Tag: IT

Local-Global Youth Development

Folks, the Organic Health Response (OHR) is located on Mfangano Island, Kenya, in the heart of Lake Victoria.  They seek to activate information technology, social solidarity, and environmental sustainability to turn the tide against HIV/AIDS across Lake Victoria.

Over the years we’ve supported OHR’s ICT initiatives, namely a highspeed Internet link from their ICT resource headquarters, the Ekialo Kiona (EK) Center, on Mfangano Island to the nearest mainland city of Kisumu. This record breaking link is East Africa’s longest wifi connection (You can read more here: WiFi to Help Out HIV/AIDS on Mfangano Island).

The Ekialo Kiona Center implements a suite of programs including the innovative Cyber-Voluntary Counseling and Testing Pilot, a computer lab with 17 low-powered Inveneo PCs, an organic demonstration farm and native tree nursery, the world’s first microclinic program for people living HIV/AIDS, and EK-FM, a youth-driven community radio station.

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The Organic Health Response helps connect kids to their local ICT resources by hosting school field trips to the EK computer lab. According to OHR,

“Last week, a group of 15 kids trickled in to the EK Center for their first tour, led by EK’s ICT Coordinator, Brian Mattah. Sounds of excitement bounced off the ferro-cement walls, as little fingers punched away at the keyboards.  For many, this was their first experience in front of a computer screen. In conjunction with a fieldtrip, Mfangano youth are paired with student pen-pals at Rutherford Elementary School in Stillwater, MN. Over the years these kids will learn to communicate with each other via email. At the same time, students in the USA learn about life on Mfangano Island and help raise money to support each field trip.”

The EK Center’s the only high-speed Internet hub on the entire island. For local youth, there are no training facilities in their island communities to support a healthy connection to the outside world.

OHR supports local-global youth development by providing ICT experiences at a young age (computer training, journalism, radio production, and editing skills), in hopes of building and empowering skilled and empowered leaders for the future.  EK-FM youth presenters have been sending us posts over the last few months (More here…). Stay tuned for even more from these talented folks.

 

 

 

The Future of EK Radio

Folks, I’m still working with the Organic Health Response on IT support, and we just got an update in from the radio team on Mfangano Island, Kenya. They interviewed community members and asked them about the future of the radio station. The Ekialo Kiona Radio, EK FM, is proud to be Suba. “Turi alala,” its slogan, means “together” in the local Suba language.

Here’s what they had to say: 

The Organic Health Response (OHR) had a vision to establish a youth-driven, wind-powered, Suba language radio station on Mfangano Island, Kenya. On World AIDS Day Dec. 1st, 2012, OHR successfully launched the radio station EK-FM. Today they broadcast live from a hand-welded communications tower on Mfangano to over 200,000 residents in rural Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

EK-FM is grounded in the philosophy of open community discourse as a cornerstone of holistic and sustainable responses to cultural erosion, environmental degradation, infectious disease, and economic isolation among remote indigenous populations.  

EK-FM mobilizes youth activism, empowers marginalized groups, promotes HIV prevention and treatment services, encourages sustainable agriculture, and most importantly, preserves the endangered indigenous Suba language (Olusuba).EK-FM has had a very impactful first year of broadcast, putting OHR and the Ekialo Kiona Center (with IT support from Craig Newmark) at the center of the Suba cultural map in Kenya.

Last week, youth presenters from the station interviewed community members on Mfangano Island and asked them about the future of EK-FM. This is what they had to say:

      •  “I see EK Radio as the only communication tool for the people of Abasuba and that it will be the only way to help salvage the almost extinct Suba language,” paused Ex-Assistant Chief, Mzee Charles Kasera, a Suba elder who helps run the Ekidiori Radio Program focused on Suba culture.
      • “Aaaaaa …. This is our voice! No one can take it out from us. In fact is has given us, our men, children, and community at large to share together. So, EK is there to stay. It is for eternity,” said Suba, a Piki (Motor cycle) rider on Mfangano Island.
      • “This is the clearest radio station along the Lake Victoria region. It is even clearer than those with sophisticated equipments. I don’t want it to go away since it is my favorite station. Let it stay forever,” said Pema, a boat manager who resides at Kakiimba village in Mfangano Island.
      • “I see a radio station that accommodates thousands of people from different regions in the Island, who have come to seek and experience its services. With all the programs, I see a community that is well informed and equipped with first hand information,” says Nancy Sungu, a young radio presenter with the EK Community Youth Radio.
The newly built, ferro-cement studio on the island. The team moved into the new space in February 2014.
The newly built, ferro-cement studio on the island. The team moved into the new space in February 2014.

11 Disruptors Creating Social Change to Follow on Twitter

Hey, it’s easy to get overwhelmed thinking about all of the big problems that need fixing in the world. With issues like bad actors preventing folks from voting  and the search for news we can trust, how do we expect to react to colossal disasters, global health crises, and other really big stuff?

The deal is that sometimes the best thing to keep you moving forward is to learn from people who are already working to change the world and set things right. Fortunately, there are lots of inspiring, smart people doing great things. They are builders and thinkers, disruptors, innovators, and philanthropists.

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I’ve compiled a list of some of the Top 11 social change makers who really are making the world a better place. I hope they inspire you to change the world too.

(in no particular order…)

1. Fawzia Koofi – Fawzia Koofi is an Afghan politician who has fought for women’s rights and access to education, and has worked to combat violence against women and political corruption. She’s also a candidate in next year’s Afghan presidential election.


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2. Bill McKibben – Bill McKibben is leading a movement to solve the climate crisis. Bill’s an organizer, activist, and co-founder and Chairman of the Board at 350.org, a climate campaign working in 188 countries. He continues to inspire a generation of climate activists.


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3. Jacqueline Novogratz – As the founder of Acumen Fund, Novogratz’s leading with a unique approach to solving global poverty. The businesses that Acumen has invested its patient capital in are providing millions of people with affordable services for healthcare, clean water and energy, and housing.


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4. Bill Gates – Through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and his promotion of the Giving Pledge, Gates has led a movement of philanthropists making big bets and big commitments of wealth for social good. He’s working to eradicate polio and to improve education and global health. Not to mention that he inspires countless entrepreneurs and technologists.


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5. Rangita de Silva de Alwis – Rangita de Silva de Alwis directs the Women in Public Service Project launched by Secretary Clinton and the Global Women’s Leadership Initiative at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The WPSP at the Wilson Center has now grown to affiliate with over 75 partners including government entities, academic institutes, and multilaterals around the world.


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6. Ruth Messinger – Ruth Messinger is President and CEO of American Jewish World Service. Through AJWS, Messinger advocates for human rights and works to end poverty in the developing world. AJWS supports grassroots organizations around the world, and helps communities protect local resources and recover from conflict.


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7. Maggie Doyne – Maggie Doyne  built and leads the Kopila Valley Children’s Home and School in Surkhet, Nepal, which she founded during a year of travel after graduating high school. Doyne encourages young people to volunteer and inspires them to make service personal. She is a Do Something Award winner.


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8. Malala Yousafzai – Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist for women and education. She has overcome being banned from her school, death threats, and an assassination attempt, to champion the right of all children to an education.


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9. Sal Khan – Sal Khan founded the Khan Academy, whose goal is to change education for the better by providing free world-class education for anyone anywhere. Khan has produced more than 4,300 video lessons teaching a wide spectrum of academic subjects, mainly focusing on mathematics and the sciences. In 2012, Time named Salman Khan in its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.


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10. Majora Carter – Majora Carter redefined the field of environmental equality, starting in the South Bronx. Now she’s leading the local economic development movement across the US. Carter was awarded a 2005 MacArthur “genius” grant,and advocates for eco-friendly practices (such as green and cool roofs) and, equally important, job training and green-related economic development. Carter has formed the economic consulting and planning firm, the Majora Carter Group.

11. Roya Mahboob – Roya Mahboob is an Afghan entrepreneur and businesswoman. She founded and serves as CEO of the Afghan Citadel Software Company, a full-service software development company based in Herat, Afghanistan. She has received attention for being among the first IT female CEOs in Afghanistan, where it is still relatively rare for women to work outside the home. Roya was named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People In The World for 2013 for her work in building internet classrooms in high schools in Afghanistan and for Women’s Annex, a multilingual blog and video site hosted by Film Annex.


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What other change makers inspire you, and who would you add to this list?

 

My First Job: What Big Blue Once Was

My first real job was at IBM, in the old Boca Raton lab, in 1976. (Important: IBM has become a very different company in the last twenty years, so please assume none of this applies to the current company. Also, this is all to my recollection, and memory is unreliable.)

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The offer was made early, and sounded great. I’ve never been in love with the beach, but thought it might be fun to live near the ocean, and live in a city whose name means “mouse’s mouth.”

The job was in “advanced technology” and dealt with systems architecture.

It took a few years to sink in, but turns out that in corporate language, “advanced tech” is a euphemism: It isn’t what it sounds like. But the software design process didn’t include asking actual customers about usability. I discovered later on, through founding craigslist, that listening to people is about the smartest thing you can do.

I got involved in some software development. That led to some customer involvement, but I was too easy to read, and customers looked to my reactions to see if marketing was, say, stretching things. We nerds are not great salespeople.

After some years, the opportunity to transfer to IBM in Detroit was made, to be involved in a joint effort with General Motors to do factory automation work. Well, I took the offer.

Detroit was pretty good for me, I liked the people and got involved with the local science fiction community, and the local artists community.

After a total of seventeen years, IBM was going through a lot of changes. I took a really good buyout offer and ended up moving to San Francisco, where I got another job and a few years later started craigslist in my spare time.

Photo: Adam Jenkins/Flickr

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