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Jacobs's Friends
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Women Activist and The Right To Vote
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A Message for all women
THIS IS MOVING. HOW QUICKLY WE FORGET.....IF ....WE EVER KNEW......
WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE
This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago.
Remember, it was not until 1920
that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote.
The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed
nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking
for the vote.
And by the end of the night, they were barely alive.
Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing
went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of
'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'
(Lucy Burns)
They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above
her head an d left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping
for air.
(Dora Lewis)
They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her
head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate,
Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack.
Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging,
beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.
Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917,
when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his
guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because
they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right
to vote.
For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their
food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.
(Alice Paul)
When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks
until word was smuggled out to the press.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners.pdf
So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because-
-why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work?
Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?
Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new
movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle
these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling
booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.
All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the
actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote.
Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege.
Sometimes it was inconvenient.
My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history,
saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk
about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought
kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said.
'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use,
my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger
women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The
right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'
HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history,
social studies and government teachers would include the movie in
their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere
else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing,
but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think
a little shock therapy is in order.
It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade
a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be
permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor
refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy.
The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.'
Please, if you are so inclined , pass this on to all the women you know.
We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so
hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.
History is being made.
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| September 6, 2008 | 10:59 PM |
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Day 2: Patient Generated Content
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Refreshed and ready for Med 2.0 day two. One of the topics that I’m finding most interesting here is the discussion about online patient support groups and patient generated content.
Yesterday, while presenting his study of people living with HIV/AIDS use of online support groups, Neil Coulson challenged the assumption that those receiving support online are feeling more supported, and thus experiencing better health outcomes. Although he mentioned that there might be some difficulty with his study methods, his results indicated that there didn’t seem to be much difference between people who were frequent, infrequent or non users.
On the other hand, though, this morning Joanne Mayoh made a case for patient generated content, citing Darwikinism (the rigourous patrol of content by online peers and experts) as the main reason to trust it.
I realize that I can sometimes judge technologies based on the theory, rather than reality. Closer looks is what this conference is all about.
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| September 5, 2008 | 12:09 PM |
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Day One: Medicine 2.0 Congress
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First day of Medicine 2.0 today. In general, the conference hasn’t focused on my global health and tech interests but is looking at practical solutions for Western health issues. It was probably naive of me, but I didn’t expect such an academic focus: the presenters keep reminding us that they’re not tech people, but rather sociologists, anthropologists and epidemiologists. In my head, technology is this explosive, creative, exciting thing that constantly surprises and challenges me. The approaches highlighted here are pragmatic rather than mindblowing. So I’m missing the global health elements, but learning a lot about practical approaches to public health and physician support online.
I always need a few days to process, but for now here are some links:
Jason Bonander from the Center for Disease Control presented on his research into how people are presenting their health behaviours and risks online by collecting data from 100 open Myspace profiles (eg, people who identified their body type or who could be seen smoking in their profile pictures). His view seems to be that people are already sharing health data online — lets build widgits to channel this info into prevention. He also mentioned a project called RiskBot that seems very interesting but I can’t find any more online…
Canadian Medical Association’s online initiatives MyDoctor.ca and the just-launched Asklepios offer services for Canadian physicians including professional networking and web development. The patient platforms are geared towards chronic disease monitoring and electronic health records.
OntarioMD offers similar (but seemingly more polished and responsive) sites for Ontario doctors. They have broken things down into three work modes and three corresponding sites: clinical, practice management and collaboration, acknowledging that physicians are spending significant amounts of time outside of clinical activities.
Bloggers Jen McCabe Gorman and Berty Mesko presented as well, though I only caught the end of the presentation.
More tomorrow!
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| September 4, 2008 | 7:09 AM |
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Message aux membres de TIG ! CMJ 2008
About this event: 4th World Youth Congress - Quebec City 2008
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Salut Eric,
Un grand salut à toute la communauté TIG !
Ce message était une réponse à un article de Éric Dombou, mais je pense qu'il peut être applicable à tous mes amis et membres de cette formidable communauté de jeunes leaders qui n'est autre que TakingITGlobal.
À Éric,
J'ai véritablement apprécié tes commentaires à propos de la communauté TIG, une communauté qui s'épanouit et se développe, jour après jour, grâce à son équipe de personnel dynamique et enthousiaste certes (que j'ai eu la chance de connaître depuis janvier 2008 grâce à mon travail comme Coordinateur de l'engagement des jeunes de Montréal au Canada), mais aussi et surtout grâce à ses membres qui sont tout aussi actifs, engagés dans leurs communautés pour bâtir un monde meilleur où les jeunes occupent une place prépondérante dans la société.
J'ai participé aussi au Congrès Mondial des Jeunes qui s'est déroulé en Août dernier à l'Université Laval à Québec, qui fêtait son 400e anniversaire. Mon expérience au congrès était fantastique: d'une part, j'ai eu la chance de rencontrer les membres du personnel de TIG physiquement, j'en avais rencontré plusieurs avant le congrès, mais c'était la première fois que je rencontrais Jennifer, Mike, Nick, Justine, Incia et Kirsten entre autres et que je réalisais leur passion pour la jeunesse et son épanouissement. D'autre part, j'ai rencontré physiquement toujours des membres de TIG que je connaissais virtuellement tels Adama Diop, Kabiné Doumbia et compagnie.
J'espère que j'aurais la chance de rencontrer un plus grand nombre de membres de TIG dans les prochaines années que ce soit dans des événements internationaux comme le Congrès Mondial des Jeunes en Turquie en 2010 ou lors d'événements en ligne comme notre Chat sur les Changements climatiques qui s'est déroulé en 2008 !
Bonne continuation dans vos projets !
AU plaisir de vous rencontrer en ligne ou physiquement
Photo collective des participants à la Table de la Francophonie en compagnie de Jennifer Corriero, Fondatrice et Directrice Exécutive de TakingITGlobal - Dans le cadre du 4e Congrès Mondial des Jeunes 2008: www.wyc2008.qc.ca
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| September 3, 2008 | 8:06 PM |
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AIDS 2006 Toronto –> AIDS 2008 Mexico City
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One of the questions that I keep getting asked is how the most recent AIDS conference was from the last one. I met some people at the conference who had been to the last 7 or 8, so they’d be better at describing the conference’s evolution, but here are a few thoughts from me.
First of all, I was a very different participant in each. In 2006 in Toronto I helped Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief with their booth in the Global Village but didn’t have access to the conference sessions. Elbow to elbow with other NGOs and activist organizations, I remember learning exponentially about the different aspects of the pandemic, about just how many social groups it affects. I also felt a lot of solidarity with the other civil society groups, the positive result of so many people in one spot trying to make change.
At Mexico City this month, my press pass allowed me beyond the Global Village and into the Conference itself. Being media made the experience totally different adding a distance between me and what was going on. Where the Global Village was the activism, the Conference was the institution. Its academics and international bureaucrats present themselves as the pragmatists, focused on treatment and cures as well as cost-effectiveness and scale up. I felt passive in sessions and plenaries, excited to hear the latest research and initiatives, but without the action and momentum that I’d felt in Toronto.
Where the Conference and the Global Village seemed to meet was on the topic of prevention. With much hype the Lancet released its first series on prevention, and with it the AIDS institution acknowledged that there won’t be a magic bullet response to the pandemic. At the last conference, it seemed as though universal fixes were still on the agenda. While vaccine and microbicide research continues, the “softer” approach of structural and behavioural prevention approaches were admitted into the private club of institutional solutions to AIDS.
To some, the fact that research hasn’t resulted in a cure or vaccine and that the battle against AIDS is going to require a combination of different approaches is disheartening. But the overall feeling of the conference was one of hope, of small successes, of understanding next steps.
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| August 28, 2008 | 9:08 AM |
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International Development Undergraduates, writing.
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The Undercurrent Canadian Undergraduate Journal of Development Studies publishes open source academic papers by Canada’s International Development undergrads, covering topics from indigenous land rights to microcredit to media representation of the developing world.
Undercurrent aims to:
- To raise the profile of undergraduate IDS
- To establish a venue in which young scholars may undergo constructive review and have work published
- To provide the best examples of work currently being done in undergraduate IDS programmes in Canada
- To stimulate creative scholarship, dialogue and debate about the theory and practice of development
- To provide a learning opportunity for contributors, staff and readers
- And to help students meaningfully participate in broader exchanges within IDS.
And I’ve just joined the team as the Editor-In-Chief! Look out for the December issue that we’re working on right now.
In other news, I’m headed to Medicine 2.0 at the beginning of September. So excited to connect with people who are using the internet to give people more power over their own health, to manage health data, to work on prevention. The final program came out yesterday and there doesn’t seem to have a lot of global health stuff, but I’m hoping to be pleasantly surprised!
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| August 22, 2008 | 9:08 AM |
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Congrès Mondial des Jeunes REGENERATION 2008
About this event: 4th World Youth Congress - Quebec City 2008
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Le Congrès Mondial des jeunes qui a débuté le 10 Août s'achève ce soir. On avait commencé à s'habituer à cette petite famille de 500 délégués, staff et clan leaders, et à nos aller-retours sur l'énorme campus de l'Université de Laval. Maintenant, chacun va rentrer chez soi, propager les valeurs de solidarité, de respect et d'ouverture qui nous rassemblaient pendant ces 11 jours.
Ce qui m'a le plus interpellé, c'est de voir qu'il n'y avait pas de barrière. Dès l'arrivée à l'aéroport, nous avons rencontré des délégués et naturellement nous nous sommes présentés, avec cette envie d'en savoir plus, d'en apprendre plus sur l'autre. Cette ouverture devrait être rendue obligatoire dans tous les lieux publics! lol ca serait tellement plus agréable si on pouvait parler aux gens qu'on ne connait pas pour justement les connaitre, sans se heurter à des barrières telles que la peur de l'autre ou le refus de s'ouvrir...
Quoiqu'il en soit, j'ai passé de très bons moments à Québec, et je tiens à remercier le clan des IROQUOIS et notre clan leader Catherine car nous avons passé un excellent séjour lors du projet d'action à l'Eco Projet à Québec et l'ambiance était vraiment bonne.
Je regrette une seule chose : que nous n'ayons pas eu accès à Internet dans nos chambres car je n'ai pas pu publier mes articles jour par jour pendant le congrès. J'espère que cette remarque sera prise en compte par la délégation turque pour 2009.
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| August 21, 2008 | 5:08 PM |
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Mon compte-rendu- Congrès Mondial des Jeunes
About this event: 4th World Youth Congress - Quebec City 2008
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Un salut chaleureux à tous les délégués qui ont participé au 4e Congrès Mondial des Jeunes à la ville de Québec,
Un grand salut aussi à ceux qui ont participé au congrès virtuel,
Tout d'abord, le congrès a représenté, pour moi, une occasion formidable de faire de nouveaux amis qui viennent de différents horizons mais ont en commun la passion pour l'engagement communautaire, le développement de projets novateurs, bref le désir de changer le monde pour un monde plus juste et plus inclusif notamment à l'égard de nous (les jeunes) qui représentent non seulement le futur mais surtout le présent, un présent d'actions dans nos communautés que ce soit en lançant des projets de lutte contre la pauvreté, de lutte contre les changements climatiques, de lutte contre l'analphabétisme ou de projets en ligne qui visent à atteindre les fameux Objectifs du Millénaire pour le Développement.
En ce qui me concerne, depuis un presque an, j'ai lancé sur la plate-forme de TIG et sur mes sites web un projet éducatif ( http://projects.takingitglobal.org/elouarzadi/about/)
qui s'intitule Vivement la poésie !
Vivement la poésie ! est un poème sans fin en cinq versions : Français, Arabe, Anglais, Espagnol et Portugais. Les objectifs sont nobles et variés: promouvoir l'éducation constructive à travers la poésie, inciter les jeunes à exprimer leurs idées, mettre en valeur leurs réalisations et inspirer leurs collègues par la poésie. Un autre but est éducatif: enrichir le vocabulaire des étudiants ou élèves en lançant cette initiative dans les écoles, cégeps, lycées et universités dans plusieurs régions du monde. Ceci sera fait dans les mois à venir grâce au soutien de tous les membres de TIG passionnés de poésie et surtout d'éducation constructive (enseignants, élèves poètes, étudiants universitaires, chanteurs et musiciens joueront un rôle clé dans la promotion de ce projet).
Dans ma communauté, je suis présentateur bénévole du Projet Climatique Canada, une initiative du Prix Nobel et vice-président des États-Unis Al Gore. Dans ce cadre, je fais des présentations à Montréal concernant les actions qu'on peut entreprendre pour diminuer les effets du réchauffement planétaire.
J'ai été aussi bénévole avec Héma-Québec, participant à Shad Valley, un programme d'excellence au Canada.
Je sais que vous aussi, vous entreprenez des actions formidables dans vos communautés respectives. En parlant avec plusieurs d'entre vous, j'ai fait le point sur cette réalité. Je sais aussi qu'il y a certains délégués qui trouvent des problèmes de financement pour leurs projets, j'espère que les ateliers du CMJ 08 vont vous aider à surmonter cet obstacle.
Toujours concernant le CMJ 08, j'ai surtout apprécié le volet ACTION du congrès qui m'a donné l'opportunité de bien comprendre la démarche du compostage pour pouvoir l'appliquer dans ma communauté, j'ai aussi eu l'opportunité de travailler en équipe avec les membres de mon groupe, ce qui était merveilleux également ! On a fait aussi du vélo et on a découvert un parc touristique à Québec.
Finalement, le Congrès virtuel (développé par TakingITGlobal) a été un portail varié et intéressant pour les délégués qui n'ont pas pu participer au congrès.
Merci à Peace Child, TakingITGlobal et à tous les organisateurs, partenaires, chefs de clan et coordinateurs de cette rencontre exceptionnelle de la jeunesse du globe !
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| August 21, 2008 | 4:48 PM |
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Make Art not AIDS
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As I mentioned in a previous post, there seemed to be a lot of visual arts components of the AIDS conference, whether it was aimed at raising awareness or used as an income generating activity for people living with AIDS.
My favourite!
Graffiti ribbon in the Youth Booth, part of the Global Village
The Empower project’s Kumjing dolls from Thailand traveled to Mexico to raise awareness of migrant workers.
Outside of the conference, at the cultural centre in Zocalo, there was a great exhibit on migration. Migration is a significant factor in the spread of AIDS.
The centre also exhibited a public health project for rural women — participants were given a disease to study and then had to make a larger-than-life crafty representation.
The Bead for Life booth in the Global Village had bustling sales of their paper necklaces made by poor women in Uganda.
Fancy Stitch is another income generating project for low income women in South Africa with amazing AIDS-based needle work. It doesn’t look like you can buy these ones, but they’ve got other products for sale online.
One of the friends I made a the conference from the large Canadian contingent works on Body Mapping where HIV positive people use self portraits to explore their status.
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| August 16, 2008 | 11:08 AM |
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Magnifique rencontre de la jeunesse du monde !
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Saluuuuuut chers jeunes délégués francophones,
J'aimerais échanger et parler avec plusieurs d'entre vous. En fait, je suis impressionné par le dynamisme des jeunes du monde entier, les projets qu'ils entreprennent soit en lutte contre les changements climatiques, en développement durable ou en contribuant à l'atteinte des Objectifs du développement du Millénaire.
Concrètement, j'ai échangé avec plusieurs délégués francophones et membres du personnel de TIG tels Kabiné Doumbia, Adama Diop, Justine Castonguay-Payant, Sessi Hounkarin et Simon Gargogne et la liste continue.
J'ai apprécié aussi le fait que les délégués francophones viennnent de pays très différents comme le Madagascar, le Mali, la France, le Maroc, mais qu'ils sont unis par la passion pour l'engagement dans leurs communautés locale et globale, et c'est la raison pour laquelle ils viennent à ce 4e Congrès Mondial des Jeunes.
En terminant, je salue également tous les jeunes qui n'ont pas pu venir au congrès soit à cause de manque de financement ou de difficultés à obtenir le VISA, et je les encourage à se rendre régulièrement au site virtuel du congrès où ils peuvent regarder en direct plusieurs événements marquants de ce congrès, partager leurs projets et idées avec les autres délégués, ajouter des photos des actions qu'ils entreprennent dans leurs pays, ...
Au plaisir de vous rencontrer au Congrès ou en ligne !!
Yassir
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| August 15, 2008 | 3:59 PM |
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Formidable Congres Mondial des Jeunes
About this event: 4th World Youth Congress - Quebec City 2008
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Un grand salut a tous les jeunes delegues participant au congres et surtout a ceux qui n ont pas pu venir a cause de problemes d obtention de VISA ou de financement,
Je peux vous dire que ce Congres demeurera une experience gravee dans ma memoire. Les activites sont tres bien organisees et vraiment diversifiees: ateliers, tables rondes, conferences, concerts, discussions avec delegues ...
Bref, une atmosphere festive, magique et dynamique !
Ce qui m a marque le plus est que les jeunes sont tres ouverts, prets a partager leurs experiences et sont motives a continuer a ameliorer leurs communautes locales pour un changement global dans le monde.
En terminant, j invite tous ceux et toutes celles qui n ont pas pu etre presents a Quebec de participer au Congres virtuel, rendez-vous sur www.wyc2008.qc.ca et partagez vos ides, suivez en direct ce qui se passe au congres et engagez-vous dans les discussions.
N.B. : Depuis le debut du congres, j ai rencontre et discute avec de nombreux delegues venant de toutes les regions du monde, du Madagascar au Canada, du Maroc a Hawai et de la Belgique a l Australie. Mais il reste encore plusieurs delegues avec lesquels je n ai pas encore parle, j espere les rencontrer dans les prochains jours.
Yassir
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| August 14, 2008 | 11:50 PM |
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Look what I can do!
About this category: Peace, Conflict & Governance
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I think if someone were trying to sum up this whole Georgia-Russia-South Ossetia situation then 'Look what I can do!' would be pretty close to it. Because when Georgia started bombing South Ossetia a few days ago it was sort of saying: 'Look what I can do South Ossetian separatist groups and your Russian supporters! I can bomb you until "order is restored"!' Then when Russia retaliated it was sort of saying: 'Look what I can do Georgia! I'm a much bigger military power than you are and I'm not afraid to march right into your country and bomb your civilians right back!' Then Georgia said: 'Go ahead! I'm trying to join NATO and the US and Britain both think I'm great!' Russia: 'Try me!' And so on. Obviously it's a little more complicated than that. So did Georgia think that NATO was going to come to its defense? Because in the end - despite all Russian meddling in South Ossetia - (to the best of my knowledge) Georgia reacted with force first. Which to Russia pretty much translates to: 'Bring it on!' Maybe Georgia's President should have taken a good long look at Chechnya before inviting Russia to come on over. He might also want to check out Afghanistan - and then he might have realized that NATO (of which he is not yet a member anyways) is pretty busy at the moment. Obviously nothing excuses the amount of force used by either side - whatever the situation - and the high amount of civilian casualties, displaced peoples and homes destroyed.
There are a couple of Georgia-Russia Discussion threads on TIG if you want to join in:
Russia-Georgian War in the Current Events Forum and The Conflict in South Ossetia and Georgia in the Peace, Conflict and Governance Forum.
Also if anyone has any sites where first-hand accounts from people in the region are being posted in English please leave me a link!
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| August 14, 2008 | 1:21 PM |
| August 14, 2008 | 8:08 AM |
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Not Welcome
About this event: XVII International AIDS Conference
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A week after President George W. Bush signed legislation repealing the travel restrictions placed on HIV-positive individuals visiting or immigrating into the United States Congresswoman Barbara Lee, from California, shared the process that concluded in the repeal with an audience at the XVII International AIDS Conference. The consequences of travel restrictions like those practiced by the United States, and still practiced by many other countries all over the world, were made clear during the question period. One man came forward to express the sense of betrayal felt by those forced out by the restrictions, he had personal experience as a US citizen living in Canada with a partner who is HIV-positive. He still loved his country, he told the panel, but he was ashamed and angry with his government for initiating the repressive legislation that forced him to choose between his country and his partner, as well as for taking 20 years to address it. The XVI International AIDS Conference, held in Toronto in 2006, drew attention to the restrictions. Many HIV-positive individuals faced difficulties traveling to the conference, since many flights into Canada would take them through the US. Congresswoman Lee attended AIDS 2006 and realized that the only way to put the United States on the "correct side of history", on this particular issue, was to abolish the travel restrictions completely, in her words: "Human rights are not won by appeasement or incrementalism." Although repealing the travel restrictions had support from both Democrats and Republicans, as well as a consensus in the medical community that travel restrictions did nothing to protect public health, it was a time when there was hostility towards any immigrant-related reform amongst the general public. However two years later the repeal is a major step forward, although it is not the final step. It is now up to the Secretary of Health to change regulations to reflect the new legislation. HIV must be taken off of the list of diseases that mean inadmissibility to the United States, but Congresswoman Lee is confident that this will happen soon. So confident she has suggested her constituency, Berkeley, California, be considered for the next International AIDS Conference.
Near the end of the session the conversation was brought back around to other human rights areas where the United States is lacking. One woman approached the microphone to congratulate Congresswoman Lee on her role in repealing the travel restrictions, but also to say that she would not personally attend an AIDS Conference in the United States until an apology was issued for all the human rights abuses it commits in other countries. Although using a session on travel restrictions against HIV-positive individuals as a platform for chiding the US on Iraq, or as she put it "marching into other countries" in the name of democracy, seems slightly inappropriate, it is a part of what the conference is about. Congratulating and celebrating to encourage progress, along with questioning and criticizing to show that we have not forgotten what remains to be addressed.
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AIDS 2008: Big Names or Big Ideas?
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Here at the AIDS Conference, with sessions for more than 20,000 people, attendees have to choose their time wisely. I find myself often wishing that I could be in two places at once, and struggling to decide whether I should go to the sessions on topics I know nothing about, or those that I’ve already got an interest in. Should I go for the big names or the niche experts or the hands-on activists? In keeping with the dominant theme at the conference, I’m taking a combination approach.
Monday started with the big names, including a session with Bill Clinton, full of metaphors about us foot soldiers having to slay the dragon of AIDS in the absence of a Saint George equivalent. Those who know me will understand that I like anyone who makes a Saint analogy. The content was fairly rhetorical, and could have all been found on the Clinton Foundation website. In the stereotypical American way the former president ended his speech with a “God Bless You!”
In the afternoon there was a great session called “Reaching Millions: HIV, Youth and the Digital Age”. The head of Voxiva spoke about a project in Rwanda called TracNet that helps the Ministry of health use mobile phones to collect data on ARV roll-out and a new partnership with Carso Institute in Mexico to support people living with HIV/AIDS using mobile phones (for example, daily dose reminders). TakingITGlobal (who does the Youth Force site for the conference) and the Global Youth Coalition HIV/AIDS spoke about their social networks that connect and provide information for young activists. A young woman called Thembi from Cape Town presented clips from her audio journal that track her journey through AIDS diagnosis and living positively which are available at www.aidsdiary.org. We also heard from Punto J, a dynamic site in South America to help youth access info about HIV/AIDS and sexuality, with lots of comics, etc. Finally, loveLife from South Africa’s new mobile phone project (very low bandwidth) was presented as an alternative to web-based engagement in the face of SA’s high mobile phone use among youth (74 percent own a mobile) versus internet (6 percent of youth access the internet regularly).
On a personal level, attendance at this conference is like stumbling upon that perfect article for your research that you didn’t even know you needed, but making the transition from learning to action is the hard part. I keep on thinking, “What now, what next?”
(I have been recording most sessions so I will have audio files if anyone wants them)
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