Kabissa Gong Gong February 2009

A monthly newsletter for members of the Kabissa African civil society network

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1. Dear Mimi: Internet Advice Column

This month, Mimi is happy to devote this space to sharing Tactical Tech's latest online publication for activists, the Quick 'n Easy Guide to Online Advocacy, which is available in full on their website at http://onlineadvocacy.tacticaltech.org. In this day and age of emerging Social Media technology, there are so many services available that they can be bewildering, so she strongly recommends that Kabissa members engaged in (or wanting to engage in) online activism take the time to review this guide. Check out these direct links to collections of recommended services: Bookmarks, Censorship, Feeds, Maps, Mobiles, Networks, Photos, Text, Videos.

This guide presents advocates with a collection of popular online services that can be used for advocacy quickly with little to no technical support. There are services for publishing photographs and video, for setting up a campaign blog or for using mobiles to communicate in a group. An amazing amount of functionality and tools are available simply by connecting to the Internet and opening up a web-browser. You don't need to have a lot of technical expertise to try some of these. You also don't need much money, these services are offered at low- to no-cost.

They require a broadband connection and are not recommended for dial-up connections. Advocates can easily and quickly connect, gather information and distribute powerful messages by utilizing these services, the majority of technology is out of sight. This guide presents use of these services from a northern NGO perspective, though we have tried to present alternative services popular in different regions and languages.

Before you start working with these tools, please note: most are free to use and are great for short-term or immediate small-scale projects. Some of these tools allow you to keep in control of your content, but nearly all of the companies that own these tools reserve the right to use the content you are posting in some way (see individual service listings section titled "Your Content" for more information). Because these are commercial services subject to the whims of the market, they can not be relied on for large-scale or long-term projects, nor for handling secure and sensitive information. Each service listing in this guide provides information on who owns the service and their track record on handling private content, along with information on when it is appropriate to use the service and when it isn't.

These tools can be used by advocates in a variety of ways including:

This guide is intended for individuals who have not used these services before. If you have already used many of these services than you may be interested in Global Voices, Advocacy 2.0 guide found at http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/advocacy-20-guide-tools-....

For more inspiration and examples of using these services, please see DigiActive at:
http://www.digiactive.org

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2. Under the Baobab Tree: News and Blogs from Kabissa Members

Ghana: Despite the Storms
International Women's Day: Call for Participation
Africa's Climb to an Internet Revolution
Somalia: New Violence Highlights Need for Independent Inquiry
Baseball brings Africans together online
Kenya: Freedom of Speech controlled at the United Nations
Africa Action Releases "Africa Policy Outlook 2009"
African Democracy Forum Statement on Zimbabwe
NEW TACTICS FEATURED DIALOGUE: Election Monitoring – January 21 - 27
Summary and Talking Points for Rising Voices World AIDS Day Chat/Next Chat February 9th, 2009
Suffering in Diversity, a poem by Henry Ekwuruke posted by nnadofoundation

The heat of the day fueled the mosquitoes
Such was the time for this experience
The hot sun watched the hunger mobilize, let's trudge on
We see a light of hope ahead let's continue the journey

Coming in silken drapes of white
Welcomed in cotton wool like gentle waves
Dressed like Saturn's mystery on air
Polished in the lusterless world, we land empty handed

Experience saw it coming and informed us
Diverse to fewer suspicions our major
But we crowded like icicles in patient assembly
Disguised to feed on eagles blood

Time permitted its heavy hand upon my jaw
In the waves maintaining a still move
This mission saw jealous eyes itching that morning
Quenching the sea's calamity without proof

No invitation was sent for her presence
No allowance for your dancing at the occasion
You submitted sorrow, and sand
Even your curse retained on our roots.
Click here to share your reaction to this poem

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3. Kabissa Matters

Membership Update

22 organisations joined Kabissa this month, from Ghana, Liberia, USA, Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, DRC, and Uganda, bringing our membership total as of today to 1362.

If you have not done so recently, please log in at http://www.kabissa.org/user and make sure your personal and organisational profile information is up to date. Post to the blog to share compelling stories about yourself, your organisation and your community!

The Kabissa site received 4698 unique visits in the month of December, according to ClustrMaps.

4. Technology News and Resources

5. Opportunities Pot

6. Member Spotlight

This space is reserved for spotlighting exemplary organizations making particularly innovative use of technology in support of their mission.

Have you just launched a powerful new online initiative? Got a new website you want to share with the community? A technology story to tell about an approach that worked for your organization? Tell us about it!

Check out some of the amazing organisations featured in the Member Spotlight in 2008: