On 6/22/04, Gary Garriott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I was happy to see this post advocating a return to the concept of > "development of basic supporting infrastructure."..... My personal > experience in rural development for more than a quarter century is that > if people have the basic infrastructure and tools available, that their > own innate creativity and entrepreneurial/survival skills will figure > out how to use them. A few well-timed catalytic inputs by others (from > the "north" or "south" or both) don't hurt either.
I have been forced by unreliable connectivity to stay out of adding my two bits here for quite a while, through more than one challenging question raised by the Moderator. Within the general area of building a strong (and professional) base for furthering societal growth, we (Radiophony) have researched and found that the very cheapest form of ICT, for both content developers and audience participants, is simple clear audio based FM radio. When deployed for very small area chunks, FM radio costs less than one hundred USD to set up and run for a while, not counting disbursement of incentives to active local supporters. It is not difficult to see ways in which local communities can value and support local radio, once it begins. It is also not a difficult calculation to see that the little buck buys more big bangs. Yet in many countries in South Asia, the overhang of colonial rule (although long gone, more than fifty years back: a salutary thought in itself) continues to view all use of radio as broadcasting. Most officials appear to think that local FM is no different than the propaganda that pours in from various "Free 'This-People's-and-That-People's' Radio" global sources on shortwave. Actually, a lot of them don't even listen to radio anymore. I echo Gary's feeling that a healthy dose of international support at the level of mindset change will help. Our countries still, despite many years of much healthier and approaching independent economies, cling to notions that anything that comes from abroad (read: Western countries) must be good. Hence McDonald's and Pepsi, Gucci and Armani. I am aware that organisations such as UNDP and UNESCO have some half-hearted attempts to promote independent radio in South Asia, yet this has mostly been in the nature of either 'big' radio (attempting to cover thousands of square kilometers at one go, in a false sense of scaled economies), or endless conferences and workshops that have yet to lead to policy change. The dynamics of 'small' radio are totally different, far more involving and far more likely to succeed as a vital component of local society. I don't know what it is about the dynamics of the big organisations that makes it difficult for them to champion small causes, but the lack of such support is a factor in the slow penetration of positive change in rural Asia. -- Vickram ------------ This DOT-COM Discussion is funded by the dot-ORG USAID Cooperative Agreement, and hosted by GKD. http://www.dot-com-alliance.org provides more information. To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd For the GKD database, with past messages: http://www.GKDknowledge.org
