Through my work at Idealist.org and FROG, I’m ever fascinated with mass communication technologies that allow communities to work together to quickly coordinate action and respond collectively in a crisis.

Thoughts of using these technologies for organizing as a Peace Corps volunteer had hardly crossed my mind. By my close-of-service in 2005, tools like InSTEDD, Ushahidi, FrontlineSMS and OpenStreetMap were mostly outlines on someone’s scratch pad.

In the four years since I left the service technology has changed significantly and while internet access is still a luxury in much of the developing world, cellphones with access to SMS have proliferated globally. Tools such as FrontlineSMS and Ushahidi, are leveraging cellphones to greatly impact emergency response strategies in a number of developing countries.

I realize Peace Corps has a lot to straighten out policy-wise, but knowledge of these technologies on the part of a volunteer and implementation by an NGO or local government, communities can prepare for an emergency and respond effectively.

In January of 2005, flooding incapacitated a densely inhabitated section of the Guyanese coast. While radio and television are effective tools for communicating with the public, most folks quickly grab their cellphones and wallet and head out the door in emergency situations; coordinated SMS and mapping technologies would have greatly helped during the crisis.

Let’s take a look at the tools I mentioned above.

InSTEDD combines cell phones and the internet to “communicate, share and analyze information more seamlessly, make better decisions, and take more effective action in the face of a public health threat or natural disaster.”

Ushahidi is a “simple website mashup, using user-generated reports and Google Maps, created to gather citizen generated crisis information after the post-election violence in Kenya.” Some of their past work -

Kenya: The initial mashup, used to track reports of incidents of violence around Kenya.
South Africa: Used to map xenophobic attacks perpetrated against non-South Africans.
Vote Report India is a collaborative citizen-driven election monitoring platform for the 2009 Indian general elections.

FrontlineSMS is “free software that turns a laptop and a mobile phone into a central communications hub. Once installed, the program enables users to send and receive text messages with large groups of people through mobile phones.” Some uses for FrontlineSMS -

Human rights monitoring
Disaster relief coordination
Natural resource management
Emergency alerts
Field data collection
Health care info requests
Agricultural price updates
Mobile education programs
Coordinating fundraising efforts
Providing weather updates

OpenStreetMap “creates and provides free geographic data such as street maps to anyone who wants them. The project was started because most maps you think of as free actually have legal or technical restrictions on their use, holding back people from using them in creative, productive, or unexpected ways.” Check out the list of projects that use OpenStreetMap.

Rupununi - Photo by Kati Ringer

I came across a great website one day for the Rupununi Learners. The organization is made up of two non-profit organizations – the Rupununi Learners Incorporated (RLI) and Rupununi Learners Foundation (RLF). RLI is a registered non-profit in Guyana, founded in 2007 and RLF is a registered non-profit in the USA that started in 2001. Together, these organizations come together to collaborate on environmental conservation, wildlife research, education, economic development and cultural preservation efforts in the southern region of Guyana.

Check out their great website, http://www.rupununilearners.org, to learn more about these two organizations and the wonderful programs they offer!

Give It To Me Right is just now hitting the radio stations in DC. I love it – and if you’re into great music – I think you will too. I’ve got to admit, knowing Melanie Fiona’s (Canadian-)Guyanese makes me love her more.

You may have first heard her on Reggae Gold 2008 – the stunning voice behind “Somebody Come Get Me” – but she does right by R&B.

Plus she has her own Wikipedia page. Which means she must be going somewhere.

So take a listen, and when it comes out in the Spring get your hands on a copy of her first album “The Bridge.” You can borrow mine…

As I was searching for some new material to post, I came across some old news that we at FROG never got to post:

PCV Kate Puzey was murdered almost one month ago in the Benin village, Badjoude. She was 24 and an Education Volunteer. This is so very sad. My heart goes out to the volunteers in her group, her family, her friends, and the community she worked with in Benin. I know they must all be still feeling the pain of her death.

Read this sad story.

Crime against PCV’s is an issue in Guyana – sometimes even crimes of a serious nature, but murder…I am so thankful that we never dealt with something as frightening as the death of a fellow PCV.

Take a moment, sometime today, tomorrow, or the next and please say a little prayer for all the 7,500-some PCV’s across the world right now.

(via Guyana Chronicle)

One would have thought in this modern era with all the remarkable scientific and technological advancements achieved we would have solved the nagging problem of illiteracy. Unfortunately, the facts and statistics tell a far different and shocking story about global illiteracy.

Amanda Credaro, reveals some stunning information in the article- ATAXIA IN THE REPUBLIC OF LETTERS;

“A few short years ago, the world was quite rightly shocked at UNESCO’s¹ announcement that there were 900 million illiterates in developing countries, representing nearly 25 per cent of the world’s youth and adults. The National Institute for Literacy (NIL) sympathised, lamenting that more than 113 million children around the world have no access to primary education.”

But the problem of illiteracy is not restricted to poor countries but surprisingly is very prevalent in some of the world’s wealthiest countries.

Credaro point out, “Largely ignored was the fact that nearly a quarter of 16 to 65-year-olds in the world’s richest countries are functionally illiterate. However, the NIL proclaimed² “there is virtually no adult illiteracy in the USA”. Yet, the most recent National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS) found that four percent of [American] adults could not perform even the simplest literacy tasks on the survey; a contention that is supported by the Central Intelligence Agency³ in their online World Fact Book.”

But what is the underlying cause of high levels of illiteracy ?.

The answer to this question is not as simple and straightforward since several factors, some of which are intertwined, are responsible, and these include, poverty, socio-economic development, culture and tradition, lack of library facilities, and poor education systems among others.

However, research has shown that there are some definite paths that could be followed in the fight against illiteracy.

Credaro, further stated in her article, “Of the last decade, McGill University’s Helen Amoriggi comments that while printing and publishing technology has galloped forward, churning out millions of words per second, the “human reading rate has remained the same since the days of Sheng Pi and Gutenberg”.

“Ultimately, it would appear that the solution to the global literacy problem is most easily solved by providing adequate funding support for school and other libraries. Given the skill, training and experience of library staff, it is self-evident that library professionals are ideally placed to provide user-friendly access to high quality, high interest reading material for their unique sets of clientele.”

“Although Library Science may not be rocket science, only a fraction of the funding that is expended on space exploration is required to make a massive leap forward to improve the quality of life and cultural implications of citizenship”.

Here in Guyana, illiteracy is a primary concern, even though in the 1960s we boasted the highest literacy rate in the English-speaking Caribbean. Unfortunately, because of a sharp decline in the education system coupled with political and economic mismanagement which took a foot hold from the 1970’s, the illiteracy levels dipped sharply.

However, in recent years strenuous efforts have been made to improve our education standards and increase literacy levels. Although much has been achieved, we still have a far way to go.

In this context, the recent announcement by Education Minister Shaik Baksh that a Unit will be set up to coordinate literacy programmes is indeed a worthwhile move and a step in the right direction.

According to the Minister, the unit will be tasked with guiding efforts and approaches to achieve the literacy benchmarks outlined in his ministry’s five- year strategic plan.

However, it should be noted that this problem cannot be resolved by the efforts of the Education Ministry alone but rather through the collective efforts of our entire society. This point was aptly made by the Minister during the recent public discourse on literacy when he said ,” while literacy is an area of concern, the problem can only be properly addressed if all stakeholders put their shoulders to the wheel”.

(via Idealist.org)

We’re happy to announce that government agencies can now post jobs, internships, volunteer opportunities, events, and programs on our site. Please help us spread the word by sharing the news with your friends who work at local, state/provincial, or federal agencies.

We’ve recently expanded the opportunities available to our members by inviting government agencies to post on Idealist. For people searching Idealist, this means more ways to connect with jobs, internships, and volunteer opportunities related to helping the public good.

For government agencies, Idealist offers the possibility to reach an audience specifically looking for public service opportunities. Over 60,000 people visit Idealist each day, and listings posted on the site are sent out via our daily email alerts to over 400,000 members. Learn more.

• To create a profile for your government agency right now, click here.
• If you are a hiring professional and want to learn more about posting jobs, click here.

If you have any other questions, please email our User Support Team or give them a call at (646) 290-7725.

Thank you!

(via peacecorps.gov)

San Jose, Costa Rica, April 1, 2009 – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, accompanied by his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, met with and thanked Peace Corps Volunteers and staff for their service in Costa Rica.

While traveling in Chile and Costa Rica to consult with Latin American leaders regarding the Summit of the Americas, the Bidens met 20 Peace Corps Volunteers and six Peace Corps staff members at a reception held on Monday, March 30, at the U.S. embassy in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Third-year Volunteers Deborah Winiarski from Battlecreek, MI, and Porter Searcy from Atlanta, GA, were among the Volunteers attending the reception. Said Winiarski, “As Volunteers, we truly appreciated the Vice President taking the time with us and expressing his genuine interest in who we are.” Searcy added, “It was a real morale booster for all of us!”