Aide-Memoire

Over the years I’ve  been conscious that much of the information we get about Africa is mediated by Western voices.  But here is an initiative that let’s us hear voices from on the ground.  In this case it is the folks from Action Aid in Tanzania, who’ve started a new blog called Jambo Tanzania.

It’s always nice to check out a blog whose first post starts:

To all peace loving people we welcome you to our blog in pursuit of a better world.

Rose Mushi, Albert Jimwaga & Abdul Kajumulo have bravely stepped out & are sharing ideas and experiences on their new blog.

Another thing that Action Aid are fund raising for is their new blog outreach program. The program started in Tanzania last week and this is a great initiative by an Australian NGO using social media to reach out.

Check out the details here & support this innovative initiative that will give a voice to real people who are working to solve real problems.

In real contrast to my old high school (as discussed in yesterday’s post) here is a school that really needs donations.

Kilimani village secretary Juma Hassan lila Kalibu shows off the new computer room at their school - source:

As my friend Stilgherrian describes: “This is Juma Hassan lila Kalibu, secretary of Kilimani village in Zanzibar, showing off the village school’s new computer room. As you can see, it has no computers. Or electricity. Or desks. Or chairs. Or anything, really.”

Unlike my old school (which has excellent computer facilities, swimming pool, etc.) here is a school that does not even have the basics.

One of the big drivers in improving living conditions across an entire society is education.  Basic literacy is one of the foundations of a civil society, and technology is a key enabler of innovation.

It would be great to see all schools with access to technology together with basic literacy tools.

Check out the Action Aid website for ways to help.

Support ActionAid Australia’s search for their next outreach blogger by adding one of these banners to your website or even sign yourself up here.

Since the early days of the internet revolution and web 2.0 I’ve been watching & participating in various ways.

And over the past few years I’ve seen its powerful properties of network amplification working in practice. My friend and colleague Mark Pesce has recently discussed these properties in his Big Ideas talk.

But with all of this I’ve also observed how the internet has amplified our anxiety as well as amplifying goodness.

For example, on Twitter over the past 12 months, it has morphed from a casual communication and community platform into a sales and spruiking platform, with increasingly desperate multi level marketing or affiliate schemes.

It seems to me that much of what we do as humans merely seeks to assuage anxiety, and the internet is the latest place to manifest that anxiety.

So much of the activity that I see online now reeks of desperation and striving to sell, be successful and rich. But it seems that we have the opportunity to create a different kind of world with this technology and its ability to connect people beyond borders and barriers.

Never before have we had technology that supports openness, collaboration and sharing on such a broad scale.  We have the opportunity to use this technology to do good & creative things – like Action Aid’s Project TOTO that I’ve mentioned before, or the recent Live Local Challenge.

Perhaps one way to assuage this anxiety is to use up our personal energy (and use the technology) to change the world for the better in little, local ways every day?  We could choose openness over constriction, expansiveness over constraint, collaboration over competition, sustainability over wanton waste.

For those who continue to think that Twitter is all about pimple faced geeks sitting alone in the dark at home tapping away on their computers here’s another real life event that shows differently.

Last Saturday a bunch of us gathered to farewell our friend Stilgherrian as he takes off on a trip for Action Aid Australia to Tanzania.

We gathered at Kelly’s on King Street in Newtown for a few beverages and a tasty pub meal. Sure there was some dancing, some singing along with the jukebox, and some lively debates about politics, technology, religion and philosophy. But behind it was the serious reality of Stilgherrian’s trip. Tanzania is really different and a bit more dangerous than Newtown.

What’s happening here is that a well known Twitter personality & Crikey correspondent, in the form of @stilgherrian, is participating in a “groundbreaking attempt to bring the causes of poverty closer to the Australian public”.

It’s a one of the many good causes we can support. Check out the Action Aid website to see the different ways you can help out.

Stilgherrian takes off on his trip later this week – you can track his adventures via his blog.  There’s also some more pictures from the farewell gathering on Flickr.

Very soon my dear friend Stilgherrian shall embark on a big adventure in a good cause.  As outlined in this most excellent cartoon by the esteemed FirstDogOnMoon, Stilgherrian is going on a mission for ActionAid. Why not go have a look at the ActionAid site and see how you can get involved too?

Stilgherrian goes to Africa for Action Aid - by First Dog on Moon

Stilgherrian Xmas 2008

My friend and colleague Stilgherrian is involved in one of the more interesting projects around these days: Project TOTO.

Some background
There used to be an NGO called Austcare, and they’ve just changed their name to ActionAid Australia.

Project brief

Late this afternoon I received my first briefing note, and it’s reproduced in full over the jump. However in summary, it appears that I’m going to Tanzania on behalf of ActionAid Australia (from 1 June, that’s the new name of Austcare) to report on what I see, and to establish a blog outpost in the local community.

Now this is going to be a big adventure for a bloke who has not travelled much. There’s already been a lively debate on gnomes and who knows what else will pop up?

Those who’ve seen Stil in full flight on his ustream.tv show already know that hearing about his adventures as he goes off to implement some new technology with the folks in Tanzania will be fascinating. For those new to the force of nature that is Stilgherrian – it might be an interesting ride?