Dear Arun, Thank you for the insightful report on village telecentres; I look forward to the reports and pictures.
Your message makes it clear that telecentres, or any new institution, can change--for good or evil--the existing configuration of social and economic and political forces in a community. In the Indian context you describe the telecentres were able to make dramatic improvements in the condition of women. In other situations they might have led to the beatings of women, or worse. The "change agent" has to understand the culture of the community he or she is trying to change. A simple truism, and yet one overlooked by enthusiasts who see a particular organizational form--the telecentre, perhaps--as a universal good that will work its magic in all places and all cultures. Steve Eskow [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Subbiah Arunachalam Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2005 7:39 PM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] Digital Divide, Telecentres and Iraq Dear Andy and Steve and others on the list: Telecentres are what we make of them and the activities we build around them. The women in the villages around Pondicherry in southern India, like most other women in rural southern India, would rarely come in front of men from outside their own families. That was ten years ago, before the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation set up the now famous knowledge centres with some help from IDRC, Canada. Today, they operate computers and communication devices, answer queries from men, women and anyone who comes into these centres, teach computing skills to others, form self-help groups, take loans from banks, run their own enterprises, and even contest elections. There is a sense of self esteem among them. Will send you, off the list, some reports and pictures. Regards. Arun ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andy Carvin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "The Digital Divide Network discussion group" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, May 06, 2005 9:45 PM Subject: [DDN] Digital Divide, Telecentres and Iraq > Dr. Steve Eskow wrote: > >> And it is not clear--to me, at least--that if we had a thousand >> telecenters >> in Iraq that the other divides would shrink. > > Hi Steve, > > If there were 1,000 telecentres in Iraq that did nothing but provide > people email access and an outlet for online gaming, I'd have to agree > with you. But when done well, telecenters are epicenters of hope and human > potential -- places within the community where people can rally together > for educational, economic, cultural and civic development. And when all > members of a nation are given equal opportunity to improve the quality of > life of their families, some of these other divides, I hope, would lessen > over time. > > Much of the work of NY Times columnist Thomas L Friedman has dealt with > this issue; for example, he's written about Lebanese telecentres serving > as ICT job training centres, and how these institutions are helping > improve the country's overall socio-economic prospects and strengthen > local democratic institutions. > > So let's say we could snap our fingers and have 1,000 telecentres across > Iraq. Imagine if each one of them addressed their community's most > pressing needs. Some of these telecentres would large the local unemployed > with the tools they need to gain new skills or start small businesses. > Others would focus developing e-mechanisms for the public to interact with > civil servants and government officials, making sure that the new > government addressed their needs effectively, no matter if they spoke > Arabic, Kurdi or Turkmen as their native language. Yet others would assist > local mosques in providing health care and human services to people whose > lives and livelihoods were destroyed during the war. > > If telecentres are merely nonprofit cybercafes lacking any development > context, then I'd agree with you. But if we put that aside and see > telecentres as serving specific development goals based on each > community's particular needs and opportunities, I would have to be more > optimistic about the role they could play in helping Iraq get back on its > feet and prosper in the coming years. > > I know there are at least one or two Iraqis on the list. I hope they're > reading this thread; perhaps they would want to comment. > > > > -- > ----------------------------------- > Andy Carvin > Program Director > EDC Center for Media & Community > acarvin @ edc . org > http://www.digitaldivide.net > http://www.tsunami-info.org > Blog: http://www.andycarvin.com > ----------------------------------- > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > [email protected] > http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
