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Alan Kurdi’s Death Forces Canada to Confront Its Commitment to Helping Syrian Refugees · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Canadian Immigration Minister and federal election candidate Chris Alexander. Screencap from CBC News official YouTube channel.
The death of Alan Kurdi has forced Canadian politicians in the midst of contesting a federal election campaign to address the fact that, despite a promise to settle 10,000 Syrian refugees in Canada, very little has been done to achieve that target.
On Tuesday, September 2, the image of Alan's (reported widely as Aylan) lifeless body lying dead on a Turkish beach was shared on social media and published on the front pages of news sites all over the world. The 3-year-old had drowned, along with his mother Rehana and 5-year-old brother Ghalib, while trying to travel by boat to the Greek island of Kos.
Only the father, Abdullah Kurdi, survived.
An image of Abdullah Kurdi, and his sons Aylan and Galip, sent to me by a family friend. Heartbreaking. pic.twitter.com/5s7RuY41ZT
— Hussein Kesvani (@HKesvani) septiembre 3, 2015
By early Wednesday morning, the deaths had become a major news story in Canada when it was reported the Kurdi family had been trying to reach British Columbia, where Abdullah Kurdi's sister Tima Kurdi lives. Tima said she learned of Alan's death and other members of the family through the graphic images shared on social media.
“They didn't deserve to die,” she told reporters.
Tima Kurdi explained she had filed a refugee application for her other brother, Mohammed, but only had money to sponsor one brother at a time. So instead she wrote a letter to Immigration Minister Chris Alexander asking to help.
Speaking on Vancouver morning drive-in radio, opposition Member of Parliament Fin Donnelly explained that he had hand-delivered the letter from Tima, his constituent, to Alexander in March 2015 but received no response.
Donnelly's interview on CBC Radio can be listened to here:  Alexander said in order to preserve impartiality as the head of immigration department, he had turned over the file to subordinates, and could therefore offer no help to the Kurdi family, who had not filed for asylum.
Shortly after Donnelly's radio interview, Alexander announced he was suspending his election campaign activities for the day to travel back to Ottawa to talk to ministry officials about the Syrian refugee crisis.
At the beginning of 2015, in response to intense political pressure, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government promised to settle 13,000 Syrian refugees in Canada. Church groups and other private organizations, and not the government, are expected to be responsible for settling the refugees.
As of July 27, 2015 Canada's Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration reported that only 2,302 refugees from Syria had been settled in Canada. In contrast, Lebanon, with a population of about 4 million people, has accepted more than one million refugees from Syria.
The Harper government “clarified” its commitment at the start of the election campaign in August 2015: if re-elected it would resettle an additional 10,000 “religious minorities” from Syria and Iraq by 2017, for a total of 23,000 in all.
It has not been easy for the Canadian media or even regular Canadians themselves to determine whether or not Canada is living up to the firm promise made in January 2015 to accept Syrian refugees. In July 2015, leading Canadian weekly news magazine Maclean's reported that in order to find out how many refugees had been settled they would have to pay the Harper government for access to information.
However, the shocking images of Alan Kurdi's dead body, and the fact the family had been headed to Canada after making a direct appeal to the Canadian government, have now made Canada's deplorable record on assisting Syrian refugees an election issue.
Canada heads to the polls on October 19, 2015. So far the election has been a tight three-way race between the governing Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Harper; the New Democratic Party (NDP); and the Liberal Party of Canada.
On Wednesday, following the news of the Kurdi family's attempts to reach Canada, only to be seemingly ignored by Immigration Minister Alexander and the Conservative government, Justin Trudeau, leader of the opposition Liberal Party called on the ruling Conservative Party of Canada to accept more refugees.
This government is not living up to our values. We must immediately sponsor 25K Syrian refugees and do our part to end the #refugeecrisis. — Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) septiembre 3, 2015
NDP and Official Opposition leader Thomas Mulcair, who, like Trudeau, hopes to replace Harper as prime minister on October 5, made an emotional plea for Canada to do more:
As a grandfather, it's unbearable to see the image of that little body on a beach. Canada must act. Let’s not wait any longer. –TM #Syria
— Tom Mulcair (@ThomasMulcair) septiembre 3, 2015
Some Twitter users criticized Mulcair for seemingly using Alan Kurdi to score political points:
@ThomasMulcair Your capitalization on that image of a dead child is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in #cdnpoli.
— James Dougal Fleming (@DougalFleming) septiembre 3, 2015
Incumbent Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, speaking at a Conservative rally outside of Vancouver on Wednesday afternoon, also became emotional when discussing the fate of Alan Kurdi and his family.
However, the prime minister quickly adopted a partisan tone, refusing to accept more refugees while attacking the NDP and the Liberals for voting against expanding Canada's military campaign against ISIS:
When questioned about the deaths of members of the Kurdi family while en route to Canada, Harper all but ignored the possibility of speeding up settling a greater number of refugees from Syria. He instead emphasized that military action needed to address the root causes of the refugee crisis.
The political firestorm surrounding the fate of the Kurdi family eclipsed another potential political bombshell on Tuesday, September 2, when a Pentagon document revealed that up to 27 Iraqi civilians had been killed in a Canadian airstrike.
As the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean and Europe grew over the summer, there was little coverage of the issue in the Canadian media, which was absorbed with the falling price of oil, the possibility of recession and an election campaign called at the beginning of August.
Just hours before it would become apparent that the Kurdi family was heading for Canada, and had made a direct appeal to the Canadian immigration minister, the Globe and Mail, Canada's most influential daily newspaper, ran an editorial titled “Migrant crisis? No, Europe is facing a moral crisis.”
Canada's refugee targets were mentioned only in passing, in positive terms compared to Europe's perceived “immoral” response to the crisis:
Yes, in the first half of 2015, more than 300,000 migrants arrived in Europe. But that’s only about 0.1 per cent of the EU’s population. Canada takes in close to 1 per cent of its population each and every year, in the form of immigrants and refugees. Canada is not in crisis as a result. Quite the opposite.
Following the publication of the dreadful, heartbreaking images of Alan Kurdi, one Twitter user noted that Canadian politicians and pundits remarking on the crisis may be out of touch (Andrew Coyne, at left, and editor of the National Post daily, dutifully retweeted this):
MT”@CBCTheNational: The all-white #AtIssue panel discusses the implications of the refugee crisis. pic.twitter.com/oeNvDEc06O“
— Rachel Décoste (@RachelDecoste) September 4, 2015
Big city mayors also pressured the country to respond more generously to the refugee crisis.
Just over 24 hours since Alan Kurdi's death became news worldwide, Canada's serious national conversation about how to help has only just begun.
Scott Gilmore, a columnist who has frequently written about the Syrian humanitarian crisis for Maclean's Magazine, advocates that Canadians should continue to push their government to do more, and that the current election campaign in Canada is an opportunity to affect real change:
In Canadian politics, we often think small. On Syria's refugee crisis, it's time to think big. http://t.co/WRjj2X0BE5 pic.twitter.com/a6kFnREAeu
— Maclean's Magazine (@MacleansMag) septiembre 3, 2015

author: Nevin Thompson


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Censored Memes, Search Terms and Images from China’s WWII Parade · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

An image of President Xi at the military parade, with an added speech bubble that reads, ““It’s f**king hot.”
This post was written by Vivienne Zeng and originally published on Hong Kong Free Press on September 3. It is republished on Global Voices under a partnership agreement.
Censors in China were extra busy on Thursday as Beijing made an all out effort to ensure a massive military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II went without a hitch.
The word “military parade” topped keyword rankings on microblogging site Weibo, with 460,000 searches recorded. Whilst the visible comments were overwhelmingly positive, posts which were removed and collected at FreeWeibo.com showed a different picture. Below are some of the most popular memes and comments blocked on the Twitter-like Chinese platform.
1. Residents living in Beijing’s restricted zone complained and joked about not being able to open their windows or go onto their balconies. The following notice asked residents not to peer out of their windows during the parade.
“Dear resident, in the morning of September 3 during the parade, please keep your windows shut. Don't attempt peeping. Please understand and give your support. Zhao Jia Lou Community Committee.”
Some fell foul of Godwin’s Law, comparing the communist regime with Nazi Germany. Some noted that even Hitler allowed people to watch military parades from their windows.
2. Several pictures poked fun at President Xi Jinping standing in the scorching heat with his signature fresh-out-of-bed look. One of the images said “It’s f**king hot” (see image at the top of the post).
Another banned picture showed an older woman kindly putting up an umbrella for Xi in front of the TV and fanning him.
Xi is often compared to Winnie the Pooh because of his body shape. So this picture with the cartoon character standing in his vehicle was also censored.
3. Former President Jiang Zemin drew quite a lot of attention with his black sunglasses and stern appearance. This picture of Jiang looking totally cool and collected while a unusually animated Xi gives a passionate speech about war and peace gained traction on social media platform WeChat.
Xi Jinping gives a passionate speech during the parade.
Jiang, 89, is nicknamed “the toad.” In this picture, the former leader grabbed on to a handrail at Tiananmen Gate with three fingers on each hand, thereby mimicking the cold-blooded amphibian.
Jiang Zemin, often derided as ‘The Toad’ online, not doing himself any favours. https://t.co/ACpmKtAUvl pic.twitter.com/3wiSVhnt9R
— Fergus Ryan (@fryan) septiembre 3, 2015
It seemed search results for “Jiang Zemin” were not shown on Weibo “due to relevant laws and regulations.”
The search engine notice: According to relevant laws, regulations and administrative rules, the search result cannot be shown.
4. Residents who could not get into the restricted area in downtown Beijing to watch the parade made invitations for themselves. The invites promised “front-row” TV seats.
Left: fake invitation to military parade shared by netizens. Right: the real invitation.
5. Female soldiers gained much attention with their short skirts and high-pitched voices. However, civil rights lawyer Yuan Yulai blasted state-owned CCTV for focusing on such superficial matters whilst netizens were more than happy to see “a sea of breasts.” Both Yuan’s comment and netizens’ comments about breasts were blocked on Weibo.
Is this image from the actual parade? Let's add a caption that says if it is or not.
6. The troops at the parade displayed mind-boggling uniformity.
A widely circulated image after the parade rehearsal last weekend.
That prompted some to share this cartoon online:
7. Whilst the Chinese media were told to downplay news of absent world leaders, netizens nevertheless allowed their imaginations to fly. This edited image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supposedly spying on President Xi and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye from afar was very popular.
So was this one showing US President Barack Obama and his family “watching” the Chinese military parade in front of their TV.
In this picture, Obama scolds Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe: “The Chinese military parade looks so pretty. If not for you, I would have gone.” To which Abe says: “It’s my fault.”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Hong Kong Free Press


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Ghanaians Offer Glimpses of Their Everyday Lives With the Hashtag #233Moments · Global Voices
Kofi Yeboah

Ghana's minibuses, Tro Tros, are a popular theme in #233 hashtag. Photo by Wikipedia user eggi and released under Creative Commons.
Many people have used Twitter to tell the world something unique about their country that isn't the usual economy or political news. The account Kenyans On Twitter (@KOT), for example, has created an ecosystem for Kenyans to share information about their home.
Ghana is no different. Ghanaians use the hashtag #233moments, created by blogger Ato Ulzen Appiah, to tweet what they are doing at exactly 2:33 p.m. GMT. Global Voices co-founder Ethan Zuckerman elaborated on the hashtag in a post for Ghana's the Daily Graphic:
From church posters to the backs of tro-tros, from business conferences to roadside sellers, from beach resorts to lazy lunches (especially on “WaakyeWednesday”, when it's customary to post from your favourite chop bar), #233moments celebrates what's colorful, wonderful and unique about this remarkable nation, and shares it with anyone willing to hear.
Take a look at some #233moments tweets below.
Efo Dela shared photos of unique artwork made from pure water sachets:
I just saw this awesome artwork made from pure water sachets at the Impact Hub, Accra. #233moments pic.twitter.com/m9815L3A4h
— Efo Dela (@Amegaxi) August 29, 2015
Ato Ulzen Appiah mentioned National Volunteer Day, celebrated in Ghana on September 21:
2:33pm in #Accra, #Ghana. Looking forward to September 19-21. What are you doing for National #Volunteer Day #NVDay? #NVDay15 #233moments
— Ato #NVDay15 (@Abocco) August 31, 2015
John Roberts tweeted about the launch of an Impact Hub franchise in Ghana:
The official launch of Impact Hub Accra. #dreamscometrue #233moments #africarising @hubaccra @impacthub pic.twitter.com/X5nQXwDeHN — John Roberts (@john4point0) August 22, 2015
This Ghana Life posted a photo of Elmina Castle in Ghana, which was built by the Portuguese in 1482:
Aerial view of Elmina Castle. shot by @Chikisphotography #Elmina #Ghana #233moments #Africa #places pic.twitter.com/2thlhdKA1o
— This Ghana Life (@ThisGhanaLife) July 27, 2015
Enock Seth Nyamador wrote about his busy schedule:
2:50 in Ghana. Is been a busy day but still pushing on. Just took a bold decision. Let's do this. #MoreVIM#233moments
— Enock Seth Nyamador (@Enock4seth) August 20, 2015
Kwaku Manso complained:
When you meet anyone cursing Gh for our irresponsible politicians sake, it breaks heart. #233moments
— Kweku Ananse ~ (@AnanseMansoh) August 20, 2015
Macjordan shared a photo of his moment with Ethan Zuckerman and other Ghanaians digital enthusiasts in Accra recently:
#233Moments with @EthanZ@amegaxi@MarComModel@blaqhaq@kofiemeritus & 8 others. cc: @hubaccra@BloggingGhanapic.twitter.com/53ViqaqlU8 — Mac-Jordan (@MacJordaN) August 29, 2015
Kojo Akoto Boateng expressed his optimism about Ghana:
It's 2:33 am. #Ghana will work again. #233moments.
— Kwadwo Akoto Boateng (@KojoAB) August 29, 2015
Efo Dela and Publicis West Africa posted photos of funny sayings displayed on tro tros, or privately owned mini buses:
“FANTA TOO CAN BOOZE” Deepness level: Mariana Trench #TrotroDiaries #233moments pic.twitter.com/HKT2v5NooX
— Efo Dela (@Amegaxi) August 13, 2015
#233moments! Lol pic.twitter.com/Dt3GOGzzHQ
— Publicis West Africa (@PublicisGh) July 29, 2015
Nathaniel Alpha spent his #233moment learning open data:
2:33 AM in Madina, Accra. Learning and applying my skills to help #opendata in Ghana with.@Enock4seth. #opendatahacknight #Vim #233moments
— Nathaniel Alpha (@natalpha27) August 1, 2015

author: Kofi Yeboah


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GV Face: How Volunteers in Europe Are Opening Their Hearts and Homes to Refugees · Global Voices
Sahar Habib Ghazi

Hungarian citizens are handing out water to hundreds of refugees as the march 125 miles towards Austria. A German couple helped organize Refugees Welcome, an AirBnB of sorts that helps connect refugees with shared flats and dozens of volunteer organizations are helping refugees as the arrive via perilous sea journeys at Lesvos and Kos islands in Greece.
As governments are struggling to address the growing refugee crisis in Europe, ordinary citizens across Greece, Germany, Hungary, and Italy are organizing to arrange resources and even offering their homes to refugees.
In this episode of GV Face, we'll be talking about the organizations and people working on the ground in Greece with Asteris Masouras, who just spent a week at Lesvos with refugees who arrived by sea, Marietta Le will be telling us about the work being done in Budapest, Hungary, where thousands of refugees are stranded at the Keleti train station, and Anne Hemeda and Katrin Zinoun will tell us about the work being done to help resettle hundreds of thousands of refugees in Germany this year.

author: Sahar Habib Ghazi


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How Do You Say ‘Bro’ in Latin America? · Global Voices
Global Voices Latin America

The Bromap: How do you say “bro” in Latin America?
The Facebook page for Pictoline, a highly visual site for news and information, shared this map with the different ways people in Latin American countries say “bro”, short for brother in English. While in Mexico they use wey and pata in Peru, it's pana in Venezuela and parce in Colombia.

author: Global Voices Latin America


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How You Can Help Syrian (and Other) Refugees · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

An Afghan refugee family leaving the Keleti train station. Photo by Edd Carlile, from Budapest Seen's Facebook page.
The refugee crisis in Europe has many asking how they can direct their funds and attention to Syrian and other refugees here. There are many different initiatives, but here are a few good ones I’ve found:
Two years ago, I wrote a post about how you can help Syrian refugees. While I stand by the information in that post, I decided to write a fresh one that includes newer organizations. This post also includes some repeats from the last. Many thanks to Lina Sergie Attar and Sima Diab for their help.
As I explained last time, I’ve highlighted organizations that are 501(c)(3) US-based nonprofits and receive high marks from GuideStar and Charity Navigator, with a couple of notable exceptions.
Suggestions are in no particular order:
This post was originally published on Jillian C.York's blog. Jillian is a volunteer representative for the Global Voices Board of Directors. She is also EFF's Director for International Freedom of Expression and is based in Berlin, Germany.

author: Jillian C. York


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I’m a Syrian Refugee in Turkey, but I’ve Decided to Return Home · Global Voices
John Lubbock

Sheriff and author John Lubbock in Istanbul. PHOTO: John Lubbock
I’ve spent much of the last year in Istanbul, working as a freelance journalist and making films. There, I met many Syrian refugees, including Sheriff, whom I asked for directions one day on Istikal Street. He joined my friends and me for tea, and I was struck by his idealism and hopefulness, especially in light of his difficult situation.  After that first encounter, Sheriff and I met frequently to exchange Arabic and English lessons and talk about Middle Eastern politics.
Syrians are allowed to work and study in Turkey, though the government remains ambivalent about them because, like Sheriff, many are members of the Kurdish ethnic group. Turkey has the largest Kurdish population in the world, and Istanbul the largest Kurdish population of any city. Tensions are rising as Turkey becomes worried about the Kurds forming an independent state across the north of Syria and Iraq.
Now that I’m back in London, and as the news fills up daily with stories of people drowning in the Mediterranean, I often think of the refugees I met in Istanbul. All were young, talented in different ways, and incredibly brave. For people like that, Syria offers nothing but death and poverty.
Sheriff has chosen to return to Syria because we in Europe have failed to offer him safety, and he wishes to help look after his family. We can do better than this. We should be offering him and his family safe passage to Europe, instead of condemning them to a risky existence in Syria. We owe it to the world to extend the generosity it has given us to those less fortunate. We owe it to these people, as human beings, safe passage as refugees, and help to stabilise the countries they come from, so they can one day hope to return.
______________________________________________________________________
My name is Mihemed Sheriff Musa, but you can just call me Sheriff. I was born in Amouda in the Kurdish region of Syria in the mid 1980s. Back then, there was a lot of injustice from the Assad regime, which massacred members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Hama and Aleppo.
There was also racial discrimination against the Kurdish people; we weren't even allowed to speak in our native language, many were denied citizenship and Kurdish political parties were prohibited and their members arrested.
My family was poor; my father suffered from epilepsy. Eventually, he died, and my two uncles took responsibility for raising us. I have two sisters and a brother, but my brother and one of my sisters are disabled, so I had to work to support all my family.
One of my uncles worked for the banned Kurdish party Hevgirtina Gel (People's Union). Hevgirtina Gel's slogan is “the right of self-determination for the Kurdish people in Syria”. Today, the party has joined with other political groups to form a coalition called PDK-S.
Amouda, in Northern Syria, where I grew up, is called the city of politics and culture, poetry and madness. Our culture and politics are like twins, because the political injustice we suffer is because of our cultural identity as Kurds.
When the Syrian civil war began in 2011, I was a student in my second year at Damascus University, studying English to Arabic Translation.
I joined the Syrian Revolution right from the first events and demonstrations, so I couldn’t go back to university because I was wanted by the regime. I returned to Amouda as the war slowly destroyed all of Syria.
I wanted to stop the kids in my area from losing an opportunity to get an education, so I began teaching high school students for free to help them in their examinations.
In 2013 I took part in a hunger strike to protest the arrest of local political activists by the Kurdish political party, the PYD, who were asserting control over the Rojava region. On 27 July 2013 the PYD's militia, the YPG, attacked our peaceful protest and killed six civilians, injured more than 30 and arrested more than 90. They broke into my house three times… thankfully I wasn’t there. So I left for Turkey.
It has been so hard for me to live in Turkey because my family are far away. I can't bring them here to live with me because everything here is so expensive. Here in Istanbul I am working as an English teacher at a Syrian school. I sometimes give free English courses to help Syrians find better jobs, and I play the saz and baglama and sing with my band, Freedom Lovers.
I want to go back to Amouda because every plant grows up in its own soil. I would like to go to Europe one day but I can’t abandon my family at home. I want to build up an educational generation who believe in freedom, peace, justice and respect for others regardless of religion, political leanings or ethnicity: a generation who reject racism, and love the beauty of life.
I want to establish centers for free courses and hobbies for children and students to help them keep on living their childhood far away from war and violence.
I have so many dreams and ambitions: freedom for all, peace and justice for Syria's children and people. One day I would like to be able to study politics at university in Britain, which has always been a beacon of peace and hope for many Kurdish people.
I wish to see a Free Kurdistan before I die. Maybe one day, if I can finish my studies, I will be able to contribute to the creation of an independent and peaceful state for my people.

author: John Lubbock


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The Mesoamerican Abacus That Gives Modern Calculators a Run for Their Money · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Mesoamerican abacus. Screenshot of video posted on YouTube.
The nepohualtzintzin is a calculation device used in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican cultures, including the Mayans, that is now making a comeback in several education programs, which are making use of this powerful tool to teach mathematics at an early age in a completely organic way.
The name nepohualtzintzin is formed by two words in the Mesoamerican Nahuatl language: nepohual, which means “counting,” and tzintzin, which means “the venerable or relevant.” Thus, the word nepohualtzintzin means “the relevant counting.”
There’s nothing magical about this ancient device, known also simply as nepo. It doesn’t require the use of paper or pencil, but instead makes its precise calculations using beads.
The Mayan numerical system was based on the number 20, unlike the decimal system used today. This vigesimal system included the number zero:
La notación en el sistema vigesimal es similar salvo que la base es 20. En este sistema se necesitan veinte cifras diferentes, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, y 19 que también se pueden representar como 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I y J.
[…]
Con el sistema numérico vigesimal, los mayas podían efectutar las operaciones matemáticas fundamentales por medio de tablas de sumar y de multiplicar y con la utilización de un ábaco constituido por una cuadrícula hecha con varillas, o dibujado directamente en el suelo, y se utilizaban piedrecillas o semillas para representar los números. Este ábaco recibía el nombre de Nepohualtzintzin.
The notation on the vigesimal system is similar, except that 20 is the base. This system needs 20 different figures, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 that can also be represented as 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I and J.
[…]
With the vigesimal numerical system, Mayans were able to carry out basic mathematical operations through addition and multiplication tables and using an abacus made out of a rod-based grid, or directly drawn on the floor, and they used pebbles or seeds to represent numbers. This abacus was known as nepohualtzintzin.
Due to the huge number of operations it allows to carry out, it could be said that the nepohualtzintzin is comparable to a modern computer. It's a set of 91 beads spread out in 13 rows of seven beads. Ninety-one is a fourth of 364, about the number of days in a year, so the total number of beads represents one season. Two times 91 is 182, the cycle of corn:
El sistema matemático del nepohualtzintzin surgió de la necesidad de sobrevivencia de nuestros antepasados; quienes, para cultivar la tierra, tenían que contar los días, los fenómenos de la naturaleza y sus ciclos y observar, por ejemplo, que el Sol, aparece día a día por el Oriente recorre el cielo hasta ocultarse por el Poniente.
The nepohualtzintzin mathematical system came out of the necessity that our forefathers had for survival; to till the land they had to count the days, natural phenomena and their cycles, and watch, for instance, that the sun appears every day in the east, goes across the sky and then sets in the west.
It's important to note that the Mayan civilization was the first in the Americas to figure out the number zero:
Las matemáticas mayas han dejado una huella en el tiempo; antes que cualquier otra civilización, los mayas originaron un concepto revolucionario: el cero.
El cero es un símbolo comúnmente utilizado para representar la nada; sin embargo, el concepto maya del cero no implica una ausencia ni una negación; para los mayas, el cero posee un sentido de plenitud. Por ejemplo, al escribir la cifra 20, el cero, puesto en el primer nivel, únicamente indica que la veintena está completa.
Mayan mathematics have left an imprint in time; before any other civilization, Mayans came up with a revolutionary concept: the number zero.
Zero is a symbol commonly used to represent nothing; however, the Mayan concept of zero doesn't imply an absence or a negation. For the Mayans, zero has a sense of fullness. For instance, when writing the figure 20, the zero, put on the first level, simply indicates that the score is complete.
Today, this pre Hispanic tool is being used to make teaching math easier, among other uses:
Su uso habitual fomenta la habilidad numérica, mejora la capacidad de concentración, de razonamiento lógico, la memoria, la agilidad mental, el procesamiento de información de forma ordenada y la atención visual. Se podría considerar que el uso del nepo es una excelente forma de ejercitar el cerebro, manteniéndolo activo y ágil a cualquier edad. El NEPO es uno de los pocos aparatos que estimula el mayor número de sinapsis (contactos neuronales) entre ambos lóbulos cerebrales simultáneamente, además de promueve en el niño el desarrollo de la motricidad fina.
Used frequently, it fosters numerical ability, improves the power of concentration, logical thinking, memory, mental agility, orderly information processing and visual attention. Using the nepo could be considered an excellent way of exercising the brain, as it keeps it active and flexible at any age. The nepo is one of few devices that stimulates a higher number of synapses (connections between neurons) between both brain lobes simultaneously, in addition to promoting children's development of their fine motor skills.
This website has an instruction manual of how to use a nepohualtzintzin. In the video below, professor Everardo Lara González shows how to do mathematical calculations with a nepo:

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


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Why Some Consider ‘Brand Jamaica’ a Problematic Idea · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Illustration representing Usain Bolt reconstructed from parts and fragments of a Gatorade bottle; image by Charis Tsevis, used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license.
Of all the islands in the Caribbean archipelago, Jamaica is probably the one that is the most effectively branded, Rihanna and Barbados notwithstanding. Think sun, sand, sea and, well…spliffs…and you think Jamaica. Reggae and dancehall music? Jamaica. Fastest man on earth? Jamaica.
Interesting then, that the island has chosen not to rest on its laurels; rather, it is striving to reinvent itself via the first ever Brand Jamaica Symposium, which was held in July at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.
The conference, aptly called ‘Re-Imagine Jamaica: Unlimited Possibilities’, was hosted by The Re:Imagine Jamaica Project, a branding think tank organised by two academics from the Jamaican diaspora — Hume Johnson, who is an assistant professor of public relations at Roger Williams University in the United States; and Kamille Gentles-Peart, an associate professor at the same university. In association with the Centre for Leadership and Governance at the University of the West Indies, the project brings together professionals from a wide cross section of relevant industries to discuss the factors that have an impact on the country's international image, all in an effort “to promote and protect Brand Jamaica”.
According to Dr. Johnson:
With the emphasis on #sport, sun, fun & little else, no wonder our people can draw upon only 2 aspects of our greatness. #BrandJamaica
— HUME-MEDIA (@DrHumeJohnson) August 23, 2015
However, Jamaica-based Annie Paul, who blogs at Active Voice, explained why the concept of branding can be so fraught in a country of this nature:
For many of us the discourse of branding is problematic, doubly so when it’s related to countries like Jamaica with its history of slavery, of human beings treated as property whose abject ‘thinghood’ was burnt into their flesh with branding irons—probably one of the earliest articulations of the branding discourse–to literally mark on the bodies of slaves the symbols or logos of the plantation owner they belonged to. […]
It’s a matter of some irony that despite this history of inhumane servitude the nation state of Jamaica would develop in the 21st century into a country that fetishizes brands and branding. Only a few days before the conference an economist named Dennis Jones noted the Jamaican predilection for logos and corporate branding.
Paul referred to the very first paper presented at the conference, ‘Back to the Brand: Inequality and Alienation through “Brand Jamaica”’, noting that it “amply critiqued the concept, signaling presenters Moji Anderson and Erin McLeod’s profound disagreement with the idea of ‘nation branding.’”
Even the conference's keynote speaker, Samantha North, was wary of the term, saying on Twitter that “The term #nationbrand trivialises the entire thing & gives a false idea of our true aims. This is NOT about marketing. Perhaps a new term is needed, as I mentioned last night in my keynote. Identity is a good one. #BrandJamaica = Jamaican identity.”
Paul also wrote that “Jamaica has a serious image problem which cannot simply be erased or reversed by a few well-funded public relations campaigns”:
Jamaica’s negatives—its crime, its violence, its homophobia, its lack of economic growth–are liabilities that will have to be eliminated or reduced before Jamaica’s many assets can be effectively leveraged, or used to burnish its image.
In a follow-up post on the issue, Paul wondered whether there was any room for the late cultural theorist Stuart Hall in the new Brand Jamaica, considering the fact that the organisers wanted to achieve a “more nuanced, complex narrative about the country”.
To do that, however, Paul suggested that the country has to overcome a few of its hangups:
One thing I do know is that […] Jamaica […] — the scornfully prideful, insouciantly indifferent, self-destructive country — is one that no amount of shallow ‘rebranding’ can redeem. It would be a hard sell. Part of the exercise of building a new identity for Jamaica will have to involve a radical shift in attitude and world-view. There is no one more equipped to help with this than Stuart Hall — he may be gone but he has left behind archives of new knowledge that students all over the world eagerly consume. We should too. His work on representation, the power of the image, stereotypes and how to dismantle them are directly related to the discussions on branding. But the most important thing about Stuart Hall as a symbol of what Jamaican intellection can and should be is the example he sets for Caribbean youth of a Jamaican operating at the top of his game not in athletics, not in music but in the virtually impenetrable world of high theory.
When Twitter users employ the hashtag #BrandJamaica, their focus seems to be on creative industries, sport, music and language — things the island is already known for — but perhaps looking at them through a Stuart Hall lens may reveal a deeper experience of what Jamaica truly represents. One Facebook user even quipped that other countries are the ones profiting from the Jamaican brand:
Its seems like only China is really benefitting from #BRANDJAMAICA…..our government is so quick to imposed all kind of unnecessary tax on our people…but they don't want to take the necessary step to recovery money from those giant and bullies who seek to exploit our blessed land….#ratinnaparliament
The timing may be perfect for a re-examination of Jamaican identity.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
You’re in the Army Now: How Drafted Ukrainian Journalists Cover the War in Their Online Diaries · Global Voices
Anna Poludenko-Young

Conscripted journalists have turned their social media accounts into personal military diaries. Images mixed by Anna Poludenko-Young
Ukrainian journalists drafted into the military to serve in eastern Ukraine have turned their Facebook and Twitter accounts into personal field diaries. In their posts they discuss the state of the armed forces, their daily routine, and even their meals. Some of these diaries have achieved instant fame, raking in over five thousand readers during the first month.
Screenshot of his draft announcement from Michael Shchur's Facebook page.
Finally, here's an explanation as to why in the last episode of my show I said “I will see you in a year.” I've received a draft card. I will be joining the military.
[…]
On Monday I depart for training. The next two weeks will be spent gaining experience on the training range. See you around. #army
With this post on his Facebook page, Michael Shchur, the television host of a satirical news program, announced his career change. Shchur is a fictional persona created by Ukrainian journalist Roman Vintoniv. Many compare him to the former American The Daily Show TV host Jon Stewart, as both poke fun at the establishment and seek to bring attention to government inaction, corruption, and selective justice systems.
Now, a month since he was drafted, instead of ridiculing national politics from the TV screen, Shchur (still very much the satirical character) writes daily dispatches about his life in the army. He regales his readers with the details of his life in the military—the good, the bad, and the slightly ridiculous—and posts plenty of photos of the day-to-day routine.
Roman Vintoniv, also known as Michael Shchur: once a wisecracking TV journo, now a freshly-minted Ukrainian draftee. Image from Facebook.
День 5-й
Сьогодні були стрільби.
З самого ранку. Поснідали – і в поле. Там на вогневі рубежі і давай стріляти по мішенях. Лежачи, з коліна, стоячи.
Потім – перебіжками назад в табір. Це дуже вимотало. Навіть почуття голоду минуло. Тому гречку – не доїв. Вперше.
Day 5.
Today we went to the shooting range.
Early in the morning: breakfast—and then to the field. There we went to the firing ranges and started shooting at targets. Lying down, from the knee, standing up. Then, in short runs, we returned to the base camp. This was very exhausting. Even the hunger pangs passed. So I didn't even finish the buckwheat. It's a first.
The shooting range. Just a single photo, but we spent all day training here.
День 27
Вчорашня історія. У нас дефіцит тумбочок. Треба багато. Буває що одна на 5-х. У кого які ідеї? Де взяти штук 70 тумбочок? Або ще краще – тумбочки то насправді абсолютно незручна штука. У кого є які ідеї чим їх можна замінити.
Day 27.
A story from yesterday. We are experiencing a shortage of nightstands. We need lots of them. Sometimes five soldiers have to share one nightstand. Any ideas? Where can one procure 70 nightstands? Moreover: a nightstand is actually a really inconvenient thing. Welcome any ideas on what it can be replaced with.
Improving army meals through Facebook
Conscription announcements from public figures have generated an intense online discussion: Should Ukrainians like Shchur be drafted or are they more valuable to the country just doing their regular job? Yevhenia Zakrevska, a human rights lawyer, wrote about Shchur on her Facebook page, lamenting the loss of his hard-hitting reporting.
Это тот редкий, уникальный случай, когда, не занимаясь информационной войной или пропагандой (а также ее жалкими попытками) журналист генерирует защиту 80-го левела от вражеских (внешних и внутренних) информационных атак, впрыскивает информационное противоядие (инъекции адекватности) в уязвимые мозги нашего населения, повышает общий информационный иммунитет.
This is a rare, unique case when a journalist, not participating in the information war or propaganda (or sad attempts at the latter), manages to generate an 80th-level defence against information attacks (both external and internal) and to provide an information antidote of normalcy for the susceptible brains of our people, increasing their general informational immunity.
The celebrity draftees seem to be a hot topic for Ukrainian social media users. Even the first of Shchur’s posts about his draft card was liked over seven thousand times, shared almost 500 times and was commented on over 500 times. Most users seemed to share Zakrevska's thoughts: you just shoudln't draft guys like him.
Meanwhile, Shchur and other journalists and writers who run their online diaries from military training camps, are seemingly managing to wield their popularity and online influence to improve some things abut how the Ukrainian military is run.
Shchur’s posts about how his unit didn’t get any fresh fruit or vegetables seemed to have an effect on military menu choices. Now tomatoes and cucumbers are served with the soldiers’ meals. In another post, Shchur lamented the lack of any new books or magazines to read in his unit. The next week, a group of volunteers brought magazines donated by some publishing houses that followed the TV host on Facebook.
Challenging the official line
The public figures who are not simply drafted for training, but sent to fight directly to the front line in eastern Ukraine keep a different league of military diaries online. They don’t write about tomatoes and nightstands: their posts center on human lives and issues with gear and ammunition.
Taras Chmut  is a former regional coordinator at OPORA (a Ukrainian civic organization and movement), a contributing editor for a military news website, and currently a Marine with over 12 thousand followers on Facebook.
A post he wrote about the members of his division being limited to only 4 magazines (120 cartridges) of ammunition to finish a combat mission got over a thousand shares overnight. Despite criticism from officers for publicly “airing” such things, in two days Chmut and the members of his unit were notified that from then on they would be given ten magazines to complete a mission. It turned out that the Chief of the General Staff himself chanced upon Chmut’s post and decided to act on what he read.
Military bloggers explain that it is often easier to change something by talking to a crowd of your followers on social networks rather than by approaching the captain of your division directly. “You can’t just approach the Chief of the General Staff and tell him what you think is wrong. I believe my Facebook diary tells a popular story of the military service. I also notice that sometimes I just fight against the irresponsibility of the officers. Publicity is my main weapon,” Chmut said in an interview to BBC Ukraine.
The generals aren't happy
Many of the comments in popular military blogs or diaries come from people thankful for getting a glimpse of what is happening in the conflict zone and of the small, but important details of military life. The Ukrainian army generals, on the other hand, are none too happy with this online trend. Many of them are of the opinion that civilians don’t really need to know the private details about life in the military units.
What is more dangerous, the military commanders claim, is that some blog posts can disclose sensitive information about the locations of units, their movements, and their strategic plans. Some open-source intelligence experts suggest that just analyzing the background and visible location on the pictures the military bloggers are posting online can reveal quite a lot.
A different kind of danger might arise if the enemy tries to use military blogs and online communities to spread fake information. For example, in a tense situation with an exchange of fire, false reports on whether Ukrainian units are surrounded and trying to escape, and if they have enough provision, might determine how other military units choose to act. Experts say that the solution here is to provide special online security training for soldiers and officers. If they know what is safe to post online when on the front line, the risk of misunderstandings should be minimal.
In the meantime, the Ukrainian parliament has passed a law that limits the use of mobile and wireless communications by the Ukrainian military in the anti-terrorist operation zone in eastern Ukraine. According to the law, soldiers will need to obtain permission from their superiors to use the phones or wait until they are back at base camp to get on Facebook and VK. This means that journalists and bloggers reporting from the front lines might have to get strategic about their posting and jot down notes of their exploits using pen and paper until the next time they are allowed to connect to their legions of readers.

author: Anna Poludenko-Young


text:
A Syrian Refugee Wants to Crowdfund His Own Restaurant in Brazil · Global Voices
MigraMundo

Talal Al-Tinawi, the mechanical engineer turned cook. Photo: Personal files, used with permission
This post was originally published on the blog Migramundo and is being republished by Global Voices through a content-sharing agreement.
Syrian refugee Talal Al-Tinawi is a mechanical engineer, but since he arrived in Brazil at the end of 2013, he has found another vocation. After becoming distraught with the bureaucracy involved in validating his diploma in Brazil, he has found an alternative way to earn a living in cooking, spurred by the locals’ love for Syrian-Lebanese food (which they call “Arab cuisine”). Now, his new calling might take him to a higher level should his crowdfunding campaign work.
The story started at the end of 2014, when Talal welcomed in his home a group of friends and volunteers from Adus, an NGO that assists refugees in São Paulo, where Talal lives with his family. His dishes and snacks proved a success with the guests, and they suggested he use his talents to open his own business.
Thus was born Talal Syrian Cuisine, a food-on-demand delivery service he operates from his own home, providing food for parties and events in São Paulo—including São Paulo's traditional “Immigrant Party,” which this year had its 20th anniversary and served dinners for 400 people at Pari Mosque (the city's main mosque) during Ramadan. Talal has also been teaching culinary classes to fellow refugees at Adus. “Since that party, I haven't stopped cooking,” he told Migramundo.
Syrian and Lebanese migration to Brazil started at the end of the 19th century and by the 1930s the South American country had received more than 100,000 people, mostly Christians. Today, at least 6 million Brazilians trace their origins to the Levantine lands.
Talal says sfihahs (open-faced meat pies) and kibbehs (fried minced beef), which are known to Brazilians just as any other local snack, are still the most popular items. “But after I created a menu, people have been gradually showing interest in other dishes too.”
The growing interest in his food made Talal consider expanding his business and opening a restaurant. “With a fixed place, my products would become more known and I'd have a better structure to develop more complex dishes and diversify the menu,” he said.
Kibbehs, sfihas, and other Syrian delicacies made by Talal. Photo: Personal files, used with permission
With help from Adus volunteers, Talal launched a crowdfunding campaign online to raise 60,000 Brazilian Reais (about 15,000 USD). With the money he plans to buy the basic equipment for his enterprise: ovens, fridges, mixers, food processors, and other things needed to get a restaurant going.
So far, the campaign has raised a little less than 15,000 BRL (about 3,500 USD) and has until September 21 to reach its target. As in other crowfunding campaigns, donors will receive gifts such as lunches in the future restaurant or discount cards valid for a year. The campaign is ‘flexible,’ which means that in case the target isn't reached, the money won't be returned to the donor, but will be used towards part of Talal's expenses, and the donors will still be able be to use the gifts in the food delivery service Talal already operates.
Talal wants to expand his business by opening a restaurant. Photo: Rodrigo Borges Delfim, Migramundo
Adus volunteers have also been helping Talal to deal with Brazilian bureaucracy to formalize his business—a problem that other small foreign entrepreneurs face in the country.
In the video below, Talal talks (in Portuguese) a bit more about his story and asks the fans of Syrian cuisine to help him reach his goal of opening a restaurant.
According to the Brazilian Committee for Refugees (Conare), Brazil currently shelters 7,700 refugees from 81 nationalities, with most coming from Syria (23%), followed by Colombia, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The number of asylum requests in Brazil has increased 2,131% in the past 5 years—from only 1,165 requests in 2010 to 25,996 last year. The country received the highest number of asylum requests in Latin America during the last year.

author: MigraMundo


text:
An ‘Appeal to Affection and Empathy’: Barcelona’s Mayor Wants Spain’s Cities to Welcome Refugees · Global Voices
Violeta Camarasa

Ada Colau during an election campaign act in May 2015. By Barcelona En Comú – Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau's idea to create a network of refuge-cities amid Europe's refugee crisis has become a real-world plan after a Facebook comment went viral.
On August 28, after waking up to the disturbing news of two more shipwrecks in the Mediterranean, Ada Colau, who became Barcelona's mayor in May 2015 with the independent citizen platform Barcelona en Comú, shared an emotional comment on her Facebook page.
Colau's text was a personal reflection on the tremendous influx of refugees that Western Europe is receiving due to political conflicts, violence, and instability in the Middle East and Africa, and ended with a proposal to create a network of refuge-cities:
Aunque se trata de un tema de competencia estatal y europea, desde Barcelona haremos todo lo que podamos para participar de una red de ciudades-refugio. Queremos ciudades comprometidas con los derechos humanos y con la vida, ciudades de las que sentirnos orgullosos.
Even if this is an issue of state and European jurisdiction, from Barcelona we will do as much as we can to participate in a network of refuge-cities. We want cities built on human rights and life—cities we can be proud of.
The idea was welcomed by citizens, and Colau's post soon gained viral popularity: 103,507 people have liked it, and it has now attracted more than 7,100 comments and 68,900 shares so far. Other cities, like Madrid, Valencia, and various smaller towns, have expressed their interest in joining the discussion to see what measures could be introduced to assist refugees.
Like many other European citizens, Colau expressed her feelings and concerns about the humanitarian tragedy that is taking place in Europe:
Antes de ayer 50 personas murieron asfixiadas en la bodega de un barco. Ayer más de 70 muertos en el interior de un camión. Hoy nos despertamos con dos naufragios: puede que más de cien muertos. Tenemos un mar que se llena de muertos. Unas fronteras que se llenan de alambres, pinchos, cuchillas… y de muertos. Hombres, mujeres, niños y niñas, muertos.
The day before yesterday, 50 people suffocated in a boat's cargo hold. Yesterday, more than 70 dead people were discovered inside a truck. Today we wake up to two shipwrecks with maybe more than 100 dead. We have a sea that is filling up with corpses. Borders that are being filled with wires, spikes, blades… and dead people. Men, women, little boys, and girls—dead.
In her comment, Colau compared the fear of immigrants and refugees, who are striving for survival, to the panic of Europeans, who are afraid to “live in slightly worse conditions.” Of the two kinds of fear, she says, “theirs is stronger,” and they are not going to give up, no matter Europe's response.
O abordamos un drama humano desde la capacidad de amar que nos hace humanos, o acabaremos todos deshumanizados. Y habrá más muertos, muchos más. Ésta no es una batalla para protegernos de “los otros”. Ahora mismo esto es una guerra contra la vida. Que los gobiernos dejen de amenazar con el “Efecto llamada”. Lo que necesita Europa, urgentemente, es una “Llamada al afecto”, una llamada a la empatía. Podrían ser nuestros hijos, hermanas o madres. Podríamos ser nosotros, como también fueron exiliados muchos de nuestros abuelos.
Either we address a human tragedy from the ability to love that makes us human, or we will all end up dehumanized. And there will be more dead people, many more. This is not a battle to protect us from “the others,” this is a war against life. Governments need to stop threatening with the “beacon effect.” What Europe needs, very urgently, is an “appeal to affection,” an appeal to empathy. They could be our children, daughters, or mothers. They could be us, like many of our grandparents that were exiled, as well.
On September 1, four days after her first Facebook post, Colau published a follow-up comment, where she shared her excitement about the success of her “appeal to affection” and reminded the public that “the right of asylum is a human right, expressed in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
In this second post, which has already more than 21,400 likes, 7,200 shares, and 1,000 comments, she also thanked all the families who offered their homes as shelters, whose solidarity “dignifies our city,” and announced that her council will start working on a project very soon, creating “a volunteer families database” and “organizing networks for sheltering and assisting refugees.”
She finished by highlighting the human lives behind the refugee quotas with which European governments seem to be bargaining, and the responsibility of cities, families, and citizens to take action:
En Turquía, Grecia o Líbano están acogiendo millones de refugiados, España apenas 2.000, a pesar de tener muchos más recursos. No son “cuotas”: se trata de vidas humanas. Y si los estados se resisten a entenderlo, aquí estamos las ciudades y la ciudadanía dispuestas a pasar a la acción. Porque sí se puede… y se debe.
In Turkey, Greece, or Lebanon they are taking in millions of refugees, [but in] Spain [it's] barely 2,000, in spite of having many more resources. These are no quotas: they are human lives. And if states refuse to understand this, [then] here we are, the cities and the citizens, ready to take action. Because yes, we can… and we must.
Colau's comment and initiative also received considerable attention on Twitter, where many tweets expressed surprise and excitement about her proposal. For instance, Héctor Alonso, a journalist and editor of the site ActualidadHumanitaria.com, and Sergi Pompermayer, a theatre author and scriptwriter, shared their support:
@AdaColau Ada, eres de las pocas políticas que se han manifestado sobre este drama, y así te cito en mi artículo http://t.co/wNOoiGVXB8
— hector alonso (@hdelosrios2) August 28, 2015
@AdaColau Ada, you are one of the few politicians who has expressed herself about this tragedy, and I say so in my article http://t.co/wNOoiGVXB8
Ja que els governs no ho fan, les ciutats han de fer tot el que puguin per obrir les portes als refugiats @AdaColau. Per dignitat
— Sergi Pompermayer (@SergiPomper) August 28, 2015
Seeing that governments don't do it, cities should do all they can to open the doors to refugees @AdaColau. For dignity reasons
Others, however, have been more suspicious and skeptical, like photographer Jorge Sanz:
@AdaColau solidaria. Pero no has hecho ni un numero. Ni cuantos refugiados, ni como o ni cuando. Ni q sera del resto q s quedan en su casa
— jorge sanz (@jstutiphoto) August 28, 2015
@AdaColau solidary. But you didn't do any numbers. Not how many refugees, nor how or when. Neither what will happen with all those that stay at home
It is indeed true that refugee policies and procedures are a matter of state and European jurisdiction, as Colau herself mentioned, but it is true as well that while waiting for officials who are slow to take action, local governments can help visualize and channel citizens’ eagerness to help. And that will put some pressure on the national government to make an effort to welcome refugees and do so by cooperating with civil society.
Update: On September 5, one week after the first post on Facebook, Barcelona en Comú published a video on its Facebook page in which Colau shared an update on the issue during the public meeting with other Spanish cities #CiudadesEnComún (cities in common). She rephrased a sentence of the popular Catalan song “Qualsevol nit pot sortir el sol” (“The sun could rise any night”; there is also a cover of the song in English by Irish singer Halldor Mar), released in 1975 by Catalan singer and songwriter Jaume Sisa:
La nostra casa és casa vostra, si és que hi ha cases d'algú
Our home is your home, if there can be someone's home
She went on to say that it's not her nor her governing team, but the people who are sending this message, and then read extracts of letters that the local government has been receiving in the last weeks from citizens like Guillem, Maribel, María and Ana:
Guillem: no tenim gaire lloc, però alguna persona la podríem acollir. Som matrimoni amb nena de dos anys
Guillem: We don't have much space, but we could take someone in. We are a married couple with a 2-year-old girl
Maribel: somos una familia mixta árabe-española y creemos que podríamos ser de ayuda en el acogimiento de refugiados al compartir cultura, religión y lengua
Maribel: We are a mixed Arabic-Spanish family and we think we could be of help to shelter refugees as we share culture, religion and language
María: ahora mismo estoy en el paro y embarazada. No tengo un lugar para darles donde vivir, pero sí tengo algo que creo que es valioso: tengo tiempo
María: At present I'm jobless and pregnant. I don't have a place for them to live, but I do have something that I believe it's valuable: I have time
Ana: Quiero colaborar con los refugiados, puedo acoger en mi casa a una o dos personas. No les faltará comida, cariño, ropa, higiene. Pero sobre todo, comprensión. Tengo una minusvalía del 46%, tampoco os quiero engañar, soy pensionista (…), pero puedo colaborar, y además necesito hacerlo.
Ana: I want to collaborate with the refugees, I can shelter one or two people at home. They won't be lacking food, love, clothes, hygiene. But over all, understanding. I have a disability of 46%, and I don't want to fool you, I receive a pension (…), but I can contribute and I need to do it.
The video ends with Colau stating:
Si Ana puede colaborar, ¡cómo no lo va a hacer el estado español!
If Ana can contribute, how could the Spanish state not do it!

author: Violeta Camarasa


text:
Inside the Trial of Zone9 Bloggers: 16 Months and Counting · Global Voices
Endalkachew Chala

Police lead Natnael Feleke (center right) and fellow blogger Atnaf Berahane (center left) to court. Photo courtesy of Trial Tracker Blog.
Since they were first arrested and jailed on April 25, 2014, Ethiopia's Zone9 bloggers have seen many twists and turns in their case. All told, they have appeared before the court over 30 times in 16 months, and been adjourned each time. But with the release of five of the detainees in July, the case has reached a critical juncture.
Five Ethiopian writers (four in prison and one in absentia) remained on trial for terror-related crimes that the Ethiopian government claims were committed beginning in May 2012. Endalk Chala, a founding member of the Zone9 blogging collective and Global Voices contributor, walks us through the latest developments in the Zone9 bloggers’ trial before the next court session on Monday, September 7.
How did it begin?
When the bloggers were first arrested on April 25, 2014, they were not allowed to be visited by family members or to have a legal counsel for about three weeks. The never-ending trial of the bloggers started to unfold only four weeks after their arrest. However, during those four weeks friends and families of the bloggers reported seeing the bloggers’ Gmail accounts as logged in. The active green dots of their Gmail accounts alarmed the loved ones of the bloggers, and many suspected that the bloggers had been tortured to disclose the passwords of their Gmail accounts during the prolonged pre-trial investigation phase that took a little over three months overall.
Timeline of the trial
The arrest and the conditions in which the bloggers were held in prison made the May 17 trial important because it presented an opportunity to check if the bloggers were unharmed. Before May 17, it was reported that the bloggers were brought to the court covertly, but no one was able to attend that trial to confirm.
No one was able to see them until their May 17 trial appearance.  Friends and families had to wait anxiously for hours in the compound of the dilapidated Arada court where the trial started, before the government decided to move it to its current venue, Lideta High Court. When the bloggers were brought to the court people had to squeeze past each other to take a picture of them while they were escorted to the court room. There were a lot of security guards surrounding the bloggers and the environment was quite tense. Despite journalists and friends of the bloggers facing immense pressure from the security personnel, they live-tweeted and posted pictures of the bloggers’ trial.
Concealing his phone, one of the people in attendance tweeted what the police officer said to him when he tried to take a picture of the bloggers on their way to the court: “Pointing his index finger towards the ground the police officer yelled at me; you cannot take a picture of even this ground let alone the bloggers.” Ever since, this kind of police behavior has become a trend; in most of the trials police offers would ask those in attendance to switch off their mobile phones whenever they were in the court compound. This now looks to be the standard procedure in the Ethiopian court environment. Cameras or any recording devices are not permitted in the court rooms, even though Ethiopian law affirms all trials to be public.
Throughout the 16-month-long trial, it was not uncommon to see long lines of people waiting outside the doors of Lideta High Court to attend the trial of the bloggers, but entering the court room has always been a challenge. From security people to court ushers, most of the court employees have been deterrent and hostile, while the manners of the police officers towards people who wanted to attend the trial of the bloggers have always been rough. Over the 16 months of the trial, a minimum of three individuals who attempted to take a picture of the scene of the trial using their mobile phones were reportedly briefly arrested and asked to delete the pictures they captured. In light of this, it is not surprising that the bloggers themselves were put through so much during the entire process.
Frequent adjournments
The 23rd Criminal Bench is a typical shabby court room located in the upper end of the larger Lideta High Court compound. Even though the trial has been adjourned 36 times over the last 16 months, the total amount of hours the bloggers and their legal counsel spent in this court room attending the proceedings is less than 10 hours. In a typical trial day, the bloggers spent less than 8 minutes in the court room without any substantial legal or procedural arguments. Half of the time either the judges or the prosecutors would walk into the courtroom late to take their seats on the highest tier of the raised platform in the room and then the prosecutor would ask for an adjournment. Sometimes they kept the proceedings to the very last moment, working on other criminal cases before they turned their attention to the bloggers, making them sit on long wooden benches in front of the room just to adjourn the trial.
The bloggers are expected to be back in court this coming Monday, September 7. Will the court adjourn the trial again? For more context on the trial, read this July dispatch and this August report.

author: Endalkachew Chala


text:
The Privilege of My Canadian Passport Weighs Heavy As the Refugee Crisis Unfolds · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

A rally in solidarity with the plight of refugees in Amsterdam on September 5, 2015. Image by author.
I'm an Iranian-Canadian, currently a resident of the Netherlands. I'm sitting in my apartment in Amsterdam, staring at my Canadian passport. There are many stamps in there, because this passport is accepted without much trouble in much of the world. My Dutch residency card is next to my passport. Why do I, above anyone else, deserve these documents that give me the freedom to roam and live where I choose?
Well, it starts with my father's application to become a Canadian resident in 1985, while still living in Iran. He had no immediate family in Canada. He was not particularly financially competitive, nor was he in a dire political bind. The paperwork went through fairly smoothly. By 1988 my father had secured a residency visa for himself, my mother, and my sister. They made the move in early 1989, a few months before I was born. The paperwork quickly went through, so by the time I turned three, the rest of my family were naturalized Canadian citizens alongside me, a born Canadian.
Tima Kurdi, the aunt of Alan Kurdi, whose lifeless body washed ashore on a beach in Turkey, applied for her elder brother's family to seek asylum in Canada in 2015. She filled out all the necessary paperwork. She even assembled a team of people to pledge to the Canadian government they would support the Kurdi family when they moved.
Tima only had money to sponsor one brother at a time. So instead, she wrote a letter to Immigration Minister Chris Alexander asking to help Alan's family. Speaking on Vancouver morning drive-in radio, opposition Member of Parliament Fin Donnelly explained tha tin March 2015 he had hand-delivered the letter from Tima, his constituent, to Alexander  but received no response.
Also read: Alan Kurdi's Death Forces Canada to Confront Its Commitment to Helping Syrian Refugees
I can't help but think what bureaucrat pushing my father's application through to the accepted pile in the 80s is responsible for the comfortable, privileged, mobile life I now lead. I have unfettered access to most countries in the world right now. In fact, I left a comfortable and secure life in Canada to start another comfortable, secure life in the Netherlands.
I like to think of this as the “passport privilege” I have attained through a combination of factors wholly outside of my control, or the merit of myself or my family. My passport privilege is the product of an open immigration policy initiated by Lester B. Pearson, and later carried out by Pierre Elliot Trudeau—two Canadian Prime Ministers that cemented Canada's position as humanitarian leaders. That policy, those leaders, and the bureaucrat that coincidentally thought my father's paperwork was acceptable within these policies have profoundly shaped the trajectory of my life.
For the Kurdi family, however, the specifics go like this. An asylum application was delivered into the hands of a Minister of Citizenship and Immigration,found its way eventually to a bureaucrat who reviewed it in light of current policy, and issued the decisive No. The current immigration policy has reined in the “openness” that began in the 80s, and are currently adhering to strict scales of value depending on skills and the likelihood of the immigrants staying in Canada after obtaining that privileged passport. Those bureaucrats pushing applications through also have more authority to approve or refuse applications in light of whether they feel like the applicant will leave once they receive that golden ticket (a development more formally known as the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, or Bill C-24).
In the aftermath of the Kurdi family's tragedy, the Canadian Prime Minister stated that the Canadian government was leading in the world as a safe haven for immigrants and refugees, admitting more refugees per capita than anywhere else in the world. This was an outright lie: according to the United Nations, Canada is not even in the top 10 countries taking in refugees.
The fact that the bureaucrat who reviewed the Kurdi application refused it speaks to a tragedy we are seeing unfold continually before our eyes. It is a crisis that rests on pieces of paper handled by bureaucrats carrying out policies administered largely by men who have never understood the weight of that privileged passport.
Like many of the rest of us, I sit here feeling helpless. Comfortable, and assured about our place and our ability to move around in the world. Not because we deserve it more, but purely out of circumstances that include policies, timing, and even socio-economic status.
There are many different organizations we can support, and there are many people making a difference in the middle of this. I encourage all of you to look and support these causes. But I also want us to question the system as a whole, the notion of movement, and the freedoms and privilege associated with them. Is this really the way the world should be ordered?

author: Mahsa Alimardani


text:
Iraqis on the Streets to Protest Corrupt Government and Lack of Basic Services · Global Voices
Anne Koopman

“We demand the gov't imports 328 dairy cows & replace the parliament with them,” tweets Hayder Al-Khoei, who shares this sign held at a recent protest in Iraq. The cows are more useful, he adds.
Iraqis have been taking to the streets of the capital Baghdad and other cities across the country every Friday for the sixth week in a row to protest against widespread government corruption and lack of basic services. It all started when Iraqis had enough from the frequent power cuts, as summer temperatures hit 50 degrees Celsius.
The demonstrations reached a peak on Friday the 28th of August after the call of religious Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to his followers to join the anti-corruption protests. This increase was promising, however less people showed up last Friday.
@HayderSH says he saw an ‘obvious decrease’ in number:
Obvious decrease in the number of protestors from the previous Fridays in today's protest at Tahrir. #Baghdad #Iraq
— Hayder Al-Shakeرi (@HayderSH) 4 september 2015
Reportedly, 15,000 people demonstrated on August 28 in the capital Baghdad, and many other cities across the country, mainly focused in the southern provinces. The protesters carried Iraqi flags and held banners with critical slogans towards corrupt officials and politicians, such as ‘where is our money?’. Some also carried lights with the word ‘civil’ written in it, demanding their basic civil rights.
Protests in Baghdad's Tahrir square this morning. #IraqWins pic.twitter.com/JvqbuB3J0y
— Ali Ajeena (@AliAjeena) 29 augustus 2015
#Iraq – Today's protests in Tahrir Square #Baghdad pic.twitter.com/2UjcyfG0eb — IraqiSuryani (@IraqiSuryani1) 28 augustus 2015
Protestors at Tahrir Sq. put lights written ” civil ” regarding to their demands ” civil country ” #Iraq #insm_iq pic.twitter.com/akdBaNuBAM
— Hayder Hamzoz (@Hamzoz) 28 augustus 2015
While the demands of the protesters began small, such as calling for improving the lack of electricity and clean water amid a heat wave of more than 50 degrees Celsius, they are now more complex. Protesters now urge Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to carry out major measures. The first demands were given a enhancement when Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called on August 7 for Al-Abadi to take measures against the political corruption.
As a response, the minister proposed a set of political reforms and measures, such as the elimination of several senior government positions, the end of sectarian quotas in politics, and the elimination of corruption.
PM Al-Abadi outlines new reform measures to enhance governance and tackle corruption; calls for backing from cabinet and parliament — Haider Al-Abadi (@HaiderAlAbadi) 9 augustus 2015
Council of Ministers unanimously backs PM Al-Abadi's first batch of proposed reform measures http://t.co/zGOEayG9bK pic.twitter.com/EXgfWe1pLr
— Haider Al-Abadi (@HaiderAlAbadi) 9 augustus 2015
However, he only fired three deputy prime ministers and a few ministers, and ordered security forces to ease access to Baghdad's Green Zone, leaving the protesters distrustful and even more determined. On August 28, the Prime Minister came with another set of measures to ensure “social justice”.
PM Al-Abadi issues a series of new measures to enhance social justice http://t.co/glKtsP362q http://t.co/RXXJTEqZ3i http://t.co/oSIscHWRdQ — Haider Al-Abadi (@HaiderAlAbadi) 28 augustus 2015
With several Shitte clerics urging their followers to join the demonstrations, the protests had gained more weight. In a televised speech on August 24, Al-Sadr’s spokesperson read a statement saying:
“We announce to all people and to the Sadrists in particular the need to participate in protests this Friday in Baghdad.”
“The Sadrist participants should merge with the other protesters in a single, national Iraqi crucible.”
Even though the call resulted in attracting more people to protest, some also questioned Al-Sadr’s support, pointing out his political role as the leader of the political party, the Sadrist Movement, and wondering why he is not changing the political system from the inside out.
Al-Sadr is asking his followers to participate in tomorrow's protests. Shouldn't he also ask his government officials to quit?#Iraq #Baghdad
— Hayder Al-Shakeرi (@HayderSH) 28 augustus 2015
The anti-corruption protesters got a lot of support on social media like Twitter and Facebook.
GO AND PROTEST FOR YOUR RIGHTS PEOPLE IN BAGHDAD !!! — nadia (@awhtomlinsons) 29 augustus 2015
In support of today's Iraqi mass protest in Baghdad Tahrir Square for jobs, provision of services and accountability. pic.twitter.com/Zil1BLEPoI
— Abdullah Muhsin (@Abdullah4NASUWT) 28 augustus 2015
#Baghdad anti-corruption protests. The will of these people is unshakeable. pic.twitter.com/6tAU4XFQ4S — Haidar Sumeri (@IraqiSecurity) 28 augustus 2015
Also the military, who has been instructed not to crackdown on the protests, showed support towards the demonstrators.
#Baghdad security forces continue to show exemplary virtue & the utmost respect for their fellow protesting citizens. pic.twitter.com/olpscC0RIN
— Haidar Sumeri (@IraqiSecurity) 28 augustus 2015
The anti-corruption movement has gotten Sunnis and Shiites together, with some people even calling for a complete political reform and the establishment of a secular state.
In Baghdad 1000s protest government corruption. No to Sunni government. No to Shia government. Yes to secular state! pic.twitter.com/9tybulNECO
— Ergin Kocyildirim (@kocyildirim) 29 augustus 2015

author: Anne Koopman


text:
Sharing This Oscar-Winning ‘Donald Duck’ Cartoon Is Illegal in Russia · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Screen capture: Walt Disney, “Der Fuehrer's Face” (1942) / YouTube
Two men in Tomsk have been convicted of disseminating illegal extremist materials online, for uploading some songs by a white supremacist band, as well as a Walt Disney anti-fascist cartoon from 1942, Der Fuehrer’s Face, which stars Donald Duck and won the Academy Award for cartoon short that same year.
Both men confessed to the crime and expressed remorse, claiming they’d shared the materials as a joke during the summer of 2013. The judge fined them both 3,000 rubles (about $40), and declined to sentence them to 15 days in jail, which is the maximum penalty for the production and dissemination of extremist materials under Russian Administrative Code 20.29.
The Donald Duck cartoon has been banned in Russia since December 2010, when a Kamchatka court added it to the national list of illegal extremist materials, along with dozens of other racist video clips found to have been shared by a man named Sergey Semenov. (Tomsk prosecutors, incidentally, transliterated Donald Duck’s name differently than the spelling found on the federal list of extremist materials, making it seem technically as if the two cartoons are actually different films.)
A racist depiction of the “Japanese enemy.” Screen capture: Walt Disney, “Der Fuehrer's Face” (1942) / YouTube
According to Sova, a Moscow-based hate crimes watchdog organization, that the Disney cartoon was banned along with Semenov’s other materials is proof that the authorities didn’t actually watch each video in Semenov’s collection, before banning them all. “This incident,” says a statement on Sova’s website, “once again demonstrates the uselessness and even the danger of the federal list as an instrument and reminds us that the best solution would be to get rid of it altogether.”
Der Fuehrer’s Face features Donald Duck living in a fascist dictatorship, where he’s ordered about at gunpoint and set to work assembling bombs on a factory line. Under threat of execution, he is forced to salute every portrait of Adolf Hilter he encounters. The cartoon also features a racist depiction of the Japanese, in keeping with America’s wartime propaganda efforts on two fronts. In the end of the film, Donald Duck awakens to realize that it was all a dream, and he is in fact living in the United States. Embracing a miniature of the Statue of Liberty, Donald speaks his final line: “Am I glad to be a citizen of the United States of America!”

author: Kevin Rothrock


text:
State Government Construction Endangers the ‘Last Lung’ of the Mexican City of Oaxaca · Global Voices
Mas de 131

Image from the construction site on El Fortín Hill (Cierro Fortín), tha last green space in Oaxaca. The construction has been carried out without public consultation and against expert advice. Photo: Masde131
The Fortín Hill is well known for hosting the Guelaguetza, the most important traditional festival organized by the government of Oaxaca, which welcomes thousands of tourists every year. It is also the last green space in the city of Oaxaca, according to the Board for Defense of Cultural and Natural Heritage of the state of Oaxaca (Pro-Oaxaca).
And now, it is under threat due to government-sanctioned construction of a convention center.
The Fortín Hill was declared a “natural protected area” by the government of Oaxaca in 2004 and has the status of a State Park. Sprawling over an area of 87 hectares (215 acres), the park has plenty of evergreen holm oak trees, eucalyptus trees, and jacarandas, among other plant species, all of which are now endangered by the construction project.
The project is set to cost 600 million pesos (around 35 million dollars)—133 times the housing expenditure in the city of Oaxaca. The statistic is provided by the Front for Defence of El Fortín, a movement bringing together over 50 organizations, hundreds of Oaxacan people, and artists like the painter Francisco Toledo and artist Markoa Vasquez. Movement participants have been protesting against the hill's environmental destruction through a symbolic closure of the site, monumental signs and posters placed in front of the city’s Cathedral, and hunger strikes.
The state governor Gabino Cue has responded aggressively to protesters’ demands and has said that the Convention Center construction will go ahead. After construction workers on the site reportedly attacked peaceful protesters with fireworks during a rally, the activists said the governor was ultimately responsible for condoning the violence.
Integrantes del Frente en Defensa del Cerro del Fortín (FDCF), responsabilizan al gobierno del estado por los… http://t.co/bOcKoUaOyx
— ASER-LITIGIO A.C. (@AserLitigio) July 7, 2015
Members of the Front for the Defense of El Fortín Hill (FDCF) held the state government responsible for the violent events that took place where a woman get injured…
Citizens in the neighborhood have also reported on the excessive militarization of the city. Since the 2015 federal elections, state troops have been strategically positioned in the capital of Oaxaca and, it seems, the military is there to stay, after teachers from the National Coordination of Education Workers (CNTE) of Oaxaca, the country's largest dissident teachers’ movement known as Section 22, organized an electoral boycott all over the state, preventing the installation of ballot boxes.
The state of Oaxaca has one the largest indigenous populations in Mexico and plenty of natural resources (with more than 300 mining concessions on its territory), and the state has been historically ruled by indigenous customary law, a system of self-governance, know as “usos y costumbres“.
Voices and testimonies
On the first days of June 2015, without warning, construction machinery started arriving at El Fortín. According to Odilia Sanchez, a resident in the area, there was no prior consultation before the work was started.
Several residents have organized themselves to fight the construction of the “Oaxaca Convention and Culture Center.” They tell stories about the many families that had lived in the area and were displaced in the 70s during the building of the Guelaguetza Auditorium, and they claim that something similar is happening again at El Fortín.
“My father, may he rest in peace, planted several trees here, all the neighbors helped to plant trees at El Fortín Hill,” says Irais Tapia, a resident of Oaxaca, adding weight to the testimony of another resident, Emilia Garcia: “I was crying because… the trees!”
According to Juan José Council, director of the Institute for Nature and Society of Oaxaca, Oaxaca's government has not submitted the required environmental impact assessment for the construction project.
Gustavo Esteva, director of the Universidad de la Tierra in Oaxaca, says:
Es atroz, es una aberración que ese Centro de Convenciones se construya en el Fortín, (…) necesitamos proteger eso que tiene un sentido prácticamente sagrado para nosotros, es el único espacio verde que nos queda en la ciudad.
It is atrocious, it is an aberration to built this Convention Center at El Fortín, (…) we need to protect this space that has a sacred meaning to us, it is the only green area we have left in the city.
The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) did not authorize the project for the building of the Convention and Culture Center. In a statement, they claim to have issued a recommendation to the state government of Oaxaca advising against the building of the Convention Center at the Fortín Hill as the “proposed architectural structures will severely affect the city's cultural and historical landscape.”
@sonyoax Recomienda INAH a gobierno de Oaxaca no construir en el Fortín http://t.co/zXD912HGv9 #LITCHEPUNTOCOM
— Alertas Oaxaca (@AlertasOaxacaMX) August 6, 2015
INAH reccomends Oaxaca government not to build in El Fortín
INAH representatives also called on citizens to protect the site, as it represents “an important asset for Oaxaca and the Mexican nation that has been added by UNESCO to its World Heritage List.

author: Mas de 131


text:
The Day Dhaka Went Under Water · Global Voices
Rezwan

Heavy rainfall created water-logging in several parts of Dhaka city, causing huge trouble for its residents. Image by Sourav Lasker. Copyright Demotix (1/9/2015)
It was raining countrywide in Bangladesh last week: drizzles, downpours, and intermittent rains. But nothing like what the Bangladesh capital Dhaka faced last Tuesday—42 millimetres of rain in just one and a half hours. The cascading shower inundated many Dhaka streets, bringing acute suffering to city dwellers with heavy traffic jams in busy intersections. Many citizens faced immense trouble and delays with freak accidents in the water-clogged streets.
This year Dhaka was ranked the 2nd least liveable city of the world in the annual Liveability Ranking by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Dhaka's water-logging problem is chronic as the drainage system has been in shambles, with many new construction projects abounding and drainage canals blocked. Even with a short-term downpour, many of the streets go underwater quickly, and afterwards, it takes hours for the water to drain.
The frustration was evident on Twitter and other social media:
“Dhaka is such a mess today, water everywhere, i couldn't even enter *insert road name*, the drains are clogged…. http://t.co/rYlWv9PPBa
— Rahfat (@rahfatsalman) September 2, 2015
Commuters of #Dhaka suffer due to water logging #Bangladesh pic.twitter.com/V2OLXY0Ge6
— Moshiul Alam Sarker (@AlamMoshiul) September 1, 2015
Heavy rain is usual but fast lanes in Dhaka going under water is not. The signs are everywhere. #COP21 (c) Rtv pic.twitter.com/3Ms8OfDkAz
— amir (@pomoamir) September 2, 2015
Some users, like Saifur Rahman and Shofikul Islam, shared images of the water-logged city via Youtube.
water bus is Dhaka city LIVE https://t.co/5ZZkj0IE14 via @YouTube #Dhaka#water#problem#Rainy day#Rain
— OHIDUL HAQUE MILON (@OHIDULHAQUEMILO) September 2, 2015
According to the Executive Director of Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) Taksim A Khan, 26 out of the 56 water drainage canals are operational, but not at full capacity. However, if the authorities cannot ensure that rain waters are routed to proper places, this still means the problem cannot be resolved.
Standup comedian Naveed Mahbub found a reason to joke about the disaster.
Is Dhaka now a part of the India-Bangladesh Water Treaty talks?
— Naveed Mahbub (@naveedmahbub) September 3, 2015
Several memes making light of the rough weather became viral and were shared widely on social media (images courtesy Anis Sarker, Moja Loss and Keu Amare Mairala):
Gulistan to Gabtoli ferry via Dhanmondi (water transport comes to Dhaka streets)
“I'm glad we have become only a middle income country”
“Why is that?”
“The water is only midway up the body. If we were a high income country, imagine what would happen.”
Lucky that I took my umbrella while going out!
Shyamal Ghosh wrote on Facebook, urging everyone to wake up to the scale of the issue:
Not only in Dhaka, most of the cities in Bangladesh are facing (the) same problem with rain (&) flood but it seems like no one (is) there to talk about (it). Where are the environment activists, where are the city planners? Looks like nobody wants to have anything to do (with it), all are getting used to it ? […] Wake up…!
Hasibul Haque laid the facts out, explaining the reasons for the water-logging:
Bangladesh is experiencing an extended monsoon this year with 40 percent more rain than annual average, and is set to be a record amount for the last 10 years. While it is true that water-logging in Dhaka has a lot to do with illegal constructions on the rivers in and around Dhaka, there is no doubt that this extreme weather pattern is what climate scientists have been predicting all along—as the result of climate change caused by global warming.
However, Saif Kamal requested to stop blaming everything on climate change:
Yes climate change is leading to the rain, and it floods in every city but the water doesn't hold on like this! Yes, people clog drains with waste. [..]
Have we built a better drainage system? Have we learned to dispose the waste right? The rivers around are polluted by 98%.
Let's not ask petty questions but demand service delivery that are priorities.
Downpour leads to severe flooding and traffic jams in most areas of the capital city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Image by Sk Hasan Ali. Copyright Demotix (1/9/2015)
Brahmanda Pratap Barua Ripon also believed waste was to blame:
Most of the roads at downtown have gone almost under water, but whom to blame? Is it us who never follow waste management or the greedy builders who just aim to earn money by covering all the ponds and lakes. The funniest thing is most of the people blame the Government for this water jamming.
Mahfuz Rahman thought that every citizen shared part of the blame and was part of the solution:
I noticed last few days my facebook timeline have so many people's photo riding boat on road or such. Complain & complain everywhere.
I will say this 20% natural and 80% man made situation. This situation is applicable and will happen again and again until we stop throwing trash in street, Drain, or anywhere where we shouldn't.
It remains to be seen how Bangladesh plans to tackle the next such downpours, which are inevitable in this geographical area. It might be that this will be the first job for the new mayors of Dhaka—as well as a test of their management capabilities.

author: Rezwan


text:
Volunteer Initiatives a Key Part of Welcoming Refugees in Germany · Global Voices
Anne Hemeda

Volunteers share food and drinks with refugees who wait in front of the Berlin Office for Health and Social Affairs (#LaGeSo).
Photo from Tim Lüddemann on 13 August 2015 on Flickr. Non-commercial use with credit to owner permitted.
All links lead to German language pages, except when otherwise noted.
War, crisis, and poverty in the Middle East, South Europe, and Africa have meant the number of refugees in Germany has increased, and many cities and local authorities are proving themselves to be unprepared. In order to help the people, who are mostly from Syria, Albania, Afghanistan, and Iraq, many impromptu and self-organised initiatives of dedicated volunteers have developed all over Germany.
Most of the projects provide refugees with donations of food and clothes, organise interpreters and chaperons to go to local administrations and doctors’ offices, arrange language tuition and provision of free wireless Internet, and provide child care and leisure activities.
Carla Scheytt campaigns for refugee children in the open playgroup at “Netzwerk Wohlfahrtstraße” in Bochum and told Global Voices that volunteers come to straightforward and immediate agreements using a closed Facebook group and Doodle polls (page in English). A targeted appeal for donations can be made over Facebook.
Players at a football tournament for teams with and without refugees by [sports club] Brot und Spiele e.V. Photo by Andi Weiland on 25 July 2015 on Flickr. Published under the Creative Commons Licence [en].
Many of the initiatives in this movement prefer social media or email groups to coordinate their work. It does mean, however, that they often stay invisible to outsiders, as they often do not have the time or manpower to create their own web presence or to maintain a website, journalist Birte Vogel explained to Global Voices in conversation:
Ziel dieser Initiativen ist es, loszugehen und zu helfen, Nägel mit Köpfen zu machen, nicht einfach rumzureden, sondern wirklich den Kontakt zu suchen und tätig zu werden. […] Die reden nicht so viel über das, was sie machen, sondern sie machen es einfach.
The aim of these initiatives is to go in and help; to do the job properly; not just to talk about it, but to actually seek contact and to get active. […] They don't talk so much about what they do, they just do it.
To make it possible for interested volunteers to contact organisations and to encourage further initiatives, Birte Vogel has created an information hub with her blog “Wie kann ich helfen?” (How can I help?), where she extensively researches, documents, and categorises each of her suggested projects.
Those interested in volunteering often encounter difficulties while researching suitable initiatives within the scope of refugee help. Not all [volunteering] co-ordination sites can tell you what kinds of initiatives exist, who the contact person is, where one would be useful with their particular skills, or which projects are accepting food and clothing donations—provided there even is a co-ordination site in the first place.
Shelves with baby clothes in the warehouse of the initiative “Willkommen in Essen” (Welcome to Essen). Photo by Anne Hemeda on 3 September 2015.
The aid projects often move on a thin line between a grassroots movement, in which the biggest number of volunteers possible take part on the spur of the moment and generally without obligation in order to react to an acute emergency, and the need to create structures, not least of all to secure the protection of refugees and their participation during the planning of action. But stabilization and sustainability of aid projects is not always desirable, as it turns out.
A study by the Berliner Institut für empirische Integrations- und Migrationsforschung (Berlin Institute for Empirical Intergration and Migration Research – BIM) suggests that in 2014 just under 40 percent of the total refugee aid work to further existing structure for refugees was voluntarily offered. However, volunteers tended to take up tasks which would often have a very fundamental meaning, like the provision of accommodation, transportation, and clothes:
Vielmehr sind Ehrenamtliche aber durch Tätigkeiten eingebunden, die durch strukturelle Mängel entstehen. Der größte Anteil ehrenamtlicher Arbeit wird investiert, wo Behörden versagen, angemessene Kommunikation und Umgang mit Asylbewerbern und Flüchtlingen zu ermöglichen.
Volunteers are however, much more often involved in tasks that arise from structural shortcomings. The biggest portion of voluntary work is invested where public agencies fail to make adequate communication and contact with asylum seekers and refugees possible.
When hectic tent cities are built in towns and the aid is organised in the emergency accommodations, volunteers often work in teams with the appropriate government agencies and social service providers. In an emergency accommodation in Leipzig members of the Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe [an aid agency] have done volunteer work from the beginning of August, around the clock and have canvassed for medical supervision and transportation services from more volunteers from the population. At the same time, without the dedication of the volunteers in front of the Berlin State Office for Health and Social Affairs, the care for the refugees would not be guaranteed.
Ehrenamtliches Engagement ist wichtig, darf aber nicht die professionelle Sozialarbeit ersetzen
Volunteer engagement is important, but it must not replace professional social work.
The above point was made by the Amadeu Antonio Stiftung in their article “10 Punkte für eine Kommunale Willkommensoffensive” (“10 Points for a Community Welcome-Offensive”). Hence, organisations and volunteer campaigners for refugee aid are demanding that local authorities, states, and the federal government take responsibility and provide human and financial resources. Without appropriate policy, the ‘welcome culture’ in Germany is missing a sustainable framework,  according to the human rights organisation ProAsyl (Pro-Asylum).
For volunteers in existing aid projects, however, contact people, a professional chaperon, or supervision are also necessary, as they come into contact with people who during their journey have often had traumatic experiences and could be emotionally overwhelmed, said Birte Vogel. It goes without saying that such care of traumatised refugees must also be carried out by professionals.
And for those involved on a volunteer basis, their work transcends improving the humanitarian situation of the refugees to also shaping the community and breaking down prejudices, according to the BIM study. For this reason the volunteers are confronting the increasing racist agitation in Germany, as already in August 2015 the number of crimes motivated by extreme right-wing views against refugee accommodations has doubled from the previous year to 335 cases. And in the survey published in “Fragile Mitte – Feindselige Zustände. Rechtsextreme Einstellungen in Deutschland 2014” (Fragile Middle – Hostile Conditions. Extreme Right-Wing Attitudes in Germany 2014) for the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, almost half of the Germans questioned (44 percent) agree with prejudiced perceptions about asylum seekers.
At the preparations for a theatre performance with young refugees in Munich. Photo from the Facebook page for the project “Willkommen in München” (Welcome to Munich), use courtesy of [youth organisation] Kreisjugendring München-Stadt (Council of Youth Groups Munich City), uploaded 7 August 2015.
At the same time however, in the past few years on average 70 percent more volunteers have involved themselves within the area of refugee work, according to the study by BIM. In the ARD-DeutschlandTrend (ARD-German Trend) from September 2015, 88 percent of the Germans polled said they would donate to refugees and 68 percent said they would get involved in volunteering for refugees. Birte Vogel, who in the last few months has researched and learned about around 400 projects, said excitedly that she is seeing that people in these initiatives are acting with an amazing amount of creativity, have many ideas, and exhibit a lot of idealism and human kindness.
For these reasons the volunteer initiatives are making an important contribution towards building a caring and peaceful community for the refugees. The job of German politics is to create the structural conditions and sustainability opportunities for this ‘welcome culture.’

author: Anne Hemeda