In a message dated 2/28/05 4:33:27 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> Verily, I believe that some of the people most in need of having a > bridge across the Digital Divide are the very people at WSIS. This does > not include all of them, by any stretch, but when the WGIG is made up > the way it was and defined only after the nominees were selected... oh, > there's a story to tell there. A sad story reflecting not only the > organizational limitations of the WSIS, but the very limitations which > reinforce the Digital Divide. > > And it's a mistake that the very people who are representing the poorer > countries own nice cars, dress nicely and don't look twice at the slums > in their own countries. It *must* be a coincidence. It could not have > been planned. But when people sip cocktails together in Geneva, they > don't talk to the people with blue collars - or the ones who can't even > afford a collar. They reinforce themselves, their opinions... > > And they look around, and they talk about what they see - this is only > natural. But they do not see the problems that are out of their perspective. > > I say unleash the general public on the web through content management > systems and weblogs. It's the only way to challenge a system based on > broadcasting instead of interaction. It's the only way actual discussion > can take place. It cannot occur with people issuing unsubstantiated - > and completely non-intuitive - press releases. It cannot occur without > PEOPLE, and this is what the present system would have us think. > > The digital divide is a vast chasm. For those people who actually get to go outside of conventions and the accepted venues , where the "experts" are allowed to talk, what they see is very different from what is described in the press. Attending the events also gives a new light to the understanding of divides within the global gathering. People, the humans who use these devices get funding from different places and this affects who is sometimes in the conversation, with staying power. There may be basic needs in technology that can be accomplished using the Internet, news, data, some kinds of information. Recently at the APT meeting, we saw the stroke zone in the US, where there is a group of people trained to respond to health emergencies involving strokes within a special network. Then there are the Navajo in a four state connection in their nation where a phone might be sixty miles in a chapter house, from their home, but that is the public health network. We don't speak of computer connectivity, because that is the place where the computers are, the chapter house and phones are a rarity in the homes of Native Americans. If we go outside of the fancy homes and towns in some countries there are sights to see that make you feel absolutely useless. I was in a township . They had 35 computers strapped down to desks. There was a student in from Sweden who was trying to figure out how they were going to use the computers. But the problem was one of connectivity and the cost for the electricity, and if then they worked, what would she be able to use. Meanwhile there were 65 children in the halfday school. All in uniform. No books. The chalk board was the book. I am not saying that you have to have books, just remarking on the importance of 'things". There are the same divisions of schools, private, regular, whatever that is, and remarkable. In Jordan, where I was working, the language ( mine) was a problem, but the people of Davos, somehow funded an initiative for the schools , because in Jordan many children in the villages who were girls, never went go to school. There are other countries where this is true, but in the US we get reports that compare apples to oranges. That the population of these countries do better based on the students who are reported to be in school. I correspond frequently with friends in India. We talk about the same problems. Gender problems are also a concern. But those who perhaps represent gender, may have a different agenda that at this time does not explain, or share the problem in ways that most people can understand them. i apologize for mentioning schools, education and technology in the same breath. I believe that in this 21st century that when we speak of schools there should be some connectivity and some people who are smart technology users. Sometimes we are talking to the tech people who love the machines, but who do not know how to make them real to the people using them. Bonnie Bracey bbracey @ aol com > > _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org 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.
