Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] Using Intermediaries to Facilitate Communication

Pat Hall wrote: > ...is there something else going on here - perhaps the language policies > of Nigeria have led to the education system favouring English? In response to Pat, Europeans carved up Africa without seriously integrating the polarizational issue of tribe and hence culture. Let us not

Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] Using Intermediaries to Facilitate Communication

Pat Hall's questions for Pam McLean open up a whole range of issues regarding the intersection of sociolinguistics, and language and education policies with ICT policy that are pertinent to the discussion but probably need to be explored in depth elsewhere. I'll let Pam reply on the particular case

Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] Using Intermediaries to Facilitate Communication

Regarding intermediaries, and the use of written English amongst Yoruba speaking people, Pat Hall asked me to explain more about the situation in Oke-Ogun: > Pam, is there something else going on here - perhaps the language > policies of Nigeria have led to the education system favouring English?

Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] Using Intermediaries to Facilitate Communication

I read Raphael Marambii's post with interest, in particular: > Although cryptography is complicated, we should not under-estimate the > intelligence of people to quickly grasp the basic concepts (snip) It > would be great fun and very empowering to teach villagers about ciphers > and the art of cr

Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] Using Intermediaries to Facilitate Communication

One aspect of Pam MacLean's contribution has intrigued, and alarmed, me: > 1) In Oke-Ogun letters are often written by an intermediary on behalf of > an illiterate person, often by hand, not necessarily typewritten. The > process is made additionally complicated by the fact that letters often > ne

Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] Using Intermediaries to Facilitate Communication

Dear all, I would like to attribute another role to the Intermediaries which we have used a lot in both Community Telecenters and School-based Telecenters in Uganda. Here we talk of Info-brokers. These are normally influential people of the community by:- their knowledge, traditional mentoring ro

Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] Using Intermediaries to Facilitate Communication

Raphael Marambii <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On the issue of intermediaries, while acknowledging the very valid > concerns pointed out by Don Osborne, I'd just like to add that some work > has been done to try and get around some of these problems. The "voices > in their hands project" by a Phili

Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] Using Intermediaries to Facilitate Communication

There has been discussion of email as against broadband connections, and of the reality of mediators in written communications. On Wednesday, November 19, 2003 Don Osborn wrote: ..(snip)... > I'm not at all comfortable with the notion of person-to-person or > web-to-individual(s) information bein

Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] Using Intermediaries to Facilitate Communication

Apart from the "voices in their hands" program, there may be other ways to conceivably tackle the problems of ensuring the process empowers the end user and not create a class between them and the intermediaries. Take the example of Njideka's Oweri Digital Village model where youth are employed as

Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] Using Intermediaries to Facilitate Communication

On the issue of intermediaries, while acknowledging the very valid concerns pointed out by Don Osborne, I'd just like to add that some work has been done to try and get around some of these problems. The "voices in their hands project" by a Philips Researcher, Paul Rankin

Re: [GKD-DOTCOM] Using Intermediaries to Facilitate Communication

Vickram Crishna and Cliff Missen have referred to intermediaries writing letters and emails. I just want to agree that is also how life is in Oke-Ogun. I offer four examples to elaborate. 1) In Oke-Ogun letters are often written by an intermediary on behalf of an illiterate person, often by hand

[GKD-DOTCOM] Using Intermediaries to Facilitate Communication

Regarding the messages of Herman Wasserman and Cliff Missen, this is interesting but there is a danger I think in any strategy that seeks to rely on intermediaries. Cliff uses the word "griot" but in fact it may be more like "marabout" or priest (although these latter analogies are not perfect eith