

Every time we see our loved ones suffer. The young people who have seen it grow are those who feel cornered. Without getting more sense in their lives, no future or opportunity in a society that denies them both. A society that is more interested in the further alienation of people by immersing in football, entertainment and media.

Now let us look at other issues the Hiperbarrio bloggers are blogging about.

The flower museum in San Cristobal. Image courtesy Angela Alvarez

Camela writes about the Halloween celebrations and the need to be careful about the safety of the children:

I believe that young people are invincible and do not understand reasons, at least we should take care to children, because this Halloween, they just want to collect their candy and show off their best costumes. Please, make sure to take them out early to collect their candy and be accompanied by their fathers or elders.

Homohabitus

Henry Elsucio writes about a recent workshop on animation, networking and socio-cultural issues held in Medellin. Hiperbarrio participated in it:

HiperBarrio was invited to socialize their expertise in the room 4: The digital information technologies and communication processes applied to socio-cultural. Besides socializing are two experiences that are of much more interest in what has been generating using Websocial tools. [..]

The interesting thing about this socialization was that attendees ranging from community service organizations, social work professionals, leaders and persons from community action boards and rechargeable HiperBarrio interest in how this project uses the tools of new technologies for building construction citizenship, on the other side's bench was very productive where it could make an important contact with hypertrophic project that showed interest in the work being done in HiperBarrio, exchanged emails and phone for a possible exchange of knowledge.

Colonel Murión criticize the local media for the veneration of narcotic and mob culture which are affecting the social psyche of the youth.

Landscape of Ituango

Meanwhile we have got news from Ituango. The town in situated on the North of Antioquia mountains with beautiful landscapes and kind people as this post describes. Several members of Hiperbarrio visited Ituango for a workshop and cultural week activities but a power cut had postponed the events. “Ituango is an amazing town, a municipality that falls with the human warmth of people who have all the resilient capacity of the world,” writes Catalina Restrepo.

(The translations in this post has been done using Google Translate)

Meeting with the Russian Delegation

A few days ago activists from the harm reduction movement in Russia visited Kiev to learn from their Ukrainian colleagues – leaders from the community of people living with drug addiction, and representatives of the Association of Substitution Therapy Participants. The main event of the meeting was a visit to one of Kiev’s methadone substitution therapy sites. Blogger mimozza described the visit on the Drop-in Center blog.

In Ukraine the government and health care authorities have supported substitution therapy programs as a way of decreasing the spread of HIV, but the Russian government has rejected the public health program, citing a belief that replacing one drug with another can’t be considered medical treatment. For many years Russian harm reduction activists have been fighting for the legalization of methadone programs, but have yet to achieve any noticeable results.   

Mimozza goes on to describeher first impressions of meeting the Russian delegation of substitution therapy activists:

 It seemed that it was a meeting of two separate worlds. One world was one reality, the other was its mirrored reflection. In Russia, even combining the words “harm reduction” is considered to be a crime; something that discredits the dignity of “hard working Russian people”… 

After listening of many horrifying stories from Russia we desperately wanted to show the guests something which is not yet attainable for them – how substitution therapy works in practice. So we took them to the methadone site.

At the beginning the group was not received well on the site. Mimozza explains:

On the metahdone site

 We went to the methadone site on the weekend. Out of all medical personnel there was only one nurse, and many patients. At first the substitution therapy patients in line did not even want to let us in. Our explanation that we wanted to show the site to our guests from Russia did not help. We were totally ignored… So, despite the “ Ukrainians' well-known hospitality”, all twenty of us had to stand in line like everybody else….

 When the delegation finally entered the site, the nurse welcomed them as a delegation from Canada, not Russia. After laughing about this, our guests were able to explore how the methadone site worked.

Mimozza reported:

The nurse seemed to be a bit upset that the guests were not from Canada, but later on she switched into pure Russian and let the representatives of Russian delegation, including a journalist from Moskovskiy Komsomolets see and touch the bottles containing “the mortal drug Methadone” and film everything they wanted.  

The guests were impressed how easy everything works. Just come, receive a few pills and go. Super!

 The only question the Russian guest asked after the visit was why the patients were so aggressive. Mimozza explained:

I had to tell them the whole story of how substitution therapy has been implemented. I explained that the idea of the therapy has as many supporters and opponents. There are only three sites in a city of more than 3 million residents. The police come regularly. Often representatives of media who ask to film on the site and record interviews with the patients end up producing very negative and untruthful stories and videos. That is why the patients are fairly negative toward strangers. After all, it is easy to understand their feelings. They are waiting for their treatment , it is the weekend, they have to stay in a line, and the medication they receive is not the best available ….

But at the same time, every patient is ready to come to the site every single day and it does not matter how far the site is. It is better than waking in the morning with horror and only one thought: where to get money for a dose, what to steal, or what else to sell from home.

Yes, the replacement therapy in Ukraine is developing, but the environment is not easy. We would like to change many aspects of the program and we believe that we will able to do this. We are positive that our Ukrainian harm reduction program will be successful.

 At the end of the post Mimozza gives her advice to Russian friends:

I wish success to my Russian brothers. The main thing is not only to convince the elite that it is impossible to stop HIV/AIDS epidemic with repression toward drug addict and pro-Nazi experiments with sick people, but also to gain a support from ordinary citizens….

Now it is unthinkable to stop spreading inflectional diseases among injection drug users without harm reduction programs that also include syringe exchanges, motivational counseling …

The only reasonable solution is the wide introduction of complex solutions that make up the harm reduction program, of which substitution therapy is a vital element. This way it is possible to stop the epidemics of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and tuberculoses, which is growing fast in both of our countries.

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Pavel Kutsev is the co-founder of Drop-In Center, a Ukrainian organization which advocates for the rights of the injection drug user communication and for better national policy related to substitution therapy. In this video he gives us a basic introduction to the “harm reduction from injection drug use” movement, and summarizes the outcomes of a recent conference in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine which sought to establish a national network of harm reduction activists.

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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.

The 2nd annual conference of substitution therapy program participants took place at the beginning of October in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. Pavel Kutsev, a director of the organization Drop-In Center, posted a detailed report of the event on his Web blog.

As per tradition, the conference kicked off with a visit to the methadone site so that the delegates could receive their medications. Pavel was impressed by how efficiently things worked at the site, saying:

A bus brought us to a regular municipal clinic, which had a separate entrance for patients of substitution therapy. There was no line at all. A girl with a 3-year-old child entered the methadone office and was out in 3 to 4 minutes. I was wondering whether it was always like this. When my turn came, I also received my medications very quickly and I realized that this is the norm for this site.

Pavel also posted the key points of his presentation at the conference:

Do not keep silent! The main thing for us is not to stay silent. Our voices have already helped accomplish a lot. Look, when we talk about our needs and concerns, even during our meetings, we can support each other. Nobody cares about substitution therapy as much as we do, so we also need to solve our issues ourselves…

…We realized this during our first meeting a year ago and decided to establish an association or a union. During this past year, we have actively worked to implement our plans. We disputed, discussed, negotiated, suggested. And now we have it – the Association of Substitution Therapy Participants…

Pavel also commented on the diversity of people who attended the conference:

When I realized that each region of Ukraine is represented at the conference, I was amazed. Later on I calculated that if one delegate represents hundreds of patients then potentially we have THOUSANDS of supporters. No doubt, we are strong and have a bright future!…

…Today hardly anyone would doubt the power of the association, which might have a 5 digit number of members in the near future. Thus, this association might soon have a very strong influence on the development of Ukrainian drug policy. The main question is, who will control this powerful tool? Do we fully understand our strength? Will we be able to use our consolidation in the right way? I believe the answers to these questions should define the mission of our association.

The conference was attended by a representative from Russia and a few foreign trainers and observers who, in Pavel's opinion, were very professional and knowledgeable. Here's what Pavel wrote about a trainer named Masha Golovanevskaya:

Masha Golovanevskaya not only represented Open Society Institute, but also bought us a fantastic movie, “FIX: The Story of an Addicted City.” The film is about the formation of a world-known organization VANDU, which unites drug addicts from Canada. We started the conference by watching this movie. It was extremely good! We got a copy of it and I promised Masha that I'd do my best to find a way to translate the movie into Russian and post it in our Internet resources so it will be available to everybody.

The second day of the conference was focused on advocacy issues. Pavel Skala, a facilitator of this session, is an expert in drug policy and a former Interpol staff member. Currently he heads the advocacy department of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. He suggested that participants start creating a list of all the issues that arise in implementing substitution therapy in Ukraine, and then sort the issues based on regional and national problems. Here is what Pavel wrote about this session:

After discussing 16 issues (such as grinding our pills into powder in the hospitals, difficulty in receiving a driver's license, waiting lists for being involved in the program, etc.), we identified three main problems that urgently need our intervention on a national level. They are listed below:

- The continuous process of substitution therapy treatment. Providing the medication every day and even a few times a day when needed;

- Including methadone in the list of medications that are allowed to be purchased by prescription in a drug store. This will improve the effectiveness of substitution therapy and allow people to continue the therapy if they are staying in a hospital where replacement therapy is not provided, or when a person is sick and unable to come to the methadone site.

- Regulating the policy of registering drug addicts and providing patients the opportunity to receive a driver's license on a case by case basis.

That is it! All the other issues were tagged as “local” and solvable at the level of a methadone site or at the regional level.

One question that was discussed was that many medical establishments in Ukraine consider substitution therapy to be a recommendation, not a mandate. This situation was clarified by Dr. Tamara Tretska, deputy director of the Institute of Health Policy Research and the head of the National Substitution Therapy Project. She explained that the Ministry of Health of Ukraine is issuing a new order where substitution therapy is regarded as a “medical practice necessary for the treatment of drug addiction… and use of substitution therapy is mandatory.”

Dr. Tretska's presentation

The third day of the conference was focused on public relations and was facilitated by Nastia Bezverkha, one of the leaders of the youth movement “Obyektyvna realnist,” which unites intellectuals, artists and journalists. Nastia was invited as a media relations trainer and gave a fabulous and informative presentation. In the presentation, Nastia said:

Do you know what the main source of information on drug addiction is? The media

Do you know where the media gets their news? First from the police press service, then from public health workers, then from social workers and only then from drug addicts.

Our voices are only in fourth place, but they should be first!

At the end of the post, Pavel wrote about the main conference outcomes:

After the conference I was looking at my friends and realized that we have become much more confident, full of hope and have future plans.

During the conference we finalized and approved our strategy to develop the association. The conference confirmed our ability to make our own decisions and the independence of our association. The fact that the conference united people from 25 regions of Ukraine proved the unity of like-minded people living with a drug addiction. This is the main element needed to have the capacity to solve issues at the national level.

Historically, libraries have been characterized as spaces for the free access to knowledge in the fields of literature, art, and culture, as well as becoming gathering places for the community. In this spirit, two years ago the Public Pilot Library of Medellín, Colombia at the La Loma site welcomed the participants of Hiperbarrio [es], one of the initial Rising Voices projects, where citizen journalism workshops have been taking place.

Photo of La Loma Library by Convergentes and used with permission. Click on photo to see a larger version of photo.

It is noteworthy that this library was created more than 50 years ago, as an initiative of the residents of La Loma, and throughout its service to the community it has offered classes in literature, painting, and music. The importance of its social role was described by Rezwan at the Rising Voices blog, who notes that that librarian's responsibility goes beyond the simple lending of books.

It is with those reasons that there were united voices of indignation surrounding the events that took place on October 13, which is described by @blueandtanit:

Ladrones robaron el equipo administrativo con información de La Loma, caja menor y El nica de Hiperbarrio en un asalto a la bpp de La Loma.

The director of Hiperbarrio, Álvaro Ramírez described his reaction upon hearing the news. He writes about the consequences of the robbery in his blog Ojo al Texto [es]:

Estoy un poco aturdido. Me concentro y trato de visualizar la modesta y hermosa Biblioteca de La Loma, sus estantes, las mesas y las sillas donde niños y grandes se sientan a diario a leer, a consultar libros, y a conversar.

Alcanzo a imaginar los computadores apagados y en la noche. Un par de intrusos llegan y logran penetrar por el techo. Entran con linternas y comienzan a sacar cosas

(…)

A la mañana siguiente llegan Gabriel Jaime y los otros empleados y encuentran el desastre. Un robo consumado. Un asalto a la comunidad de La Loma y un golpe duro para la Biblioteca Pública Piloto que ha venido dotando, con gran voluntad y paciencia a la filial más antigua de su extendida red de bibliotecas públicas: es decir gratuitas y abiertas para que todos podamos acceder a sus servicios.

(…)

Pienso en el daño que eso representa. En las personas que se van a perjudicar por no poder acceder gratis a los computadores.

Photo of La Loma library by blueandtanit and used under a Creative Commons license. Click on photo to see a larger version of the photo.

News of the robbery soon spread throughout different online networks, and the community also received notes from those who expressed their solidarity during the incident, showing that there is a strong network across the internet. For example, from Chile, Enzo Abbagliati sent a message of support on his blog Cadaunadas [es] after reading the post written by Ramírez:

Cadaunadas varias veces ha sido espacio para la alegría que desde una barriada de Medellín hemos recibido cotidianamente quienes creemos en las bibliotecas públicas como espacio de equidad y construcción de sociedades más democráticas. Reproduzco ahora una triste nota publicada por Álvaro Ramírez en ConVerGentes, quien desde el aturdimiento inicial nos avisa que han robado en la Biblioteca de La Loma. En Chile, en nuestras bibliotecas públicas, a veces sufrimos la misma suerte, la misma frustrante suerte.

¡Animo, amigos de La Loma! Sé que la comunidad estará con ustedes.

Locally, the Colombian digital magazine Equinoxio [es] became one of the first sites to publish news about the acts of vandalism and wrote about the efforts to investigate the crime:

El director de la biblioteca se reunió con las autoridades y con efectivos de la Policía Nacional a fin de coordinar esfuerzos para recuperar los bienes que se llevaron los asaltantes y capturar a los responsables.

Fortunately, the Golden Nicca prize was recovered, as it was found nearby, but the other objects remain missing. A member of Hiperbarrio, Catalina Urquijo of the blog $ujetate (Unknown II) [es] thanked those who sent messages through the different social networking sites:

Ofrecemos nuestros más sinceros agradecimientos a todos aquellos que nos acompañaron por diversos sitios de la red dándonos su apoyo tanto cuando creímos que nos habían robado el nica como ahora.

Finally, Libary Coordinator Gabriel Vanegas of the blog Esas Voces que Nos Llegan [es] summarizes the shock in which, as a public employee, he had to find out about the incident:

Duele ver la ignorancia de quienes perpetúan este delito contra el patrimonio de la comunidad, pero preocupa pensar en quienes dieron la orden de hacerlo y quienes sabiendo y viendo que se hacia no procedieron de manera correcta y oportuna ante las autoridades.

EWAMT 7th workshop participants

Napoleon Bonaparte once said: “let France have good mothers, and she will have good sons.” The same is true for every nation. One can hope that the Rising Voices grantee from Yemen ‘Empowerment of Women Activists in Media Techniques (EWAMT)' can make such impact. Ghaida'a al-Absi in collaboration with the Hand in Hand Initiative is organizing new media training course for female politicians, activists, and human right workers of Yemen to bring more women's voices to the internet and empower them. She shares an interesting experience gathered during the seventh workshop of the project:

On Thursday 15 October, 2009 we hold a workshop on blogging and social networking for ten activists. These activists were really talkative and full of energy. It is like a magic, every time you train new women activists, you got some energy from them.

Sadiq al-Samawi introducing Facebook

The day-long workshop anchored by Ghaida'a included tips like how to blog via email and in the afternoon session Sadiq al-Samawi taught the participants how to use facebook.

Now let us look at some of the blog posts published by the participants of the 7th workshop.

Safa writes about an important issue - the spread of drug abuse in Yemen.

Smile To Life discusses the shocking spread of AIDS and how to raise awareness to prevent this disease.

Dove creativity posts a poem called ‘silent heart‘.

Lafraaaaacp adventure defines love:

Love is when all your interest is about the happiness of your beloved without thinking of yourself.

Sarah loves the children stories and drawings and wishes to post about these.

Meanwhile here are snippets from the blogs of some of the participants of the previous workshops:

Pearl, who writes at Shells blog talks about how a women is forced to do something she does not want because she is deemed weaker in the society. She screams:

“Why don't you understand that we have the right to choose.”

Kholoud at Ambitious Project mentions about another kind of rape:

Image courtesy Kholoud

There are raped ideas .. raped success .. and even raped feelings .. usurpation of land and other types of rape. The most hideous of this is the rape of innocence .. the rape of children. Children raped and stripped from all their rights..
The right to play
To learn
To a dignified life and secure … and are locked up in a dark cave, which is located on the sidelines of life
Simply because they are created only to find themselves living a hard life.

Abeer Aeriqi shares a story how it feels betrayed by your sibling. She also posts an interesting story which has the morale that “we always suffer from severe emotional stupidity, which makes us judge things wrong.”

Eman shares the thoughts of an unsuccessful love and whether people should try over and over before giving up hope on love.

The list of participants' blogs of the EWAMT project can be found in this site.