When spiderwebs unite, they can tie up a lion!

When spiderwebs unite, they can tie up a lion!

We believe in the power of civil society organizations to make peaceful change in Africa. That is why, for nine years, we have been their reliable technology partner, providing Internet services, training, and now a dynamic and powerful online community Web site.

Please, make your gift today to support Kabissa. Your donation will enable thousands of grassroots organizations to connect with each other online.

Sincerely yours,

Tobias Eigen
Executive Director

Please come and explore the new site at kb2.org, which is still very much undergoing testing but gives a flavor of things to come. When the site replaces our original site in the coming weeks, it will empower thousands of African organizations and their allies to SHOWCASE, CONNECT and LEARN.

This is all about creating horizontal linkages among organizations that might otherwise have been impossible, on all levels: local, city, national, regional, continental and global. It is about knowing how best to take advantage of the tremendous potential of the Internet and related communications tools in pursuit of an organizational mission.

Though Kim has stepped down as Co-Executive Director, she will not be leaving us entirely! She has agreed to join Kabissa's Board of Directors in January.

Of her time at Kabissa she writes, "The past five years have been amazing, watching Kabissa grow from a kitchen table volunteer effort to a vibrant organization with over of over 1,000 members, exciting programs, a Board and Advisory Committee, supporters all over the world, and a great team of volunteers."

• Kabissa members in East and West Africa participated in e-Learning pilot workshops sponsored by the Hurford Foundation, with a third self-taught course coming soon on our new site.
• Kabissa's three year Pan African Localization project nears completion with a dynamic workshop of African linguists and technology experts in Tshwane, South Africa last month.
• Tobias Eigen published an article about Kabissa's evolution in ICT Update, a widely read publication of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) in the Netherlands.
• Tobias Eigen presented at the Web2fordev conference at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in September, where he was interviewed (in English) by the German blog Netzpolitik-Podcast.

Member Highlights:

• HINT Cameroon provides school fees and supplies to 40 needy children in their Back Packs 2007 Campaign
• Tanzania Children's Concern (TCC) launches a new Web site at http://www.tcc.kabissa.org
• Women of Uganda Network is sponsoring an ongoing Speak Out! Stand Out! and Commit! text message campaign to combat violence against women.

Questions, Comments, or Feedback? Let us know!

In This Issue

When Spiderwebs Unite...

New Online Community Site in testing at kb2.org

Kim Lowery Changes Hats at Kabissa

Kabissa in Action

Member Highlights

Support Kabissa

A donation to Kabissa makes a great gift!

Forward this newsletter to your friends

Federal Employees: Kabissa participates in the Combined Federal Campaign (#11021)

Kabissa Team 2007

A huge thank you to the dedicated interns, volunteers and staff who helped make Kabissa run in 2007. All told, volunteers and interns donated over 1600 hours of their time in 2007!

Kabissa Staff:
Tobias Eigen, Kim Lowery, Chioma Oruh, Liz Trautman

Kabissa Board:
Peter Eigen, Tobias Eigen, John Githongo, Neema Mgana, Daniel Ritchie

Intern team:
Vicki Aken, Ryan Cargo, Khaled Dridri, Austin Duncan, Natalie McIntyre, Chris Perry, Vicrum Puri, Alisa Oba, Mark Root-Wiley

Volunteer Team:
Jude Andreason, Glen Aronson, Cyndi Bartel, Judy Brown, Hope Clements, Kate Couturier, Kay Dendy, Roberta Fineberg, Apoena Joels, Betsy Malcolm, Vince Mamo, Russel Perkins, Shawn Pompian, Lauren Rosapep, Greg Schnippel, Ghislain Siewe, Soumya Vishnu