FOKO Madagascar

Our community is celebrating its 2 year anniversary this October. The Foko Blog Clubs always start with workshops in cybercafés where  volunteers from the precedent round teach very simple new media tools such as blogging and   pictures. Video workshops were very difficult to plan given the quality of connexion. The learning curve from activists who are used to be more involved in the field than virtually was regularly progressing and everyone always took care at supporting each other as much as possible when time and money permitted. 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 (read article on Foko Blog Club from The Courrier International blog). In order to learn more about these amazing personalities we’ve started since January 2009 a serie of interviews celebrating their first year of blogging. You will learn the real reasons behind their online activism and discover (like we did) the keys to sustainability.It mainly resides in the bloggers’ passion for Citizen Media.

Find out Who is Imahaka? Who is Rasmetal?Who is Moonlight?

Reaching to the provinces was one of the greatest challenges at the Foko Blog Club. We have to thank this time the  generosity of each coordinator who have been the real heroes to Foko’s successes. Jaona or Patrick were never afraid to make the long trips from Fianarantsoa or Tamatave to Antananarivo to join the events scheduled by Stephane. They never forget to share with their communities and send news  from their corner of the island. We were very proud when both of them have been selected to join events abroad. Jaona described his Monterrey’s trip as a mission to voice out the activism of Malagasy Youth in ICT and Education and this month Patrick was invited at Addis Abebba as a special reporter for the Rising Voices during the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) conference . He also took the time – despite his very busy schedule as tour guide, student in management at the Bsrikadimy’s university and BUEC English Club webmaster - to help singer Razia Said find places for her pledge to plant 10000 trees for Zebunation reforestation project.

Looking for the right place where we can plant a trees

Last month, Foko was present at UN summit on Climate Change and it was an opportunity to advocate Madagascar’s environmental echues but also its causes. Stephane’s work from G20 summit where he met tcktcktck activists was echoed by  the entire Foko community on the Blog Action Day on October 15th. Antsirabe bloggers were the first to update theor blogs thanks to the support of their teacher Randy. At least 8 posts calling for local Action on Climate Change were posted by this amazing group of leaders who have been giving a lot to let the world know that Madagascar’s youths are standing proudly and are ready to act more ! and don’t forget they were the activists providing first hand news to international media thanks to bridges such as Ushahidi, or Twitter networks, so always keep a careful eye on what Foko bloggers are streaming from Madagascar to the world !

Links and Twitts from Dagomc and Tahina following the Afrobasket Women 2009 competition in Antananarivo.

I’ve seen a better Madagascar
The miracle did not occure. We didn’t expect one but we also didn’t think of losing by as much as +50pts (39 to 90). The Malagasy team was not a match for the Senegalese in the 4th day of the tournament. Senegal remains then at the top of Group A. “Self confidence”, we didn’t have it once we steped on to the court yesterday. We knew it was going to be hard and a win was out of reach but that should not have prevented us from playing a better basketball. It is so frustrating to see your team . Note : Madagascar was supposed to host the FIBA Africa Women Championship in 1972 but could not because of the unrest at the time. This year, almost the same thing was about to happen. A problem of unpaid wages was evoked yesterday as the responsables of the stats claimed what was due to them. It is said that they had a talk to the Federation and everything has been settled.having a poor game though you know they can do better.

When FOKO started exactly 2 years ago, we had on our agenda a panel of ideas that we creatively wanted to turn into successful projects. With the help of Madagascar based activitists we reached to associations and individuals which already had experiences in working with communities and where recognized for their efforts in social activism. After a very active winter ( in the southern hemisphere) with mutliple workshops and gathering, September came as month where our efforts became recognized internationally and where the coordinators at FOKO had the chance to give back to the world which means….travelling cross the oceans to add Madagascar’s citizens’ voices to echues such as ICT and Education, Fight against poverty and Climate Change.

FOKO Efforts in promoting Citizen Journalism during the 2009 Political unrest

Many Twitterers based in Madagascar were already actively reporting on the events but FOKO bloggers took thei activism further by going on site and finally in June 2009 hosting a second barcamp this time dedicated to Citizen Journalism. Coordinators invited the journalists members of the Antananarivo American Press Center to transfer their weekly Friday Talk meeting at Barcamp location and mix with citizen media communities. This event was also an opportunity  for Lova, coordinator based in the US to finally meet the bloggers who has been corresponding through blogs for years. Patrick who is FOKO’s most active blogger came with HKambora and Cunie from Tamatave who were impatient to share their stories covering political manifestations on this side of the country. After few meetings in Antananarivo, Lova and Global Voices Libgua translator the French journalist and FOKO’s number one Fan headed to Majunga to support the social activist Zouboon and little Kamba’s family (please read Kamba’s story reported by Avylavitra and Diana). Randy from ESSVA Antsirabe took also a part in this extraordinary event by bringing along with him students from this notorious Malagasy school of Journalism (many of ESSVA graduate and FOKO bloggers are now working at national media). A BBC article summarize their involvement and the neutral position of bloggers during the crisis and a photography workshop helped them improving their skills.

FOKO  Efforts in promotiong ICT in Education published and exposed in media and educational publication

Bloggers from province have hard times finding good connexion and their work remain dependable on these logistical problems but it doesn’t mean that it diminishes the quality of their social activism. Jaona from Fianarantsoa proudly announced us about the mention of FOKO’s exemplary achievements in promoting new initiatives in ICT for Education in a UN-GAID publication and was invited by the international francophone agency to introduce FOKO’s work. Hopefully he will be able to share more on this amazing opportunity part of UN Millenium Development Goals on his blog, during a future workshop in Fianarantsoa or an interview. Locally BUEC students from Tamatave organized a tree planting a their university to show their commitment to Madagascar’s environmental preservation. Their work was reported on national newspaper Midi Madagascar which brought them a great sense of proudness and gave Malagasy youth inspiration in getting more involved in environmental initiatives.

FOKO Efforts in promoting social activism in fighting against poverty and climate change shared on international stage

Stéphane,co-founder and only FOKO coordonator based in Madagascar, is tirelessly travelling from provinces to provinces and communities to communities since 2007. He was on the verge of planning , yet, another tree planting outing with Malagasy-American singer Razia who is partnering with FOKO in her 10000 trees project when the invitation by Oxfam America White Speak and Act initiative to attend and cover UN summit on Climate Change in New York city. Only 40 bloggers worldwide were invited to this opportunity to ask our leaders about their commitment to fight Climate change and Stéphane is getting ready to report the events in to Malagasy, French and English speaking communities from his blog and on FOKO. On the same week, he will join Voiceteam as well in Pittsburgh to attend G20 summit and this time will bring light to Fight against poverty. FOKO was also committed in reducing poverty in Madagascar since Stéphane’s trip in Kelilalina in 2007 where he met local communities and brought their voices to the world. But this doesn’t mean that a blogger has to travel cross the ocean to promote their social activism. Patricia, one of FOKO’s youngest blogger, has attended a special UNICEF photography workshop to help Malagasy youth take pictures of the causes that were close to their heart. At her level and with FOKO spirit in mind, she is taking part in reducing poverty around her…

from Kelilalina

“Dairy overproduction amongst farmer with minimal prices”
Today farmers who rise dairy cows meet overproducion problems in the city of Antsirabe, and especially in the Betafo region (26 kilometers west of the city). Most of these farmers depend on the collect that TIKo does, as it is the principal producer of dairy products, but consumers have reduced their intake since the crisis. And so milk is sold by the bottle in the streets at the lowest cost, to avoid total loss by the farmers, they also now make home made yogurt, and there is too many of those on the streets and consumption diminishes day by day. Milk is useless if one does not sell it on the same day. Milk can also be used to make cheese (informally), but the price is not correlated to the quantity of milk to be used. So these farmers have to find any means to gain revenue based on their own production.”

And as always, but with a special mention to Patrick, kudos to our members whose enthusiasm and consistency at blogging should be noted. We are proud of you.

March and April were trying months for Foko bloggers since the 2009 political crisis had threaten their daily lives and created economical struggles all around the country. As many members were also starting classes at University there were less blog updates in April but they are waiting for you to post comments!

March 2009

Here are our blog updates on Rising Voices :
My heart is crying for little Kamba – Mitomany an’i Kamba kely ny foko
More news and stories from Foko bloggers from the provinces of Madagascar

From Locations :

Manifestations du 27/02/09 à Fianarantsoa
La vie continue chez les Foko
1 an de blogging, qu’en penses-tu Pati?
Updates on the Foko/Ushahidi & twitter crisis report initiative
What’s up in Tamatave and Fianarantsoa?
Malagasy forests in danger : SOS Masoala !
That’s from Tamatave
[Tananarive] The New Experiences We’ve Got From The Interviews We Had
1 an de blogging, qu’en penses-tu Lomelle?

April 2009

Here are our blog updates on Rising Voices :
Foko sharing Citizen Media experiences to Communities

From Locations :

Any Citizen Media activities from the provinces? 14 new blogs in a March !
Foko Clubs à Madagascar
Have you heard from Tamatave bloggers lately?
Mettez vos twitters à jour !
We urge you to Post comments on Jelona’s blog (and the rest of FBCs)

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Videos

Voice from BUEC from Tamatave

Morning Song from Tamatave

Mr Ludger’s first speech from Tamatave

Patrick and  Bosco from Tamatave

Small Bosco from Tamatave

New Media Workshop at ACP from r1lta

March protests from Ariniaina

Pictures

Interviews with BBC/Irinews Christina Corbett

Manifestations in Fianarantsoa from Jelona

Foko Ushahidi workshop

Volley-Beach in Tamatave from Layshyuu

ESSVA in Tamatave from Layshyuu

Journalists, Youth Clubs, Students, Bloggers, … During the month of April, many activities and events were attended by the bloggers on their own initiatives. We must remind here that this is an important step for our organization. When members of Foko community get to promote Citizen media and initiate activites on their own in order to become spokeperson for Foko without the  implication of the co-founders (who were also very busy this month).

Antananarivo Miblaogy 5 : Behind the nicknames, real life activists

Ariniaina and ICE Club members of Foko were heavily representing the new generation of bloggers at this edition. As usual it was a semi-private meeting between bloggers from the capitale were they has an opportunitiy to share about their experiences on blogging. Tahina, shares :

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. And me, I was like a kid doing what I think I’m best at … listening, laughing and snapping some shots

Foko introduced to Malagasy Diaspora in France : Thank you Sipagasy

Without the support of the Malagasy blogosphere, the Foko Blog Club project couldn’t have got nowhere. Sipagasy who was there from the beginning by commenting and participating on forums and chatrooms, took her activism further for the past 18 months. She was one of the supporters at the “Class of 2008 graduation party” and also visited Patricia in Brussels during her September 2008 Interdependance Conference trip. This April, she was our spokeperson in Nantes were 5000 Malagasy meet every year for the annual RNS (Rencontres Nationales Sportives – National Sport Meetings). Many asked about the purposes of the Foko Blog Club project and why blogging is important to Malagasy Youth. Of course it was surprise to them to learn that hundreds of young Malagasy were updating their blogs from provinces where the connexion is very difficult to get. They also asked if it was only for leisure as blogging is a very popular tool for French teens to express themselves. But Sipagasy told them about activism during this 2009 political crisis and shared videos and pictures from the many many social activities where Foko bloggers got very involved.

From Sipagasy album

New York Soul of the New Machine Conference : Lova tells about his Foko involvment in Human Rights, technology and new media

Lova who was strongly relaying on the bloggers from their twitters and blogs on the development of the 2009 political crisis had the opportunity to share about Foko’s activities :

As you know, 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. The hub was a great opportunity to meet and learn first hand from Human Rights activists present at the event.

The participants also discussed about the The Foko Ushahidi plateform specifically data accuracy, fact-checking and the use of mobile reporting. And Tahina, to Solana Larsen of Global Voices has more details on the tremendious work Foko bloggers are doing :

there were a few obstacles to overcome but FrontlineSMS developpers ( Alex Anderson, Carlos Genz and Ken Banks) provided timely technical support and sped up the release of a new version they were working on to take into account the urgent need for an SMS/computer interface for the Madagascar crisis. We cannot thank them enough for helping us establish the first project to collect SMS reports directly onto a computer via the intelliSMS software.
The Ushahidi team was also tremendous in setting up the platform quickly and showing us how to modify the interface to allow for the translation of key words, categories and timeline.

Friday  Talk at Antananarivo American Press Center : teaching New Media tools to journalists

Bloggers were invited by the ACP staff to share their knowledge on New Media tools to journalists. Herizo, among many ICT associations representants, who has already worked with Foko during October 2008 Barcamp and Ebit events, was the lead trainer during this “special workshop”.

Herizo (in blue) From r1lita Flickr Album

Dizains of new Twitter accounts were created but first they had to convince the journalists to take more involvment in New Media which wasn’t an easy part, watch Tahina’s videos :

When Antsirabe meet Tamatave : The power of Love

Randy Donny and Patrick were busy planning the ESSVA annual Spring trip to the provinces and this time they chose Tamatave. After a long trip, they arrived singing and smiling at Bakidimy’s University and were warmly welcomed by all the BUEC and Ravinala guide associations. Videos, Twitters, blog posts were published regularly by Patrick during their meetings.

The wonderful trip took a very sad turn at Tahiti Kely Beach when one of the student was taken by the waves. Randy shares about his protégé Frédéric :

He was just 21 and just got his baccalaureat last year with his friend Parfait. Their teachers from high school contacted me and shared about their financial difficulties to pursue their studies. I didn’t know them at all, I never even met them but I took them under my wings and brought them to Antsirabe. Then I took their cases to the ESSVA grant commission with the intentions to get them to study here. They won’t have to pay fees, I wasn’t disappointed: they made  good grades, have social skills and attended to classes everyday. Frédéric was interested in everything and was always asking around on everything, everyhwere he goes. He was the pride of ESSVA. He was part of the little group I gather and helped so they could succeed in their studies. The Gods of the Sea had decided otherwise and changed Frédéric’s fate.

As we were making our monthly round of reports on FBC activities, we noticed that we didn’t take the time to properly introduce our October 2008 addition, here at the Rising Voices, the talented ESSVA classes of Journalism and Media from Antsirabe.

ESSVA, Ecole Supérieure Spécialisée du Vakinankaratra“ in Antsirabe was founded in 1999 and has became a distinguished professional education center in Madagascar with students coming from all the regions including the Comorros Island to graduate in Journalism, Ecotourism, Management, Education, Engineering and since 2008 in Restauration. Foko had the priviledge to have a citizen media workshop at this prestigious school with Randy Donny a professional journalist who is teaching the 2nd and 3rd year in Communication and Media. Our partnership was renewed when the school staff allowed the students to attend and host the E-bit technology fair in Antananarivo on October 17th helping the entire Foko community to introduce Citizen Media to thousands of Malagasy high-schoolers. After 6 months of activities, this new FBC location is still very active despite the recent events and their heavy school schedule. 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 dizains of new blogs since.

I urge you all to support Imahaka by posting comments on his blog. His latest posts are worth the reading. And we also have new bloggers, we have to put on Foko list because they passed the ’salutation’ stage : http://pchutedia.wordpress.com, http://andrikely.wordpress.com, http://seheno.wordpress.com, http://marcelgallo.wordpress.com, http://nouny.wordpress.com. And we have a new girl from Fianarantsoa http://mahatsiatra.wordpress.com and a student from the Comorros http://zalinasser.wordpress.com. You might keep looking for these new blogs that we still need to be fixed : http://pocahonthas.wordpress.com, http://jtaxx.wordpress.com, http://muldejangama.wordpress.com (a girl from Majunga), http://mirlucia.wordpress.com and http://Nanncy.wordpress.com

Young girl participating at a local talent show! from Imahaka’s blog

As the political crisis is getting new developments but the media focused on the capitale only, Jelona the new coordinator from Fianarantsoa was able to bring more news from his region publishing pictures of daily manifestations. He will put all his energy in training new bloggers to Citizen Media not to cover the events only but also to introduce the extraordinary cultures and traditions Betsileo region.

Jelona’s blog (http://jelona.wordpress.com) was created in March 2008 and is from Fianarantsoa

Patrick, über Twitterer, is by far the most hard working blogger of Foko community when posting videos regularly and bringing wonderful stories from Tamatave’s region. Recently he has helped Julienne to open a blog : http://juleetam.wordpress.com and updated us on the port staff’s strikes, rumours of a Diabe (political march), the results of a Volley Beach tournament and the very touching interview of Bosco :

Do you know why he is walking around alone like this?

Tahina, who is in charge of the Ushahidi aggregator in Antananarivo, has showed to many Foko how to use this new citizen meda tool and many bloggers were interviewed by International Media such as the Wall Street Journal, CNN, Lemonde. Lova is reporting on Ushahidi:

Amidst increasing concerns over the political instability in Madagascar and the safety of local news reporters, citizen media has made an important  contribution to the understanding and documentation of on-site based reports.

Report news from your location by texting directly to Ushahidi

Foko Pictures on Flickr

Back in April 2008, Diana Chamia, a student at the school of journalism of Majunga, published Kamba’s story and called for help. Dozens of bloggers and internauts all over the world contributed to a campaign to bring the baby to Antananarivo for surgery in June 2008. (cf: Rising Voices post) Diana was joined by people with big heart who dedicated time and love to Kamba and this family kept on caring for him when they got back to Majunga after a successful operation. Avylavitra became a close friend, an uncle, who was the first to let us know about the sad news of Kamba’s sudden passing.

Mitomany an’i Kamba kely ny foko 

Many of you heard about the story of Kamba (his name was Antefindrazana Tombotsara, he was born on June 7th 2007 in Mahabibo, Mahajanga). The child was brought to neurosurgery in HJRA to operate his rare illness and the successful operation was relayed by medis such as Midi Flash or Madagascar Tribune.

We did our best to give him the best health care possible, humanly possible, but Andriamanitra, our God who gives and takes back, called little Kamba to be next to him this morning. (…)

This morning, as one of my friends who was also close to the family called and told us about an urgent news – Kamba had to be rushed to the hospital after another crisis – we had to send his mother phone credits in Mahajanga by E-recharge so she could call us, here in Antananarivo, as soon as she meets a specialist and gives us more details on the situation. After we sent the credits and waited for her to call back, I ran out of patience and made the call myself. She gave me the time to finish my questioning and thanked me for the credits then in a burst of tears told me :

He is gone, uncle, our little Kamba is gone! My child has died! It has nothing to do with his Antananarivo’s trip but Kamba has died!

(…) For all of you who knew him, who have heard of him and all of you who just know about him from this post, I want to let you know that Kamba is still in our hearts, alive. Keep praying for the little twin sister, he left behind. Keep praying for his mother who did everything in her power to find the best and filled the little time he spent in this world with joy and happiness. 

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 (…)

From Gazety Avylavitra, March 19th 2008

2008 events also available on Rising Voices wiki 

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As the project is expanding and groups are very active in their locations, we have decided to get more bloggers involved in the coordination and management of their own group. Since December 2008, we gave each leader more responsabilities in distributing the digital cameras and internet connexion hours but also on  reporting and organizing their own activities. Our second Self-Evaluation wouldn’t have been possible without the commitment of Tahina in Antananarivo, Patrick in Tamatave (http://club.foko-madagascar.org/author/patrick/),Randy in Antsirabe (http://club.foko-madagascar.org/author/randy) and now Jaona from Fianarantsoa (http://club.foko-madagascar.org/author/jaona). Facebook and Twitter have also been very active network between the Foko but also to share the news from the 2009 political crisis, more than 20 bloggers have opened a Facebook account (thanks to Lomelle) and 10 onTwitter (with updates from mobile phones).

February 2009

Here are our blog updates on Rising Voices :

Second Self-Evaluation http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/foko/2009/03/02/foko-blog-club-second-self-evaluation/

Citizen Media tools to describe the struggles of a population http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/foko/2009/02/

From Locations :

Ushahidi Comme Outil De Média Citoyen Lors De Crise

Exemplary works of Citizen Journalism from Antsirabe, Tamatave, Diego and Majunga

Twitter updates bring to light the intense networking between Foko bloggers

Antananarivo bloggers actively reporting on the 2009 political crisis

FBC tamatave

Challenges FBC Tana Faces During This Crisis

Manifestations du 27/02/09 à Fianarantsoa

January 2009

Here are our blog updates on Rising Voices :

January 2009 : a month of collective activism to remember at Foko http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/foko/2009/01/

New! Podcasts and Videos : http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/foko/2009/01/

2009 New year’s eve in Tamatave

(Antananarivo) Foko Picnic at Ambohidratrimo

Majunga, plus qu’une ville

Reporting on the progress of the Blog Club project initiated by Foko-Madagascar a year ago has always been a great honor but this article wouldn’t have been possible without the updates of Tahina, Lova, Randy and Patrick. From the times when we were only 4 to start this project, we didn’t change much to the Malagasy blogosphere, which was already very active and doing amazing collective work, but we sure helped shaping its landscape. After training dizains of bloggers around the island with the help of the Rising Voices community, we managed to put the word “Foko”, “tribe, community”, to reality. Last August, we were facing many challenges but were proud of the successes we made in a very short time and, of course, with very few resources. Six months later, most of the logistical problems still remain but we discovered that we were not only few to solve them anymore on our own, that the entire Foko network was committed to make the project the greatest Citizen Media experience and in its special way : a sustainable one!

How did we solve the internet connexion problems?

In general, this problem is not solved yet. Since there is no place offering free internet connexion in the country, we dedicated our energy to find cheaper locations and motivate the bloggers by distributing connexion hours using what is left of the Rising Voices grant, the Mada English Journal payments and little donations by fans. Theo and Patrick from BUEC were advised to use the University of Tamatave’s cybercafé which offers less expensive fees even if they have to face long queues and very low speed but it didn’t keep them from becoming one of the most active group. Paradoxically, ESSVA school in Antsirabe offers free connexion to their students but with only one computer for hundreds in a tiny library there is very little time for inspiration and….discretion. In Antananarivo where some of the bloggers have internet at work, we noticed a strong sense of community and ingenuity when it comes to loading videos and pictures. As the project is expanding to new locations where internet is less available or costly, we always have to look for the easiest solution when approaching a new community : “do they have a cheap cyberafé nearby, like in Tamatave ? do they have internet, is it an organization or a school? does the community have a “handy” techie, to help out when it comes to editing or basics ICT knowledge?….”

The lack or the high costs of internet connexion won’t keep Citizen Media from reaching the regions and becoming a powerful source of reliable news in Madagascar but the network we managed to build will keep on seeking/calling for more partnerships and sponsorships to facilitate our work.

How did we solve the organisational echues?

When you take the time to read the posts published on our Netvibes page, you can easily understand how diversified and active the community has become. Even though strategical and financial key decisions are still made by the co-founders, we respected the internal existing hierarchies to take directions on their own community (presidents of each associations distributing connexion hours, taking decisions on meetings, for distribution of digital cameras…). Randy, who is a teacher at ESSVA, is very confident in his team’s potentials and has always been an inspiration to future journalists of the community. Patrick is giving one by one training to the student’s at Barikadimy BUEC and when they don’t have the time, with the help of Theo and Cunie, they are patiently filling their “window” with great reportages on cultural and social events in Tamatave. Their commitment to the Blog Club project doesn’t only justify the necessity to take more collegial decisions when it comes to “team work” but more frequently now the coordinator has to rely completly on the community . Lova, for instance, in implementing the Ushahidi project for the 2009 political unrest has met difficulties with the coordination and the short time he had. Without Tahina’s techical and moral support, the release of this powerful Citizen Media tool would have taken more time. But when it comes to networking and supporting, Lomelle’s work and dedication has to be underlined. As one of the senior blogger at Foko, from the same school of Journalism as Diana in Majunga, she has initiated a very strong sense of community and helped dizains of bloggers to join multiple online social networks. Her friendly invitations to join Twitter or Facebook have been answered by “unreachable” bloggers to us, coordinators, but who are close friends to her (after their meetings at Barcamp and Ebit or just by texting and mailing).

The simple task of posting comments on Foko blogs was the duty of coordinators. When the likes of Tahina, Lomelle, Patrick, Ariniaina and Solofo engaged conversations and start debates in the comments section in place of the easy encouragement they are used to (”good post, keep up the good work”…), this is the moment when we knew a new generation is taking the lead at Foko.

How about our work in Citizen Media and ICT vulgarization in Madagascar?

Making headlines, fighting for a rightful cause, teaching ICT to youth, taking part in the coverage of a crisis or a cyclone, organizing tech events…Each bloggers at Foko have been personally commited to at least two or even three of these activities which made our network noticeable by media in Madagascar but also internationally. Giving opportunities to showcase skills and social activism was one of our goals with the Foko Blog Club project. For example when a teen like Pati manages to bring Malagasy youth voice to an International Youth Conference then shares about her Citizen Media experiences on television. Tamatave’s club is planning to team up with Theo for his project helping disabled youth; more efforts are going to be made in the regions to develop ICT to youth; individually, bloggers have trained friends to Citizen Media and helped to open new blogs; Moma and Patrick want to do more to promote tourism in Madagascar when we only get to read diaspora or foreigners insights; Koloina has joined the Global Voices in Malagasy squad and helping to promote the website; as many members are training in journalism and communication, strong sense of emulation is created and the more readers and recognition they get the more professional their work become – professional websites have invited Foko citizen journalists to submit their pictures and videos.

In a country where the media are mostly to manipulate crowds and censorship used to shut voices, citizen journalism remains very risky. Most of the bloggers at Foko don’t publish on the political events that are presently occuring in the country. Anonymity, safety and neutrality were our best advices to each other. But the assurance that someone is going to read the articles is the best way to support their activism and the only way for Foko to reach sustainability !

So please keep reading HKambora, Zouboon, MoonlightGirl, Micramia and soon Fianarantsoa’s blogs to show them your appreciation and support.

During the past two weeks, the bloggers of the Foko network have taken fully charges of every aspect of the Citizen Media project. Twitter was the object of everyone’s interest when we advised  to connect their Facebook accounts to this micro-blogging tool, Antsa and Koloina jumped on the idea and Tahina shared his experience with mobile phone updates on this very active thread (the community is very actively exchanging tips everyday on facebook, blogs and mails). So don’t forget to update your Twitter contacts  list:

“efa ele no niandrasako ny momba ny twitter ka kisaotra betsaka tamin`ny fanazavana raha toa ka mila more fanazavana dia manontany eny ihany e! koloina”

I was looking for a way to learn to open my twitter account, thank you for the explanations when I get to it I will come back to you guyz for more questions.

“wep j’ai essayé le texto sur twitter, pas mal, le coût est le même qu’un sms international, ça dépend donc de votre opérateur en tous cas pour zain c’est 340 et quelques ariary.”

wep i tried texting on twitter, it costs an international sms, it depends on your operator but on zain it’s 340 and something ariary.

 Patrick on his facebook status updated with Twitter on February 7th during Cyclone Gaël alert .

One of our prioriry was to bring more and more news from the provinces. Not only because of the very little place they take on mainstream media but also to share to the world the cultural diversity and great potentials of each regions. The return of Zouboon, one of School of Journalism of Majunga talented student, to blogging was good news litterally to all of us. With her articles, mostly written in Malagasy, she adresses, in a very skilled and sensitive way, to matters that occupy the everyday lives of people in Majunga.  When she reports on the difficult return to life after the riots (which also took place in her town on January 27th), she uses an interesting and very professional perspective putting in exemple people she took the time to interview on the streets : Milamin-dratsy i Majunga – Majunga is strangely calm

“Mifaritra eny amin’ny endriky ny vahoaka hatramin’izao ny fahatsapana fa mbola tsy ao anatin’ny fandriampahalemana tanteraka isika(…)Ramatoa Vero na I maman’I Dada araky ny fahalalan’ny maro azy dia milaza mazava tsara hoe “raha vao taratara ny fidiran’ny ankizy mody avy ampianarana dia efa miasa ny lohako sao ka nisy zavatra najoa azy indray sanatria”

Everyone has on mind that we are not in peace yet. Ramatoa Vero or Dada’s mom as everyone call her is very clear on this : “when my kids are late from school I am always very worried something happened to them” *ndrl: many towns in Madagascar are still applying curfews from 8pm to 5 am.

Koloina, who is now a part of the great translators team at GlobalVoices in Malagasy, is sharing the news from Sambava which is the capital of the Vanilla rich region, SAVA . 

“Raha ny any Sambava manokana no resahina dia miaina ao anaty tebiaeby tanteraka ny mponina any noon y disadisam-poloitika sy ny ahiay amin’ny tsy fandriam-pahalemana eo koa ny tsaho iasankarazany. Tsy izany ihany anefa eo koa ny olana aterakin’ny tsy fisian’ny herin’aratra any antoerana ka tsy ahafahan’olona miaina tsara ampilaminana. Na mba te-hanara-baovao aza dia tsy dia tena mahazo vahina loatra saria adin’ny telo na mahery kely isan’andro no mba azon’izy ireo ampiasana ny herinarara (…) Betsaka ireo trano fisakafoanana manary ny tahirin-tsakafony to ny karazan-tsakafo vita avy amin’ny ronona sy ireo hazan-dranomasina isankarazany.”

In Sambava people are worried about the political movements and for their own safety. But the most of their problems is coming from the lack of electricity which keeps them from resuming to normal life. Even if you want to hear news from the radio, you can only get electricity for 3 hours per day (…) Many restaurants have to throw away their foods (seafood, milk,…) because they can’t keep it refrigerated.

And Layshyuu the most prolific videoblogger of the entire Malagasy blogosphere (we hope more and more Foko will join him) illustrates the struggles of the population who depend on tourism and vanilla exportations by showing a video of the market of Bazar Kely in Tamatave under extreme conditions. *ndrl : all Madagascar is still under the threat of a very active and potentially damageavble yearly cyclone season.

please watch his video here

Of course, we are still dealing with the challenges of finding (cheaper) connexions, transfering videos, motivating the troops and even found new obstacles at practicing this passion that Citizen Media has become for all of us. We will expose our problems and successes on the next post for our second self-evalutation 6 months after our first August 2008 one. 

In Antananarivo after learning that all Foko bloggers were safe and sound, we aslo had the extreme sadness to learn that a reporter for the Radio Television channel RTA was among the victims of saturday’ s shooting. His name was Ando, he was a young man whose passion was communication and especially giving a voice to the young Malagasy generation.

As a member of the journalist community, Ando understood the contribution of citizen media to the media landscape in Madagascar if it is done properly. He sought out Foko bloggers and interviewed them for RTA.

More importantly, Ando became a dear friend to bloggers. They visited his family and paid a last hommage to a friend. Additionally, Lomelle and Pakysse gave tribute to his life and what he meant to them in blog posts.

Lomelle writes (fr):

je rends surtout hommage pour Ando journaliste de la RTA qui a reçu une balle et qui en est mort [..] Les membres de Foko se souviendra toujours de lui a travers ce reportage qu’il a fait de nous/( translation):
I especially would like to pay tribute to Ando, reporter for RTA who dies from gun shots [..] Foko members will always remember him thanks to the documentary he made of us.
 

Pakysse says farewell and explains how they met (mg):

nifankahalalanay roa lahy dia tena naha talanjona tokoa satria dia tany anaty cyber raha iny izy anao emission speciale iny lédala dia niresaka izahay [..] ny tao ariana moa dia maro ny projet fa ny tena nivaingana indrindra dia nanaovany ledala emisson tao @ vaovao city news ny RTA dia nahazo minitra vitsy tao ny mpitoraka bilaogy avy ao @ FOKO/
We happended to meet in a cyber center as he was preparing for a special broadcast. After that, there were a few projects but the one that stood out was the report in vaovao city news for RTA where the Foko bloggers had a minute of airtime.