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‘Safe Schools’: Life-Saving Anti-Bullying Program or Radical Sexual Indoctrination? Australians Can’t Agree. · Global Voices
Fiona So

LGBT flag map of Australia. Photo and description from Wikimedia Commons (CC license)
A petition calling for the Australian state government of New South Wales to abandon ‘Safe Schools’ — a program designed to promote acceptance and respect for gay, intersex and gender-diverse students, and implemented in over 500 schools across Australia — has reignited a long-running national debate over whether it is a crucial anti-bullying initiative, or simply a radical attempt at sexual indoctrination.
According to Safe Schools Coalition Australia, the federally-funded program provides free resources and support to school staff in order to foster safer and more inclusive school environments. However, certain aspects of Safe Schools, including encouraging young people to accept that gender is a fluid concept, has alarmed some parents.
The 17,000-strong petition purports to represent the Australian-Chinese community in New South Wales and calls on the state government to “stop the implementation” of Safe Schools. It argues that the program:
When asked to comment, Kenrick Cheah, president of a Chinese community group called the Chinese Australian Forum, said the petition did not represent the views of the entire Chinese community. A Twitter user also pointed to the larger number of people who signed a petition raised in support of Safe Schools:
https://t.co/dqnOR93gbn #safeschools over 32k here? vs ACL 17k?? #auspol
— Baroness Barbara (@barbwodecki) August 23, 2016
Opposition to Safe Schools has arisen from a cross-section of Australian society, including those who identify as LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex or queer):
I'm gay and I hope Safe Schools is thrown in the garbage where it belongs. Marxist propaganda written by losers. https://t.co/4WIRh0UmQo
— Shay Tan (@DTOMVII) August 23, 2016
The issue has also highlighted rifts both between and within the major Australian political parties. In March 2016, a group of about 30 conservative members of parliament, led by Liberal MP George Christensen, signed a similar petition requesting that funding be pulled until a parliamentary inquiry was held into the program's appropriateness. Members of the same party disagreed with their colleagues’ treatment of Safe Schools:
Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman calls George Christensen's comments on Safe Schools program ‘deliberately inflammatory’ on @RNDrive
— Elliott Dunn (@ebie_hd) March 2, 2016
Political infighting sparked a hastily called review into Safe Schools. As a result, the federal government moved to limit certain content to high schools, do away with activities where students role-played as same-sex attracted teenagers, and ‘empower’ parents to have more say in what their children are taught.
Just in: Openly gay Liberal senator @DeanSmithWA backs #safeschools response: “Very responsible decision by the Government” #auspol @abcnews
— Dan Conifer (@DanConifer) March 18, 2016
Some contend that any criticism of Safe Schools immediately invites unwarranted labels of being homophobic. In a post on schooling-focused news website Education HQ, a blogger writes:
Purportedly, Safe Schools are taking a stand against bullying which targets young people of diverse sexual orientation, a worthy goal, but if you delve a little further it appears to go way beyond this. At the risk of being politically incorrect, and possibly labelled as homophobic (because that’s what happens when someone raises legitimate concerns nowadays), I suggest that the Safe Schools Coalition goes much further.
So, I decided to head to their website and I must admit I was shocked by what I saw. The range of resources promoting gender diversity, intersex, bisexual, and homosexual lifestyles was a bit overwhelming… For example, Safe Schools are encouraged to let boys who believe they are a girl to use the girls’ toilets and change facilities. Similarly, girls who believe they are boys can do the same. Am I the only teacher and parent who sees this as a red flag and greatly open to abuse?
While resistance to Safe Schools continues, support for the program is widespread.
The state government of Victoria, for instance, committed to funding the program in all state secondary schools, regardless of federal support. James Merlino, the minister for education for the Australian state of Victoria, has repeatedly reiterated his support for Safe Schools.
Proud to speak at the #safeschools rally tonight. Every child has a right to feel safe, supported & happy at school. pic.twitter.com/NzT1B8vCs6
— James Merlino (@JamesMerlinoMP) March 21, 2016
Furthermore, in response to the paring back of Safe Schools in March, hundreds of academics and health professionals signed open letters to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to express support for the program. One of the letters cited studies showing that LGBTIQ Australians experience six to 14 times higher rates of suicide than their heterosexual peers, as well as higher levels of domestic violence, homelessness, substance abuse and school or job failure.
Other Australians pushed back against the latest petition to take down Safe Schools by stressing its importance in teaching tolerance and inclusion in Australian schools.
Look if u don't want your child exposed to inclusion & understanding of difference then send them to private intolerant schools #safeschools
— Captain Fluffula (@Fluffula) August 23, 2016
Samuel Leighton-Dore, editor of online LGBTIQ community Heaps Gay, wrote:
…today it was spectacularly revealed that a petition signed by 17,000 well-meaning, misinformed and scared parents has been lodged against the Safe Schools program – and yeah, I’m angry about it. So instead I want to write about how initiatives like Wear It Purple Day and Safe Schools are about so much more than sexuality and fostering a culture of tolerance in the schoolyard. I want to write about how they’re about beckoning in a new generation of young adults – adults who inevitably grow into middle-aged men and women of varying manner, religion, disposition, ethics and fulfilment. How they’re about ensuring these middle-aged men and women understand, at a basic level, the difference between right and wrong – ensuring they know how to treat other people with respect.
The petition will be debated by the New South Wales government on September 22.

author: Fiona So


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The ‘Different Yet Equal’ Protest Politics of Sri Lanka · Global Voices
GroundViews

Different Yet Equal Protest
This post by Raisa Wickrematunge originally appeared at Groundviews, an award-winning citizen journalism website in Sri Lanka. An edited version is published below as part of a content-sharing agreement.
The corner of Bauddhaloka mawatha near Independence Arcade was relatively quiet at 4:30 p.m., apart from a small group holding white umbrellas.
These were participants of “Different Yet Equal,” an online-led campaign aiming to hold a peaceful vigil to advocate for a pluralist Sri Lanka, united against hatred and divisiveness.
As the crowd slowly grew, vigil participants eventually lined themselves up along the pavement, holding placards proclaiming “We all have the same blood” and condemning racism.
#DifferentYetEqual 🙌🏼 I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.
— Sangeeth Madhushan (@MetricAkash) August 15, 2016
The underlying message was to pushback against the distinctive stickers that now adorn many trishaws and vehicles across the country—all bearing the word “Sinha-Le,” meaning “lion’s blood” in Sinhala—a reference to the lion ancestor that Sinhalese Buddhists claim. While there has been no violence as yet from this group, Muslim houses were spray-painted with this slogan earlier this year. (See Global Voices’ report.)
As vigil-goers began to speak about why they had gathered, a sudden disruption followed the appearance of counter-protesters that included Buddhist monks purporting to be from the Sinha Le movement. The monks said they objected to the appropriation of the term “Sinha Le,” which they felt was “their” word. “This is a Sinhala Buddhist country” they chanted repeatedly. The group was also carrying a distorted version of the Sri Lankan flag, notably missing the stripes denoting the country's minorities.
The distorted flag.
Some participants, including former Deputy Mayor of Colombo Azath Salley, tried to confront the counter-protesters verbally. The situation soon escalated into a shouting match.
It was telling that most of the counter-protesters raised Sri Lanka’s population and the fear that the Sinhala Buddhist population was, somehow, being “overrun” by minority communities. The counter-protests refused requests to leave, saying, “Let them leave! This is our country!”
As the chaos unfolded, the police had to be prodded into action. Though there was an officer standing just feet away, directing traffic, the vigil's participants had to approach him directly and ask him to intervene. Even then, the officer seemed to be most concerned about keeping road traffic unobstructed, and he paid no apparent attention to the group of counter-protesters.
When vigil participants pointed out that the group's flag was distorted and asked if this was the true national flag, the Sinhale faction answered, “Yes, check your history books.” Article 6 of Sri Lanka’s Constitution, however, clearly marks the national flag as “the Lion Flag.”
Eventually, the police tried to de-escalate tensions by asking the participants to sit down on the pavement and stop disrupting traffic. This the participants promptly did. The group of counter-protesters, however, continued trying to agitate the crowd—and it was only then that a police officer pushed a counter-protester away from the scene. The group remained until the vigil ended.
The vigil highlighted that the insecurity felt by some Sinhala Buddhists continues to persist, despite the fact that they remain the country's majority community. The planned disruption seems to have worked, in part, as well: media reports about the vigil focused on the conflict with counter-protesters, saying relatively little about the vigil itself. Counter-protesters’ slogans—not the message of the vigil—dominated the news coverage.
The vigil's organizers might have prepared better for such disruptions, given that a similar disturbance was staged at a candlelight vigil outside the Buddhist Cultural Centre on Sambuddatva Jayantha Mawatha in 2013 (covered extensively by Groundviews).
Many vigil participants engaged in verbal shouting matches, enraged by the counter-protesters’ xenophobic rhetoric. This, it seems, is exactly the reaction the group wanted, allowing them to swing the news narrative and grab the spotlight. (Apart from the appearance of the distinctive “Le” stickers, as well as the formation of parties like the Sinhale Jathika Balamuluwa, these hardliner activists had been relatively silent until this month.)
While the incident was certainly tense, there was one moment when the vigil's participants sang “Lowe Sama” to drown out slogans being shouted by the pro-Sinhale faction:
#differentyetequal participants attempting to drown counter voices with song #lka #SriLanka pic.twitter.com/X0yffzKIcW
— Groundviews (@groundviews) August 15, 2016
The singing prove effective, if only for a moment, and counter-protesters briefly stopped chanting and stood around suddenly nonplussed.
Below are audio clips from individuals who attended the vigil, explaining why they decided to come:

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: GroundViews


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These Videos Expose the Dirty and Destructive Impact of Large-Scale Mining in the Philippines · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Screenshot of a drone video showing the impact of a mining site in Zambales province. Image from the YouTube video of UNTV
The Philippine government has identified mining as a key industry that will boost the country’s economy. Because of the generous incentives provided by the government to foreign investors, mining operations have intensified in recent years.
Tax revenues slightly increased and temporary jobs were created in remote communities but overall, mining only had a minimal contribution to the economy. Some researchers have even pointed out that the extractive industry played an insignificant role in poverty eradication. Worse, it generated a huge amount of mining waste, which destroyed the biodiversity in several provinces, and it displaced indigenous peoples from their ancestral domains.
A growing number of affected residents, media groups, and environmentalists have been documenting the harmful impact of mining. Amateur reporters and investigative journalists are using mobile phones and even drones to expose how mining is destroying the country’s watersheds and rivers.
In the province of Zambales, located in the country’s biggest island, the governor suspended all mining operations because of complaints against the pollutive and illegal activities of mining companies. The governor accused mining firms of exploiting the province in the past 75 years while poverty worsened in the mining communities. Mining firms are denying the charge.
He even denounced the mining firms for exporting the rocks and soil of Zambales to China which were allegedly used to reclaim some portions of the South China Sea. The Philippines has accused China of violating the country’s territorial integrity in the South China Sea.
The broadcast network UNTV visited Zambales to verify the statements of the governor. The media company used a drone to document the impact of mining in Zambales. The footage captured the destruction of hills and valleys in the province.
Meanwhile, journalist Pia Ranada uploaded a short video of a mining operation in Surigao. The province is located in Caraga region in Mindanao Island, the country’s mining capital.
The video clearly presented what is fundamentally wrong in the country’s mining industry: mineral resources extracted from the mountains are deposited in barges and ships to be immediately transported to other countries for refining and processing. Activists are asserting that the export-oriented mining industry perpetuates plunder and underdevelopment in the country's rural areas.
In Agusan province, also in Caraga region, a YouTube user uploaded another brief video of the dirty legacy of large-scale mining:
In Cantilan, also in Caraga region, a mining firm has been accused by local leaders of polluting a river system:
Because of the rising incidents of mining disasters and the visible destructive impact of mining across the country, protests have also been organized in recent years. In fact, the new environment secretary of the government is a known crusader against large-scale mining. The country’s new president also suspended the operations of mining firms which were found guilty of violating the country’s environmental laws.

author: Mong Palatino


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Want to Celebrate Blog Day? Get Yourself to Paraguay! · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Advertisement for the Paraguay Blog Day. Image courtesy of Diadelblogpy.com.
Blogging isn't what it used to be, but there's still loads of content made by bloggers that finds its way onto the Internet today. In fact, tools like Medium have revitalized blogging, even as this form of writing has lost its novelty across the world. Another thing the Internet seems to have lost is the tradition of celebrating Blog Day, which technically occurs every August 31.
A group in Paraguay, however, is trying to bring back the bloggers’ holiday, planning an event in Asunción, Paraguay's capital. The festivities, which are free and open to the public, include several speakers and opportunities for Internet users to socialize and network offline.
According to the event's website, the celebration is about developing the local digital culture:
El Día del Blog Paraguay nació en el 2010 como un encuentro anual sobre cultura digital. Un espacio donde se discuten, [se] exponen y se comparten temas en torno a la blogósfera y la web social, con la finalidad de aportar a su desarrollo y evolución.
Paraguay Blog Day began in 2010 as an annual conference about digital culture. A space where matters regarding the blogosphere and social web are discussed, presented, and shared, in order to contribute to their development and evolution.
This year's event is expanding into new areas, as well:
Compartiremos sobre nuevos formatos para medios digitales y redes sociales, desarrollo de blogs con mirada global, derechos humanos e internet, y contenido multiplaforma.
We will share [information] about new formats for digital media and social networks, blog development from a global perspective, human rights and internet, and multi-platform content.
In order to learn a little more about this initiative, Global Voices spoke to one of its organizers, Osmar Alejandro Cáceres, an editor and blogger at Dementesx.com.
Global Voices (GV): What is the situation with blogs in Paraguay?
Osmar Cáceres: Si bien no existen aún anillos de blogs meramente paraguayos, es buena hora para que esto suceda. Existen blogs de toda índole: tecnología, derechos humanos, historia, cultura general, entretenimiento, literatura, turismo, ciencias, contenido viral, humor gráfico, comunicación, universitarios, emprendimiento, videojuegos, entre otros. [Estos blogs están alojados] en espacios propios montados en blogspot, medium, wordpress. También se ven blogs con presencia en los portales de los diarios digitales con mayor tráfico (que responden en su mayoría al poder de turno: [Como] los medios del presidente Horacio Cartes).
Osmar Cáceres (OC): While there are still no networks of only Paraguayan blogs, it is a good time for it to happen. There are blogs of all kinds: technology, human rights, history, general culture, entertainment, literature, tourism, the sciences, viral content, graphic humor, communication, university, business, and video games, among others. [These blogs are housed] in their own spaces on Blogspot, Medium, WordPress. One also sees a blog presence on the digital newspaper websites with the highest traffic (responding mainly to those in power at a given moment [like] President Horacio Cartes’ media).
GV: How are you financing this event? There might be other blogging fans in the region who would be interested in knowing your strategy, in order to organize their own events…
OC: El evento Día del Blog Paraguay está financiado a pulmón, sudor, y señal wifi de unos pocos que creemos que la información y el poder de las ideas puede cambiar la realidad, transformarla desde otros puntos de vista necesarios. No existe financiamiento desde el Estado, las empresas privadas que se suman van bajo trato de apoyo simbólico, que muchas veces no costea el evento (producción, merchandising, oradores, y más). Con todo eso, lo hacemos igual, de entrada gratuita. El evento anual de este año también se podrá seguir en streaming.
A los amigos y bloguers de la región un mensaje desde Asunción, Paraguay: Los blogs no están muertos y nunca lo estuvieron. Quienes pretenden desarrollar solo el ámbito financiero de la blogósfera mantienen este relato, mas la realidad dice otra cosa. Muchos espacios independientes siguen, otros cierran, pero se abren nuevos. Las estadísticas globales hablan por sí solas*. Juntarse es más que necesario, salirse del cubículo y encontrarse con otros pares, desarrollar líneas de pensamiento, aportar nuestro gramo al desarrollo y evolución del ecosistema digital de Latinoamérica.
Por sobre todo, a bloguear, pasarla bien, y seguir compartiendo la cultura digital.
OC: Paraguay Blog Day is financed with a lot of blood, sweat, and WiFi signals from a few who believe that information and the power of ideas can change reality, transforming it through other needed viewpoints. There is no financing from the state, and the private companies that do join collaborate only symbolically—and at many stages the event is not funded (production, merchandising, speakers, and so on). With all of this, we still don't charge for admission. This year, you can also follow the event via live stream.
To friends and bloggers in the region, a message from Asunción, Paraguay: Blogs are not dead, and they never will be. Those who seek only to develop the financial atmosphere of the blogosphere maintain this narrative, but the reality says otherwise. Many independent spaces carry on, others close, but new ones are opened. The global statistics speak for themselves. We need to join together, and leave our cubicles and meet other peers, developing lines of thought, investing everything we've got into the development and evolution of Latin America's digital ecosystem.
And above all, we must blog, have fun, and continue sharing the digital culture.

author: Juan Arellano


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Africans Have a Laugh at Themselves Imagining ‘If Africa Was a School’ · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“#IfAfricaWasASchool all dormitories would be located in SA…” A “South Africa: Bed and Breakfast” meme shared on Twitter by different users such as @ColloTheBoy.
African Twitter users are at it again, making fun of the continent, its countries and their leaders.
Last year, it was the #IfAfricaWasABar hashtag. This time, Africans are using #IfAfricaWasASchool to make hilarious comparisons between aspects of school life and aspects of daily life in African countries.
Here's a selection of some of the better tweets published on Twitter.
On President Jacob Zuma of South Africa:
#IfAfricaWasASchool this would be that kid who never misses school, all he misses are the answers pic.twitter.com/qoppfO8Bz5
— Hamaz Mo (@HamazMo_) August 25, 2016
The rand is South Africa's currency. Zuma has no formal education.
On President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda:
#IfAfricaWasASchool —-Uganda pic.twitter.com/40u87meYXq
— aye Bura (@brynear) August 25, 2016
Museveni has been Uganda's president since 1986, and he won a controversial fifth term in February 2016 elections with over 60% of the vote. The political country's opposition claims that the poll was rigged, and international observers and human rights groups have also criticized the election process. Many of the country's leading opposition figures have been placed under house arrest for months. Authorities have shut down social media more than once in what some see as an effort to stymie discussion.
On President Muhammad Buhari of Nigeria:
#IfAfricaWasASchool buhari will be that class captain that takes delight in writing names of noise makers.
— CHUKA… (@iam_kellyjoe) August 25, 2016
In Nigerian primary schools, a pupil is usually appointed class captain, whose job is, among others, to compile a list of fellow students who make noise in the absence of a teacher. This list is usually handed over to the teacher and those involved are punished..
On President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe:
#IfAfricaWasASchool how Mugabe will respond every time he is asked to retire from being a principal pic.twitter.com/lP6Md2We8w
— Thato M (@TatzMog60) August 25, 2016
President Mugabe, 92, has been Zimbabwe's president since 1987.
On Egypt:
#ifAfricaWasAschool Egypt will be the light-skinned student who never mingle with others because he thinks he is private school material
— C•A| Winston (ZW) (@Curate_Africa) August 24, 2016
#IfAfricaWasASchool Egypt would be that kid that hates his parents for taking him to that school coz he doesn't fit in
— wonderwall (@al3xmwah) July 28, 2015
Egypt sits mostly in Africa, but parts of the country stretch into Asia. Many Egyptians don't consider themselves to be African.
On Zambia:
#IfAfricaWasASchool Zambia is that religious student who thinks prayer solve everything
“there is a snake in class run”
Zambia : Lets pray
— C•A| Winston (ZW) (@Curate_Africa) August 24, 2016
Zambia's leaders have a tendency to calling for national prayers to solve problems such as power shortages, election violence, depreciation of the local currency etc. In October last year, President Edgar Lungu called for national prayers and fasting on to ask God to intervene in the country's many issues of the day. Zambia's constitution declares it a Christian nation.
On Zimbabwe:
#IfAfricaWasASchool Zimbabwe will be that student that brings wood as school fees”
— Thuso Ka Bontlenyane (@am_thuso) July 28, 2015
Zimbabwe is set to print its own version of US dollar due to cash shortage in the country. The country introduced the US dollar after abandoning its own currency because of hyperinflation.
On Madagascar:
#IfAfricaWasASchool Madagascar would be the kid no one invites to a party coz they live out of town.
— NoID (@EphraimAlpha) July 28, 2015
The island of Madagascar is about 400 kilometers (250 miles) off the eastern coast of southern Africa.
On Kenya:
#IfAfricaWasASchool kenya's grandmother at sports day just in case their child comes last at long distance running pic.twitter.com/pb7JxNbyFP
— #Pognyoro (@SangomaNunu) July 28, 2015
Kenyan runners have dominated long distance races for many decades.
On South Africa:
#IfAfricaWasAschool South Africa would be the student who starts his stories with “Man,Last night was crazy! Remember that girl from…..”
— Afrilawd. (@ChimukaHamz) July 28, 2015
#IfAfricaWasASchool all dormitories would be located in SA…😁😁 pic.twitter.com/DQF59qZWDN
— Collins Mutunkei (@ColloTheBoy) August 25, 2016
#IfAfricaWasASchool everyone would befriend South Africa.. Just so he could be invited for a sleep over … In Cape Town.
— African (@Nhfresh) August 25, 2016
On Ethiopia:
.@_Almaqah every time Ethiopia reminds the other kids for the 1000th time it was never colonized #ifafricawasaschool pic.twitter.com/iM4nFl6NOO
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) August 25, 2016
Ethiopia and Liberia are the only countries in Africa that were never colonised.
Other tweeps joked about the continent in general:
#IfAfricaWasASchool then this would be the sort of questions and answers during normal class lessons. pic.twitter.com/5S9hPJ8lXq
— Collins Mutunkei (@ColloTheBoy) August 25, 2016
#IfAfricaWasASchool America and China will always be fighting to sponsor the school.
— Squire Of Soweto (@Mpho_Malgas7) August 25, 2016
#IfAfricaWasASchool
White exchange student: Can y'all teach me African
Everyone: pic.twitter.com/5sTBIKuQCr
— Young Fiji Water🌙💦 (@MumboSauceWalka) 25 de agosto de 2016
#IfAfricaWasASchool ot her schools would take our books and then wonder why we don't graduate
— Sabrina (@_xsabrinaa) August 25, 2016
#IfAfricaWasASchool school would start at 8 but everyone would show up at 11
— ayan (@mauvetone) August 25, 2016
#IfAfricaWasASchool This would be one of the privileges of being a Prefect. pic.twitter.com/Zk3SlamnCI
— Mb'ra Aug 25-27 (@jahgen) August 25, 2016
Finally, the African Union was not spared:
#IfAfricaWasASchool
When you suggest to the student body that the African Union can help solve campus issues pic.twitter.com/K3SSLEIq3w
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) August 25, 2016

author: Ndesanjo Macha


text:
Earthquake Destroys More Than 200 Ancient Temples in Myanmar · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Myanmar on August 24. Image showing the epicenter and extent of the earthquake is from the website of the U.S. Geological Survey
Myanmar authorities reported that three people were killed and at least 228 temples and pagodas have been damaged in the whole of Mandalay after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck the country on August 24.
Among the damaged structures were 187 brick temples in the ancient capital of Bagan. This is a setback for the country’s bid to recognize Bagan as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bagan is among Southeast Asia’s important archaeological sites, and they are often compared to Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and Indonesia’s Borobudur.
Bagan, which is also a popular tourism destination, has almost 3,000 pagodas and temples. The last time an earthquake destroyed Bagan temples was in 1975.
One dead, ancient pagodas damaged as powerful quake rocks #Myanmar https://t.co/XurCMds8Z0 pic.twitter.com/FncyVOozqx
— Coconuts Yangon (@CoconutsYangon) August 24, 2016
The powerful earthquake was felt not just in Myanmar but also in the neighboring countries of Bangladesh and Thailand.
Myanmar is already cleaning the debris left behind by the earthquake. Many are clamoring for the quick restoration of the ruined temples, but there are also those who want to preserve some of the damage in order to remind the people about the need to prepare for disasters.
Independent news website and Global Voices partner The Irrawaddy has documented the impact of the earthquake in Mandalay. Below are some photos which show the destruction in some of Myanmar’s famous Bagan temples:
Sulamani Temple suffered heavy damage in the aftermath of the earthquake. Photo by Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy
Photo shows the devastating impact of the earthquake in the Dhammayangyi temple. Photo by Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy
Soldiers collect the debris at famed Htilominlo Temple in Bagan. Photo by JPaing / The Irrawadd


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Here’s to Dilshod Nazarov and Four Other Tajikistan Sporting Success Stories You’ve Never Heard · Global Voices
Abdulfattoh Shafiev

Dilshod Nazarov, hammer throw champion of the 2016 Olympic Games. Image widely shared among Tajiks on Facebook.
As Tajikistan prepares to welcome home its gold-winning Rio 2016 athlete Dilshod Nazarov, Global Voices reminisces over this and other sporting achievements the small, mountainous, Central Asian country has recorded over the course of its fraught 25-year independence.
If you read Global Voices, you might already have heard of this one.
Hammer-thrower Dilshod Nazarov was a son of the civil war that raged in Tajikistan from 1992 to 1997 — his father was killed fighting in 1996 when he was only 15 — and his incredible victory at the Rio Olympics in some ways marked the long and difficult journey into peace that the country has made since the war's end.
The 34-year-old deputy chairman of the state Youth, Sport, and Tourism Committee of Tajikistan was the country's standard-bearer at the Games and its best chance of a podium finish, although few could have predicted he would upend all of his more fancied rivals to take gold.
In a rare move, the country's veteran President Emomali Rakhmon began his morning with a phone call to Dilshod to congratulate him, while municipal officials in several cities hung up huge banners bearing an image of Dilshod’s smiling face with the country’s flag wrapped around his neck.
Tajikistan's opponents-in-exile meanwhile even ceased for a day an otherwise endless stream of criticism of the government to honour the achievement, as Nazarov's family home was mobbed by well-wishers.
Nowhere was the hubbub more visible than on Tajik sections of social media, where support has been building ever since to recognise Nazarov as a National Hero of Tajikistan.
FC “Istiqlol” after one of victories at the AFC Cup 2015. The picture is from the official web-site of the FC “Istiqlol”
Ok, it's not the European Champions’ League, and, in fact, it's not even the Asian Champions’ League, but you can only excel in the tournaments you are allowed to enter, right?
When the perennial national football champion of Tajikistan Istiqlol was drawn in an AFC Cup group with two teams that had graced the final of the tournament the year before, everyone was skeptical.
In the first game Istiqlol lost on home turf, but surprises came later with an unexpected series of victories over their better-fancied rivals, which enabled the country's top team to wind up first in the so-called “group of death”.
Expectations increased as the team advanced through the knock-out stages of the tournament — the second most prestigious professional tournament in Asian club football — culminating in the final which again was played on home soil.
Unfortunately, the referee cancelled all three goals scored by Istiqlol during the game, allowing Malaysian side Johor Darul Ta'zim to leave the Central Asian country with the cup.
Despite the perceived injustice of the game, the country was grateful to its footballers for the positive emotions that came with every victory over stronger and better-known teams.
Mavzuna Chorieva during the awarding ceremony wore Tajik national clothe. The picture is taken from girlboxing.org
Tajikistan was awash with emotion when a tiny girl, who as a teenager had brought the body of her dead father back to Tajikistan from their home in Moscow, won bronze at the 2012 London Olympics.
Chorieva’s medal in the lightweight boxing was not the first Tajikistan had won at the Olympics, but it was the first won by a female representative of any Persian-speaking country (Iran, Afghanistan, or Tajikistan).
To call 2012 an incredibly successful year for a 20-year-old girl hailing from a poor family of economic migrants would be an understatement.
In addition to the Olympics, Chorieva also took medals at the World and Asian championships, winning praise at home and earning several flats as gifts from the impoverished state.
The same year, as Global Voices reported, Chorieva got married and briefly hung up her gloves to have her first child.
“I love the sport,” she told journalists at the time. “But family is more important to me.”
Chorieva has since returned to the ring, albeit without repeating the dizzying success of her best year in the sport, and is a member of the city council in the national capital Dushanbe, as well as the head of the Association of Tajikistan Olympians.
To understand why Tajikistan's teenage footballers became the pride of the country for two consecutive years it is necessary to note that the country's senior national team has never qualified for a major tournament and is currently ranked 144th in the world.
Memories of the civil war that deprived footballers of opportunities to train and the country's national league of several teams were still fresh when Tajikistan's underdog under-16 team won bronze during its first appearance at the Asian continental championship.
That success led to admission into the 24-team World U-17 Cup, where the country advanced into the knock-out stage thanks to a 4-3 victory in a group that current English Premier League star Eden Hazard and his Belgium team failed to qualify from.
Unfortunately, the drive for international glory ended with a penalty shootout defeat against Peru, but football fever had already set in.
This author pioneered live broadcasts of the games on a local website that saw its traffic increase by six times, as team Tajikistan reached heights higher than any other football side representing the country before or since.
Reading through these near misses and valiant efforts, you have probably reached the conclusion that Dilshod Nazarov is the only sportsperson ever to have actually won an international contest while representing the Central Asian country.
That would be very wrong indeed.
To be certain, if ITF* Taekwon-Do was an Olympic discipline Tajikistan would need an appropriately sized museum to host all the medals it has won in the years since independence.
Currently the country boasts no less than 20 Taekwon-Do world champions and is presently ranked second in the world in the sport, after North Korea.
About ten years ago, this author interviewed the sport's godfather in Tajikistan, Mirsaid Yahyoev, who went as far as to say that his team “doesn't count” silver and bronze medals claimed at ITF world championships as successes.
Seemingly content to be plucky outsiders in other sports, Tajiks are proud to have at least one where their competitors are feared everywhere from Panama city to Pyongyang.

author: Abdulfattoh Shafiev


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ISIS Left Thousands of Mines in Manbij Before Fleeing. It Hid Them Inside Everything. · Global Voices
Reem Zaitouneh

Mine inside a rock left by ISIS militants in Manbij, Northern Syria, August 18, 2016. Source: @SyriaNoMines on Twitter
After two years of rule, ISIS was expelled from most of the city of Manbij in Northern Syria on August 13, 2016. The battle between ISIS and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—a US-backed coalition made up of of Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian, Armenian, Turkmen, and Circassian militias—lasted 73 days and the SDF says it will continue the battle until Manbij is fully liberated.
The operation was named “Operation Martyr Commander Faysal Abu Leyla” in honor of the Kurdish FSA and SDF Commander Faisal “Abu Leyla” Sadoun, who was killed by an ISIS sniper on June 6, 2016.
Before withdrawing, however, ISIS left thousands of mines planted throughout various parts of the city. As of August 15, the SDF had already cleared more than 13,000 mines.
Speaking to Global Voices, Ahmed Mohammed, a Turkey-based Syrian activist at the Syrian Institute for Justice who is originally from Manbij, said the mines were probably placed on known battle lines and other fighting areas, including civilian areas. In fact, Mohammed told us that ISIS had mines placed all over the area and inside unexpected objects:
Mines were found inside a garlic and onion basket, a staircase, and even normal-looking rocks across the fields.
Sherfan Darwish, the SDF's spokesperson, confirmed Mohammed's claims to the Financial Times, saying that “ISIS has mined everything—refrigerators, house appliances, tea kettles, everything.”
This, the Financial Times reminds us, is a common tactic:
A typical Isis tactic is to mine buildings and roads when its enemies advance, a move that not only slows progress for days and weeks but also can inflict heavy casualties well after the group has fled.
Mohammed says ISIS's mines are a mix of improvised and Russian explosives:
Most of the mines are handmade, few are Russian mines, and the majority are landmines. Others are distributed throughout houses: in doors and entrances, refrigerators, cooking utensils and even teapots. They even included behind wall paintings and inside shops.
The neighborhoods where mines were spread are heavily in the southern, western and north-western part of the city of Manbij, in the outskirts of the northern neighborhoods and in the outskirts of the eastern neighborhoods as well as in many villages.
The Syrian-lead initiative “Syria With No Mines” shared an image online of a mine disguised as a cup:
#ألغام تم زراعتها في منازل #المدنيين من قبل عناصر تنظيم #الدولة_الإسلامية #داعش قبل إنساحبهم من المدينة #منبج #سوريا pic.twitter.com/SPAvXO5E6J
— Syria with NO MINES (@SyriaNoMines) 18 August 2016
Mines planted in civilian houses by ISIS before their retreat from Manbij city
According to Munif Al-Tai, another human rights activist currently residing in Turkey but originally from Manbij, the SDF has found 14,000 mines in recent days, and the hidden explosives have already managed to claim more than 100 lives.
The SDF are trying to disarm the mines, but the matter takes time to comb the areas one after the other. Mines in homes need checking first from homeowners.
According to locals in Manbij, the SDF refused to disarm mines without being paid, though these reports are unconfirmed. Others say they've submitted complaints to the relevant authorities.
The use of mines in the Syrian conflict has raised serious concerns from Syrian and international organizations. The UN's Mine Action Gateway reports that there are an estimated 5.1 million people living in highly contaminated areas, including 2 million children. Mines have been used by many armed factions in Syria, most notably by ISIS and the Assad regime.
The Violations Documentation Center in Syria says the Assad regime even used naval mines on in August last year:
Dropped hundreds of barrel bombs, known for their random highly-destructive nature, dozens of unguided surface-to-surface missiles (Fil missiles), naval mines, and cylinder bombs on the city in addition to launching dozens of airstrikes by Mig warplanes.
In January this year, residents of the besieged city of Madaya reported to the Guardian that the Assad regime's forces and their allies surrounded the area with mines.

author: Reem Zaitouneh


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Netizen Report: Bangladesh and Ethiopia Flip the Switch on Internet as Political Tensions Rise · Global Voices
Netizen Report Team

Protest in Ethiopia's Oromo region. Photo from Abdi Lemessa's Facebook page. Used with permission.
Bangladeshi Internet users have experienced several waves on service shutdowns and website blockages in what the Communication Regulatory Commission described as a government-enforced “drill.” Since early August, authorities have blocked 35 news websites, many of which represent critical positions within the country’s political climate.
Citizens are struggling to see how these shutdowns are likely to have a positive impact on public safety, says Global Voices’ Zara Rahman, in a country where freedom of expression is increasingly under threat.
The Internet was also reportedly shut down yet again in Ethiopia as violence marred protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions. About 100 people were killed when security forces fired live bullets at demonstrators over the weekend of August 6. Tests by the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) confirmed the Internet was likely blocked during that time, though it remains unclear whether this occurred in all regions or across all types of networks in the country.
In Oromia, the Internet has become an important tool for protesters to disseminate information about their movement, which opposes a plan to expand the capital Addis Ababa into the region’s farmlands, a move that would likely displace thousands of local farmers. Coverage from the country’s mostly state-owned media has pushed misinformation or ignored the situation altogether. In an effort to control the dissent, state-owned telecommunication monopoly EthioTelcom has blocked social media platforms including Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger in Oromia in the past.
Colombian graduate student Diego Gomez, who is battling criminal charges that he violated copyright by sharing a thesis on the Internet, is likely to receive a verdict in the coming days.  In an effort to support Gomez’s case, Colombian digital rights NGO Fundacion Karisma launched the Twitter hashtag #CompartirNoEsDelito, which translates to “sharing is not a crime.” The copying and distribution of copyrighted works without permission in Colombia can carry a sentence of up to eight years in prison.
Peru purchased USD $22 million in technical surveillance equipment to spy on its citizens’ communications, according to the Associated Press. Government documents indicate that the “Pisco Project” (a name that refers to the popular Peruvian liquor) allows the government to intercept phone calls, text messages, emails, chats and Internet browser history. It can track up to 5,000 people and record up to 300 simultaneous conversations.
The National Intelligence Service of Peru also authorized a payment for Skylock, a tool that allows law enforcement officials to find and track any phone inside the country. Payments for these technical tools were made to the American-Israeli company Verint, which is also present in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico.
The wife of prominent labor activist Najibeh Salehzadeh is awaiting a verdict in the Iranian state's case against her, in which she is accused of “insulting” Iran's Supreme Leader and compromising national security through a post on Facebook in early June. Salehzadeh has denied the charges and says she does not even have an account on the social media site, which is banned in Iran. Human rights activists believe the case was fabricated in an effort to intimidate her husband, Mahmoud Salehi, a prominent labor activist who has been arrested and imprisoned on a number of occasions in Iran for engaging in peaceful protest activities.
According to an announcement by Gerdab, the cyber division of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, it has summoned, detained, or warned over 450 administrators of social media groups in recent weeks. This is part of an ongoing crackdown that started in March 2015 that the Gerdab called “Ankaboot” (“Spider” in Persian) to implement broad-scale social media monitoring to curb immoral activity.
Indian journalists who dug up evidence that the right-wing Hindu organisation Rashtriya Swayemsevak Sangh (RSS) allegedly trafficked children have themselves become the target of a police investigation and online abuse. The investigative piece published by Outlook news site, titled Operation #BabyLift, reports that RSS broke Indian and international laws by trafficking 31 tribal girls between the ages of 3 and 11 in order to “Hinduise” them.
An assistant solicitor general and a spokesman for the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which is a political offshoot of the RSS, had earlier lodged a criminal complaint against Outlook editor Krishna Prasad, as well as journalist Neha Dixit and Outlook publisher Indranil Roy, for inciting hate against different ethnic groups. Prasad has since been fired. Journalists and free speech advocates fear this case and others like it will lead to increased self-censorship in India.
Pakistan’s National Assembly passed a new controversial cybercrime bill, which will soon be signed into law by President Mamnoon Hussain. The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015 has been criticized for restricting freedom of expression and access to information, and is likely to be misused by authorities, according to National Assembly member Naveed Qamar.
A draft law under consideration in Paraguay, titled “On protection of kids and teenaagers from dangerous internet content,” seeks to install filters that would block content considered “dangerous” to young people on publicly accessible internet networks. This could result in increased censorship and make it difficult for adults to access age-appropriate material, and has been widely criticised for its potential impact on freedom of expression in Paraguay. The bill has passed Paraguay’s congress and now awaits a signature by the president, though under Paraguayan law he still has the opportunity to veto the bill.
Mahsa Alimardani, Ellery Roberts Biddle, Elizabeth Rivera, L. Finch and Sarah Myers West contributed to this report.

author: Netizen Report Team


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Twenty Years of Russian Political Campaign Ads · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Image by Kevin Rothrock.
Next month, on September 18, Russian voters will head to the polls to decide who gets the 450 seats up for grabs in the State Duma—the lower house of the federal parliament. While Duma hopefuls have been busy collecting signatures and mobilizing their support bases for months already, formal political advertising was prohibited until August 20 (twenty-eight days before the actual voting, with campaigning banned again on the day before the election). Second only to the presidential election, the competition for Duma seats is the most important political contest in Russia.
Contents
As the country straps in for the final three weeks of campaigning, RuNet Echo looks back at the most memorable political advertisements in Russia over the past two decades, highlighting some of the strangest, silliest, and scariest videos put out by politicians seeking elected office.
We’ll start with what could very well be the worst advertisement by a politician ever made. An inconceivable 11 minutes and 20 seconds long, this ad is a musical number featuring a dancing police officer, a tap-dancing professor, a singing pilot, and a whole lot of other people singing, dancing, dance-fighting, and generally just bouncing around.
The video didn’t stop 5.5 million people from voting for Yavlinsky, however, but it wasn’t enough to get the liberal opposition candidate into the runoff vote against Boris Yeltsin, who defeated Gennady Zyuganov on July 3 and kept his job as Russian president.
Founded in 1995 by then Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, “Our Home” was a one-time political vehicle for the Yeltsin administration. It ultimately dissolved and merged with “United Russia,” the country’s current ruling political party.
In 1995, however, Nash Dom had just been founded, and it fashioned itself not as an insider force, but as new blood for a legislative body with too much squabbling and clownery. The beginning of the video shows mayhem on the floor of the Duma, with deputies fighting, reading books with swastikas, and acting generally stupid. The rest of the ad is a mix of industrial footage and Chernomyrdin speaking from an impressive-looking office (don’t miss the dramatic removal of his reading glasses).
Four years after trying to win over voters with a musical campaign, Grigory Yavlinsky chose a very different approach in his presidential TV spots in 2000. The advertisements recycle the same theme in different nightmarish near-future scenarios: two prisoners sit in what appears to be a post-Soviet Gulag; two soldiers dodge bullets and fire back at an unseen enemy; a man and woman wait in a panicked food line. In every setting, one person asks the other who they voted for in the recent election. The second character says they were against all the candidates and skipped the election. Lamenting the decision not to vote, the person then says, “I should have voted for the economist—that Yavlinsky fellow,” implying that a Yavlinsky defeat would bring about internment camps, war, and bread lines.
Hardcore though the advertisement was, it couldn’t resuscitate Yavlinsky’s political career. He got 1.2 million fewer votes than in 1996, and Vladimir Putin won his first presidential election with ease.
While Yavlinsky’s 1996 song-and-dance pitch for the presidency is dated and unbearable today, it was a video in 2003 by SPS that was more immediately damaging. Featuring Russia’s so-called “young reformers” of the 1990s, the ad shows Anatoly Chubais, Boris Nemtsov, and Irina Khakamada aloft in a private luxury jet, discussing matters while typing on a laptop. The video was meant to emphasize the “personal success” of the party’s leadership, but Russians widely mocked the ad for demonstrating the candidates’ wealth and alienation from ordinary voters.
In 1999, SPS entered the Duma as the parliament’s fourth-largest party with 29 seats. In the 2003 election, however, it only narrowly remained in the Duma, winning just 3 seats. (In 2008, a year after failing to win any seats in the 2007 election, SPS formally disbanded.)
“Let’s Clean the Trash From Moscow!” is one of the most infamous political advertisements in Russian history. The video generated so much controversy that it was actually banned and Rodina was barred from the election, following a complaint by a rival party, claiming that the ad incited ethnic hatred.
The video shows dark-skinned Caucasian immigrants tossing watermelon rinds to the ground, complaining about a passing Russian woman pushing a stroller. Party leader Dmitry Rogozin and Yuri Popov, a pro-Rodina Moscow City Duma member, then approach the immigrants and tell them to clear out.
Rodina later collapsed as a political party (reviving in another form in 2012), and Rogozin went on to become Russia’s ambassador to NATO. In 2011, he was appointed to serve as deputy prime minister, in charge of the country’s defense and space industry.
By 2011, United Russia was the country’s dominant political institution. In the 2007 elections, the party gained a “supermajority” in the Duma, granting it the power to pass amendments to the Russian Constitution (paving the way for an extension of presidential terms from four to six years, which Vladimir Putin is currently serving).
Voter fraud in the December 2011 elections would later spark enormous street protests in Moscow, but United Russia’s campaign efforts focused mostly on overcoming declining popularity among the public, fueled in part by anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny, whose epithet for United Russia—“the party of crooks and thieves”—gained common currency in the national political discourse.
In response to the criticisms of the anti-Kremlin opposition, several sleek YouTube videos appeared defending United Russia. The advertisements were released unofficially—ostensibly by ordinary supporters of the party—but the videos’ production value suggests a professional hand.
In one video, a narrator tries to “take back” the phrase “party of crooks and thieves,” arguing that United Russia is responsible for years of prosperity in Russia, and that critics can call it whatever they like. The “party of crooks and thieves,” the ad says, is also the party of a decade of economic growth, of wage growth, and so on. The video’s finale encourages viewers to “vote for the party of crooks and thieves,” as the final words of the phrase are drowned out by the words “the party of doctors, scientists, soldiers, businessmen,” and so on.
In another advertisement rumored to be the creation of pro-Kremlin youth activist Robert Shlegel, a man and woman appear to have sex in a voting booth. There’s no dialogue in the video, but the message appears to be that young, attractive people like to vote. And they like to vote for United Russia. And they like to have sex together in the booth while voting for United Russia. Shlegel never admitted to producing the advertisement, but he did say the video was “very creative.”
Nobody in Russian politics entertains quite as well as Vladimir Zhirinovsky. By 2012, the man whose party, LDPR, won 12.3 million votes in 1993 was now thoroughly transformed into a loveable, bile-spewing public clown.
In one of his 2012 presidential campaign advertisements, Zhirinovsky is seen whipping a donkey that refuses to pull him through the snow. “This lousy little donkey is the symbol of our country!” Zhirinovsky tells viewers. “If I become president, we’ll again have a valiant troika.” The video ends with the awkward slogan “Zhirinovsky and it will be better!”
Anti-corruption activist and liberal-nationalist politician Alexey Navalny gave the Kremlin-appointed mayor of Moscow a run for his money in 2013. Navalny has since been convicted of multiple crimes and sentenced to years and years of probation, barring him from participation in future elections.
The oppositionist did get his moment in the spotlight, however, when he narrowly missed forcing a runoff vote against incumbent Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
In August 2013, saying he acted entirely on his own, film editor Maxim Perepelkin famously published an animated viral video in support of Navalny’s candidacy. The video’s premise is that Moscow election law states that voters can add any symbol they wish to their ballots to indicate support for a candidate. Perepelkin’s montage shows cats, flowers, fish, and all manner of objects and creatures dancing on ballots cast for Navalny. Just in case viewers weren’t sure this was a hipster appeal for the next generation’s candidate, Perepelkin set the whole video to a song by the English rock band The Leisure Society. The ad ends with one of Navalny's campaign slogans: “One for all, and all for one.”
Last year, Russia held off-season regional elections throughout the country. The offices at stake were generally lower on the scale of political power, but the political party A Just Russia brought its A-game to at least one campaign ad.
In the video, an elderly woman comes to City Hall, seeking out her elected officials. She’s startled to find, however, that everyone is actually a bear—an unsubtle nod to the dominance of United Russia, whose party logo is a bear.
At the end of the ad, the woman turns to a janitor and asks, “Are there any people here at all?!” Tapping on her head angrily, the janitor answers, “And where would they come from? You should have thought about who you were voting for!”

author: Kevin Rothrock


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What Monica Puig’s Olympic Gold Medal Means for Puerto Ricans · Global Voices
Ángel Carrión

Mónica Puig stands on the podium wearing her gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics on August 13, 2016. Screenshot taken from video.
August 13, 2016 will forever be one of those days where almost every Puerto Rican will remember where she or he was and what they were doing. And chances are, they were probably breathlessly watching Puerto Rican tennis player Monica Puig (@MonicaAce93) win Puerto Rico's first ever Olympic gold medal.
Monica Puig played spectacularly well against Angelique Kerber from Germany, who at that moment happened to be ranked number 2 in the world. Puig entered the Olympic games ranked number 34.
But that's just one of the reasons why Monica Puig's victory will be remembered as one of the highlights of the Rio 2016 Olympics. Puig's success holds a very special meaning for Puerto Ricans everywhere. Not only did she win Puerto Rico's first ever Olympic gold medal in any sport, but she is also the first woman to win an Olympic medal for Puerto Rico. (She isn't the first Puerto Rican to win gold, however. That honor belongs to another tennis player, Gigi Fernández, who won gold in the Barcelona 1992 Olympic games playing doubles for the United States.)
Intriguingly, Puig could have chosen to play for the US Olympic delegation, which would have made sense considering she was raised and lives in the state of Florida. She has instead chosen to forge a career playing tennis representing Puerto Rico.
Why Puerto Rico, which is a US territory and has been for more than a century, has its own Olympic delegation is a complicated story. In short, the Olympic governing body recognized Puerto Rico's National Olympic Committee in 1948, and ever since then Puerto Rico has had its own team, though Puerto Ricans hold US citizenship. Other US territories, such as the US Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa, also compete with their own delegation.
Puig's victory came at a time when it was very much needed after a summer full of dispiriting headlines for Puerto Rico, from patronizing media coverage about the Zika virus to a loss of political autonomy thanks to a US government-imposed fiscal control board. Her words immediately after winning make it clear that she knew full well the significance this would have for many:
I think I united a nation, and I just love where I come from.
Social media erupted in an avalanche of celebratory joy upon the realization that Monica Puig won the match. Many users, irrespective of gender, changed their profile pictures to show her image and she became a trending topic across social media platforms. Many others reported having cried during the award ceremony, when for the first time ever Puerto Rico's national anthem was played at the Olympics.
Facebook user Margarita Javier shared just how meaningful that moment was for her and for countless Puerto Ricans:
[This] is the first time the Puerto Rican national anthem, “La Borinqueña” was ever played at the Olympics. We have been participating since 1948. I have watched every Olympics and our Puerto Rican athletes closely since I was a little girl, always hoping we'd get to hear the anthem. Even though we're not a politically independent country, ideologically and historically we are a fully realized, complex nation with our own unique culture, and our patriotism and nationalism is a form of colonial resistance. It's impossible to put into words why this moment is so meaningful and important to us. Every Puerto Rican in the island and abroad has been united. We are all Mónica Puig.
It is no wonder, then, that on August 23, 2016, people filled the streets of the capital city of San Juan to receive the Puerto Rico Olympic delegation on their return home. In the following video, students from the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music can be heard playing the Puerto Ricon national anthem, La borinqueña, when the Olympic team passed by the Conservatory:
Puig's gold medal did more than just unite a people living in an archipelago of three inhabited islands. It united a people who are spread between that archipelago and many other parts of the world, not the least of which is the United States, where most Puerto Ricans emigrate to. When Puig said that she believed she united a nation, it wasn't a mere figure of speech. It was the truth.

author: Ángel Carrión


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Where’s the Outrage Over Iran’s Exploited Children? · Global Voices
Hamid Yazdan Panah

Unidentified child workers in Iran. Photo courtesy of International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
Child labor and exploitation remains a widespread problem throughout much of the world. The issue is centered around exploitation, trafficking and governmental negligence and presents a challenge for those living in closed societies which lack transparency, and social support systems.
The exploitation of children has become increasingly prevalent in Iran, and remains uninvestigated by authorities and the outside world.
The current geopolitical realities in the Middle East and the wave of refugees, combined with widespread failure in governance, have created the perfect storm for a rise in the exploitation of children. Iran’s location within a corridor of war-torn countries, coupled with state corruption and lack of a social safety net have exacerbated the issue. Iran has consistently been listed as a Tier 3 country for human trafficking by the US State Department. The Iranian regime itself has also been implicated in human trafficking and the exploitation of children.
Unfortunately, the issue of child labor is not new to Iran. Historically low-income families with multiple children have viewed their offspring as a source of labor and income for the family. In some cases impoverished families would send children off to serve as servants in the homes of wealthier Iranians.
However the problem has now grown beyond one of culture and economics, to one of exploitation and negligence. In a 2012 interview with Amsterdam-based Persian language radio Radio Zamaneh, Ali Akbar Esmailpour, who heads the Association for the Protection of Children’s Rights, pointed to a lack of information and accountability as one of the first challenges in tackling this problem:
The only information at hand is the statistics regarding street children, because they are very visible, but this does not give the complete picture.
Esmailpour pointed out that there a systematic failure to enforce child labor laws by the Ministry of Labour, stating “children sometimes work between 12 to 16 hours under very bad conditions without the slightest safety or hygienic considerations.”
Under Iranian law, child labor is prohibited until the age of 15, but there remains a loophole which promotes the exploitation of children. Many children under the age of 15 are often employed in a domestic setting and are not reported as employees but remain subjected to exploitation and mistreatment. According to a recent report published by a slew of civil society organizations, a 2011 national census reported 68,558 working children between the ages of 10 and 14 and 696,700 between the ages of 15 to 18.
“This is a problem largely ignored or even denied by governments. Child labor is one of the most outrageous realities and demands immediate attention and action,” Akbar Yazdi, director of an Iranian NGO that aids children in labor, told the Iranian English-language newspaper Financial Tribune.
The issue is not only limited to child labor. An estimated 200,000 children live on the street in Iran — as much as half of this number are thought to be Afghan children. Many of these children are runaways, fleeing difficult circumstances or refugees from Afghanistan or Iraq. Refugee children are often particularly vulnerable within society.
A March 2011 article by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, an independent organization that supports local reporters, citizen journalists and activists in countries in crisis, reported that Afghan children were picked up by the security forces and deported back to Afghanistan. Some of these children had never been to Afghanistan before and appear to have been deported without their parents knowledge.
Abdul Majid, a 12-year-old Afghan refugee, was sent alone back to Afghanistan, without the knowledge of his family, who remained in Iran. “The police beat me up,” he said in an interview in Ansar refugee camp in Herat province:
They asked me whether I was involved in violent groups. I swore I wasn’t connected with any. They finally deported me after eight days, and sent me to Afghanistan.
The case of Abdul Majid is just one of hundreds of Afghan refugees who are denied legal counsel and deported back to their country of origin, something which is illegal under international law.  The children are often beaten in custody and denied food before they are sent back to a country in which they have no one. Majid, weeping, said:
I dream every night that my parents and brothers and sisters are looking for me. I wake up every morning crying.
Iran is also a prime hub for human trafficking between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Gulf States. According to the UN, the fact that human trafficking presents a lower risk for criminals than trafficking in drugs under Iranian law makes the practice “a very attractive business alternative to drug trafficking bands in control of the southern drug smuggling routes” (see page 4 of UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Iran report).
The Iranian regime has also reportedly prosecuted victims of sex trafficking for committing what it claims are “unlawful acts” including adultery, despite the fact that victims are often under duress as direct result of being trafficked.
The policies of the Iranian government continue to defy international norms and regulations, demonstrating the systematic violation of the rights of children and the government’s complicity with human trafficking within the country. Though the regime has taken some steps to curb human trafficking, its behavior and legal regulations suggest otherwise.
Though Iran is a party to the Convention for the Rights of Children, its policies are in stark contrast to the articles of the convention, including those which guarantee the safety of children without guardians, and refugee children. Iran is also not currently a party to the 2000 UN Trafficking Protocol, an important international agreement focused on the prevention of human trafficking.
The lack of democratic will and societal transparency have made reporting on this issue a challenge for activists inside and outside of Iran. Iranian journalists and child activists who have sought to confront this issue are not only faced with a lack of cooperation by authorities, but have been subjected to threats and arrest by authorities. While the majority of the world focuses on the international and political issues surrounding country, Iran’s children remain largely invisible and forgotten.
For reports on this subject in Persian, see here.

author: Hamid Yazdan Panah


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Wife of Persecuted Labour Activist Goes to Trial Over Facebook Post · Global Voices
Center for Human Rights in Iran

The wife of a prominent labor activist has been charged with posting “insulting” content on Facebook. She says she does not use Facebook, which is banned in Iran. Image from ICHRI and used with permission.
A version of this article was originally published in two parts on the website of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. You can find them here and here.
The wife of prominent labor activist Mahmoud Salehi was charged with posting “insulting” content on Facebook in early June. Yet she insists she does not the social media site, which is banned in Iran.
In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Najibeh Salehzadeh explained:
They told me that during a trip to France I had posted material on Facebook against the Islamic Republic and the supreme leader but I don’t have Facebook and I traveled to France to accompany my husband, who had been invited by a large labor organization in Europe.
Salehzadeh told the Campaign she was summoned to Branch 2 of the Prosecutor’s Office in Saqqez, a city in Iran’s Kurdistan Province, on June 6, 2016 and charged with “propaganda against the state” and “insulting the supreme leader.” Her trial is now awaiting verdict after appearing at Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court in the city of Saqqez in Iran’s Kurdistan Province.
According to the indictment, a woman named “Sanaz” had posted two items on Facebook with Salehzadeh’s mobile phone number printed on the bottom of at least one of the postings, yet prosecutors have never shown Salehzadeh the “evidence.” The alleged postings were identified by Iran’s Cyber Crimes Police Force (FATA), which then opened the case against Salehzadeh.
“I said in court that it does not make sense for me to use a false name on Facebook and then give out my real phone number to the public,” she said.
Salehzadeh told the Campaign that many people came to know her cell phone number in 2007 when her husband was first detained and she gave interviews regarding his situation.
Salehzadeh’s husband, Mahmoud Salehi, is a prominent labor activist who has been arrested and imprisoned on a number of occasions in Iran for engaging in peaceful protest activities. On September 28, 2015 he was sentenced to nine years in prison for “participation in opposition assemblies and propaganda against the state.” He is currently free on bail and seeking medical treatment for kidney disease.
In a post on Facebook, Salehi insisted on staying away from Iranian politics.
The honorable case judge has said that my wife and I had spread propaganda against the Islamic Republic [while we were ] in France. For your information, the video recording of my speech to the representatives of 50 labor unions in France is available, and the honorable judge… can see clearly that the conference had nothing to do with the Islamic Republic or anyone’s sacred beliefs.
Independent unions are not allowed to function in Iran, workers are routinely fired and risk arrest for striking, and labor leaders are prosecuted under national security charges and sentenced to long prison terms.

author: Center for Human Rights in Iran


text:
WikiLeaks: From Collateral Murder to Collateral Recklessness · Global Voices
Tara

Image by WikiLeaks Mobile Information Collection Unit via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
When pro-transparency website WikiLeaks published over 61,000 documents from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they exposed communications and classified information providing valuable insight into the inner workings of Saudi foreign policy. They also published at least 124 private medical records and other information belonging to private citizens, according to an August 23 report by Associated Press.
Two of the medical reports named teenage rape victims. Another document exposed the identity of a Saudi citizen who was arrested for being gay, which AP called “an extraordinary move” for a country where gay people are routinely subject to social exclusion, imprisonment, torture and even death.
Many people immediately took to social media to voice their outrage. Joey Ayoub, Global Voices’ MENA Editor, wrote that for some people, the leaks could be a matter of life and death.
These leaks can cost people's lives. Truly disgusting. “Private lives are exposed as @WikiLeaks spills its secrets” https://t.co/WWk9lCRdle
— Joey Ayoub جووي أيوب (@joeyayoub) 23 August 2016
Historian and archeologist Sara E. Palmer called it doxxing, referring to the practice of publishing someone's personal information (such as address, phone number, state ID number) without their permission, often with a malicious intent.
This isn't a fight for truth any more, it's just doxxing. Incompetent doxxing. https://t.co/D6BLwvH6vv
— Sara E. Palmer (@anqatisara) 24 August 2016
WikiLeaks rose to fame in April 2010, when they released gun-sight footage of two US Apache helicopters in Baghdad from July 12, 2007 airstrike that killed around 12 people, including two Reuters journalists. The video was called “Collateral Murder“, and it instantly became front-page news, elevating WikiLeaks to international fame.
This penchant for exposing abuse of power, corruption and lack of transparency has earned WikiLeaks many supporters. In the past, representative of the organization emphasized their efforts to protect private citizens from undue harm that could result from such leaks.
“We have a harm minimization policy,” Assange said in a seminar in Oxford, in July 2010. “There are legitimate secrets. Your records with your doctor, that's a legitimate secret.”
But as the organization has faced increasing pressure, as well as increasing success, more examples have emerged demonstrating a disregard for the privacy of individuals who are not public figures.
So now @wikileaks publishes people's medical records. And shrugs it off. Anyone still thinks this is a Good Thing? https://t.co/rnr6cz8HNY
— Karin Kosina (@kyrah) 23 August 2016
On July 22, 2016, they published thousands emails from the servers of the Democratic National Committee in the US that revealed internal democratic party efforts to undermine the campaign of Bernie Sanders in favour of Hillary Clinton's campaign. However, they also included full names, addresses, phone numbers, passport details and social security numbers of a number of party donors. Two of the people named told AP that they were targeted by identity thieves in the aftermath of the leaks.
In another instance, WikiLeaks released hundreds of emails from Turkey's AKP party, the party of current president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The emails were combed by Turkish journalists and activists, who found that they were largely devoid of any “newsworthy” information. Beyond this, Turkish new media scholar Zeynep Tufekci reported:
WikiLeaks also posted links on social media to its millions of followers via multiple channels to a set of leaked massive databases containing sensitive and private information of millions of ordinary people, including a special database of almost all adult women in Turkey.
Medical records, debts, personal info… Wikileaks treats ordinary people's safety and privacy as collateral damage. pic.twitter.com/P7HEG9i6z3
— Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) 23 August 2016
It's also worth mentioning, as Global Voices Advox project reported last year, that at least some of WikiLeaks’ indiscriminate mass leaks have included malicious files that can put any viewer of the documents leaks at risk. Both the AKP leaks and the Hacking Team emails released in 2015 contained malicious software.
Wikileaks’ indiscriminate dumps include sensitive personally-identifiable information, and now malware. https://t.co/z4YRrYDorn
— profdeibert (@RonDeibert) 14 August 2016
Human rights advocates have sought to hold WikiLeaks to account for these acts. Following the Afghan War Diary leak, Amnesty International and other human rights groups requested that WikiLeaks redact the names of Afghan civilians working as U.S. military informants from files they had released, in order to protect them from repercussions.
Assange's response to the human rights groups was, “I'm very busy and have no time to deal with people who prefer to do nothing but cover their asses.” As more and more people come under threat from Wikileaks’ policy of indiscriminate leaking, it remains unclear whether Assange could see the inherent hypocrisy in that statement. What is clear however, is that WikiLeaks no longer has the popular support it once had.

author: Tara


text:
Brazil’s Highest Mountain Is Reopening for Ecotourism Guided by the Yanomami People · Global Voices
ISA

An unprecedented expedition to Brazil's highest mountain aims to prepare a trail for ecotourism. Photo: Guilherme Gnipper/Funai, published with permission
This story by Marcos Wesley was originally published on Medium by Instituto Socioambiental, and is republished here as part of a partnership with Global Voices.
If climbing Pico da Neblina (Mist Peak) is already an exciting experience, imagine the journey guided by a Yanomami shaman who spent his or her entire youth right beside the mountain?
“This place was our house and we called it Irokae (the cry of the guariba monkey)”, says shaman Carlos Yanomami in his own language, pointing to the forest, where his relatives lived in a home, having parties and practicing rituals, 60 years ago.
Climbers all over the world know about Pico da Neblina. With a summit 2,995 meters (almost 10,000 feet) above sea level, it's Brazil's highest mountain. Nestled in the middle of the Amazon forest, it's been closed off for visitation since 2003 on a recommendation by the federal prosecutor's office and a decision by IBAMA, Brazil's environmental agency. Some climbers were frustrated to lose access to the mountain, but policymakers argue that something needed to be done to halt the region's environmental degradation and to protect the rights of the Yanomami.
The Yaripo Ecotourism project, developed by the Yanomami with the support of the Instituto Socioambiental (Socio-Environmental Institute), should put an end to the visitation restrictions. Starting in 2018, the hiking trail is scheduled to be reopened and managed by the Yanomami themselves. With controlled access, tourists will be able to learn about Yanomami culture, enjoy their hospitality, and bolster a respect for both the Amazon and its native inhabitants.
A mountain in the proximity of Pico da Neblina. Photo: Guilherme Gnipper/Funai, published with permission.
This July marked the completion of the reopening's first stage: an expedition of 32 people walked for ten days all the way to the summit of Yaripo, as the Yanomami call the mountain, to investigate and map the conditions of the trail. Besides Carlos, another 18 Yanomami were part of the team, 16 of them men and two women, Maria and Floriza. They are training to monitor the trail and to work as guides, porters, and cookers, and to manage the ecotourism project that they plan to develop. Representatives of ICMbio (Brazil's conservation agency), the public prosecutors office, and the Brazilian army also took part in the expedition.
Packing GPS trackers, cameras, and a lot of interest, the explorers listened to shaman Carlos’ stories while walking the 36-kilometer (22-mile) trail, which begins at the village of Igarapé Tucano, at the Yanomami indigenous reserve, near the town of São Gabriel da Cachoeira in the Brazilian state of Amazonas.
While overcoming large distances and difficult terrains, the indigenous group marked the places where they spotted animals or their tracks, places with drinking water, parts of the trail that need improvement, and the most adequate places for the construction of overnight camping grounds. The team also identified the most environmentally sensitive areas.
Maria Yanomami, 52, made history by becoming the first Yanomami woman ever to reach the summit of Yaripo. Her trail companion, Floriza Yanomami, however, couldn't finish the walk out of respect for and fear of her own traditions: the day before she would have reached the summit, she got her period, and so she turned back, rather than break custom and risk upsetting the spirits who live at the summit. If she had completed her journey while menstruating, according to tradition, she could have endangered the lives of everyone in her travel group.
The Yaripo Ecotourism project is expected to provide an alternative form of income to the Yanomami, who need resources to buy manufactured goods of prime necessity: agriculture tools, kitchen utensils, bedding, and clothes.
A young Yanomami who took part in the expedition to Pico da Neblina. Photo: Guilherme Gnipper/Funai, published with permission.
With the implementation of a community-based ecotourism project, 80 Yanomami are expected to receive income by providing regular services to visitors, indirectly benefiting 800 people among their relatives and dependents.
The trail's development should also benefit the AYRCA community association, in which all Yanomami people take part.
When Yaripo is finally opened to tourism, the stories of Carlos Yanomami and his people will gain new life, and visitors to Pico da Neblina will spread them across the world.
The Yaripo Ecotourism project is looking for supporters. If you're interested in supporting this initiative or want more information about it, please send an email to marcos@socioambiental.org.

author: ISA


text:
Daraya, Symbol of Non-Violent Revolution and Self-Determination, Falls to the Syrian Regime · Global Voices
Leila Al Shami

Daraya's “The peaceful protests were subjected to violent repression. Flowers were met with bullets, protesters were rounded up en masse and detained.” PHOTO: Non-violent protests with protesters holding roses in Baniyas, May 6, 2011. PHOTO: Syrian Freedom (CC BY 2.0)
Four years following its liberation, the predominantly agricultural town of Daraya, strategically located near Syrian capital, Damascus, has fallen to the regime. A deal was reached to evacuate the 4,000-8,000 civilians remaining there, out of a pre-uprising population of 300,000. The local fighters who defended their town so courageously will go to Idlib and join the resistance there.
The Daraya residents being evacuated know that they may never return to their homes. Photos circulated on social media showed people gathered at the graves of loved ones to say goodbye. Fears abound of a plan to cleanse opposition strongholds permanently, and in previous evacuation deals—even those carried out under UN auspices—many were detained by the regime, never to be seen again.
The last bye to the cemeteries in #Darayya before leaving the city by the green buses “Pessimism buses”#داريا . pic.twitter.com/qzFGxonGPL
— Abdalaziz Alhamza (@3z0ooz) 26 August 2016
But Daraya's residents are desperate. A few days ago a group of women published a open letter to the world. They described the horrific conditions in the town. A regime-imposed siege, ongoing for 1,368 days, had blocked the entry of food and medical supplies. People were starving. They described the daily regime assault which has seen over 9,000 barrel bombs dropped on the town, as well as internationally prohibited poisonous gas and napalm. The hospital had been targeted and was out of operation. Agricultural land, the sole source of food, had been deliberately burned and destroyed. The women called on the international community to take action to end the violence and lift the siege. This letter followed months of protests held by women and children with the same demands. The first, and only, aid convoy to reach the town entered in June 2016. It contained medicine, mosquito nets and baby formula, but no food. ‘We can’t take medicine on an empty stomach,’ read a banner at a protest soon after.
Those who leave Daraya leave as heroes. Daraya is an iconic town for Syrian revolutionaries. It’s been a centre for the development of the thought and practice of non-violent resistance and has inspired civil disobedience across the country. And despite the horrific repression inflicted on the town, it’s had remarkable success in practicing local, autonomous self-organization. Revolutionary activist Razan Zeitouneh, who was herself kidnapped in 2013, said “Daraya was a star before the revolution and a star during. What the young men and women of the city built took immense efforts and resulted in a small exemplary model for the future of Syria, the one we dream of. The activism in the city never ceased to amaze us for a minute… In Daraya, the signs calling for co-existence continued to be held high even when the entire country was falling into despair following every new massacre.”
“Daraya is an iconic town for Syrian revolutionaries. It’s been a centre for the development of the thought and practice of non-violent resistance and has inspired civil disobedience across the country. And despite the horrific repression inflicted on the town, it’s had remarkable success in practicing local, autonomous self-organization.”
In 2011, when the uprising began, a local coordination committee quickly emerged to organize anti-regime protests. The committee emphasized the importance of non-violent struggle and handed out leaflets calling for a democratic Syria and for equality between all religious and ethnic groups. As church bells rang in solidarity, protesters marched holding flowers, and handed bottles of water to the security forces sent to shoot them. ‘The army and people are one,’ they chanted.
One of those involved with the local coordination committee was a 26-year-old tailor called Ghiyath Matar. He earned the nickname ‘Little Gandhi’ for his commitment to peaceful resistance. Ghiyath was arrested by security forces on September6, 2011. A few days later his mutilated corpse was returned to his family and pregnant wife. In one of his last Facebook posts, Ghiyath said: “We chose non-violence not from cowardice or weakness, but out of moral conviction; we don’t want to reach victory by having destroyed the country.”
The principles of non-violent resistancethat influenced Daraya’s youth had a history in the town. Unusually for Syria, a police state that ruthlessly suppresses independent organization, a group of young men and women aged between 15 and 25 established the Daraya Youth Group in 1998. They had been studying Quran under the religious scholar Abdul Akram Al Saqqa. Al Saqqa promoted social and political freedom and encouraged free thinking amongst his students. Because of his liberal views he was controversial amongst the Syrian ulema (religious authorities). He called for women to choose their own husbands and argued that women’s education was more important than whether or not they wore the veil. He introduced students to the work of Jawdat Said, an Islamist scholar who promoted non-violent thought and practice through the Quranic traditions as well as the teachings of Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
Al Saqqa’s work attracted the attention of the authorities and he was imprisoned in 2003 and 2011, but under his mentorship, the Daraya Youth Group organized actions such as cleaning the streets of their town, boycotting American products, and risky campaigns against bribery and corruption. In 2002 they demonstrated against the Israeli invasion of Jenin refugee camp and in 2003 they organized protests without government permission against the US invasion of Iraq. This activity led to the arrest of 24 members of the group. A few were released soon after, but the majority were sentenced to between three and four years in prison.
The peaceful protests were subjected to violent repression. Flowers were met with bullets, protesters were rounded up en masse and detained. In August 2012, following intense shelling, Syrian army troops stormed the town and committed one of the regime’s worst massacres. Some 400 men, women and children lost their lives in execution-style killings. Those attempting to flee were hunted down and shot. The bodies of the dead littered the streets or were thrown into mass graves.
In a scene that would be endlessly repeated, some Western commentators sought to exonerate the regime from wrongdoing. The celebrated journalist Robert Fisk visited Daraya shortly after the massacre, embedded with regime troops. He reported that the situation was the result of a Free Army hostage-taking and a prisoner exchange gone wrong, quoting sources saying that victims were relatives of government employees. Daraya’s local coordination committee issued a strong condemnation of Fisk’s report. They had never heard of the prisoner exchange story, questioned whether interviewees would be free to speak the truth in the presence of regime soldiers, and criticized Fisk for not meeting with opposition activists. Meanwhile, the American war reporter Janine Di Giovani also entered Daraya—without regime support—a few days after the massacre, and gave a harrowing account in her excellent book ‘The Morning They Came for Us’.
“Despite enormous challenges, Daraya’s local council has had remarkable success. It has established numerous offices to provide services to civilians, including media services, legal services and public relations (they maintain an excellent website). A relief office runs a soup kitchen which began providing three meals a day, although this frequency was reduced due to the siege. The council also tried to build self-sufficiency, growing beans, spinach and wheat.”
Daraya was liberated by local rebels in November 2012. As the state withdrew, residents set up a Local Council to run the town’s affairs. One of those involved was anarchist Omar Aziz, who encouraged revolutionary Syrians to organize their communities independently from the Assadist state, and work towards advancing a social revolution.
Despite enormous challenges, Daraya’s local council has had remarkable success. It has established numerous offices to provide services to civilians, including media services, legal services and public relations (they maintain an excellent website). A relief office runs a soup kitchen which began providing three meals a day, although this frequency was reduced due to the siege. The council also tried to build self-sufficiency, growing beans, spinach and wheat. A medical office supervises the field hospital which provides for the sick and wounded. A services office is responsible for opening alternative roads when the main ones are inaccessible due to airstrikes or collapsed buildings.
The local council also aimed to unify civil and military efforts. Daraya is one of the few communities where the local Free Army brigade is part of the council’s organizational structure and subject to civil administrative control. Revolutionary women set up the Enab Baladi magazine to discuss events happening in their community and Syria more broadly and promote civil disobedience. Activists built an underground library so residents could continue their education.
The people of Daraya have paid a heavy price for their dream of freedom. For four years they defended their autonomy from the Assadist state and kept going despite the bombing, despite the starvation siege. Their struggle will continue to be remembered and honoured by Syrian revolutionaries everywhere.
Leila Al Shami is a British Syrian who has been involved in human rights and social justice struggles in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East since 2000. She is the co-author of “Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War” with Robin Yassin-Kassab, and a contributor to “Khiyana-Daesh, the Left and the Unmaking of the Syrian Revolution”. A version of this story was originally published on her blog.

author: Leila Al Shami


text:
An MIT Lesson in Failure Helps Deliver Fresh Milk to Millions in India · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

Sorin Grama, left, pours milk into his refrigeration system in India. Credit: Promethean Power Systems
This article by Jason Margolis originally appeared on PRI.org on August 23, 2016. It is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement.
Sorin Grama had a great idea. Like, a really terrific idea. It was so good, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States awarded him one of its most prestigious entrepreneurship prizes: second place in the university’s annual 100K Entrepreneurship Competition.
Grama’s team built a machine using old car parts that can heat water without electricity. Think of the possibilities in rural parts of the developing world: Medical clinics could sterilize devices, people could clean clothes with warm water, or they could just take a hot shower, all without being connected to a grid. Revolutionary, right?
Grama took the invention to India expecting a huge response. Instead, he got: “Yeah, OK, that’s fine. But it doesn't solve our problem.”
He had miscalculated. Rural Indians didn’t want to talk about hot water; they wanted to talk about cold milk.
“We were a classic case of a technology looking for a problem to solve,” Grama says.
“India is the largest producer and consumer of milk in the world,” he explains. “And all that has to be collected in this very time critical process, which leads to a lot of spoilage, [or] low quality milk that’s been sitting around for hours in the sun before it gets to a refrigeration facility or processing facility.”
So Grama, who grew up in Romania and moved to the United States when he was 18, set aside his award-winning solar water heater and focused on milk instead.
He moved to India and soon realized the main thing making milk go bad was unreliable power.
“The thing to understand is that all these villages do have power, [but] they don’t have it 24 hours a day.”
In India, most milk is collected in small amounts by rural farmers scattered across the country. Credit: Promethean Power Systems
But the MIT alum figured that if he could tap into the power grid when it was on and store energy, he could keep milk cold. The challenge was building a better battery.
His solution came in the form of a thermal battery, which slowly releases stored power.
“It’s like making ice. We make ‘ice.’ The process of freezing material stores energy and when that material melts it releases the energy.”
It worked. And Grama’s company, Promethean Power Systems, has now sold about 300 large industrial milk chillers in India. This means millions upon millions of gallons of milk are no longer being wasted. Meanwhile fewer people are getting sick, and small rural farmers aren't losing so much money.
The MIT Sloan School of Management was so impressed with Grama — his business successes, and failures — that they’re bringing him in to teach a fall seminar. He'll be the school's first-ever entrepreneur in residence focused solely on the developing world.
“Many entrepreneurs fail the first, second, even third time, and having someone who can be honest with the students is very important,” says Georgina Campbell Flatter, the executive director of the Legatum Center for Development & Entrepreneurship at MIT.
The center emphasizes that inventions are only useful if they’re used. They encourage students to get out of the lab and into the developing world to tackle real problems.
Flatter offers a couple examples: “How do I think through the import/export challenges of moving my medical device from Boston to Lagos? How do I share profits with an artist who lives in rural India when they don’t have a bank account?”
Recent MIT master’s grad Cyril Masud Khamsi is one of the young entrepreneurs grappling with such problems. He’s now camped out at a shared workspace on campus, at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, launching a company to improve trucking services in Rwanda.
“I used to work in Rwanda, and I was working with farmers, and we had major struggles securing transport that was reliable for them and also that wasn’t taking a large portion of their margins,” says Khamsi.
He describes his company as Uber for commercial trucks in Africa. He’s been getting guidance on an almost daily basis from Grama.
Khamsi says, “This program is trying help push us to make sure we’re not just coming out and often looking at things very simplistically or paternally: ‘Oh these people have some problem, poor them. I know, I have the right knowledge, let me go fix it for them.’ I don’t think that works well.”
Students work at the shared workspace, the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship. Cyril Masud Khamsi is on the right. Credit: Jason Margolis
Of course there’s also the Steve Jobs philosophy. The Apple co-founder famously said, “A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.”
“It’s a good point,” says Grama. “But I think very few of us are like Steve Jobs.”
Sure, inventors can get lucky, Grama says. But he knows first-hand that it's best to understand the market before you design a product.
Millions of Indians enjoying more fresh milk are no doubt glad Grama has come to see things that way.

author: PRI/PRX's The World