I'm covering two events - First the GlobalNet 21 Meet-up called "The Path To Development -Trade or Aid" (yesterday evening) and secondly the March First Thursday meeting (this afternoon) which predictably did not go as planned - but was a great session involving people from three continents, eight countries and a confusing number of time zones.
The Peoples Open Access Education Initiative: Peoples-uni continues to go from strength to strength. It is now open for enrollments for the first semester 2010. It is offering 12 courses, including a new one, and one offered in two additional languages. Dadamac is proud to have been associated with People's Uni from its very earliest days. Professor Dick Heller (Coordinator of the Peoples-uni) has asked us to share the following information:
Yesterday, after John Iruaga had finised his Twitter learning session, I went out to the February networking event of the British African Federation (BAF). Topics included:investments; Business Safari Missions; low-cost migrant remittances, micro-finance, micro-savings and currency exchange; business match-making and mentoring; a new weapon against mosquitos (and cockroaches); tractors and a trade mission. As a result there are introductions to make and activities I would like to see happen.
So... how is the Internet actually changing opportunities to learn? Does the phrase "death of distance" really mean anything? Here's a quick example from this afternoon (February 25th) when John Iruaga who was in Nigeria sent his first Tweet, helped via Skype by Andy Broomfield who was in the UK. It was a spontaneous bit of teaching. It happened simply because Andy was sitting next to me, working on his laptop, when I bumped into John Iruaga on Skype.
Hi Bala
You were asking me about visibility so I will share some thoughts here - in this visible online space. You are interested on behalf of the newly forming Appropriate Power Special Interest Group. I hope what I write here will help not only that group, but also other Special Interest Groups (SIGs) that we may set up later.
The First Thursday chat on March 4th at 12.00 GMT/UTC will focus on two of our permaculture interests - kitchen gardens and jatropha. The plan is that Marcus Simmons will join the chat as our permaculture adviser. One or more people from the Dadamac team in Nigeria will also chat. They will discuss what has been happening since Marcus's visit a few months ago. It is still very early days, so the discussion will be about first practical steps that have been taken (or are being planned) by the permaculture early adopters, and what else they need to know.
It's almost exactly ten years since I was first involved in communication between UK and Nigeria. In those days my friend, the late Peter Adetunji Oyawale, could only phone one person in his entire Oke-Ogun Community Development network. If we made a phone call it was to the landline of Chief Adetola, in the state capital Ibadan. What a contrast now. Today, from rural Ago-Are i got this text: "Mornin ma, my wiv gave birth 2 a bouncin baby boy yesterday afternoon, thanks Fola."
I have no personal experience of the Universal Learning Centre but I came across it today because I moderate comments at dadamac.net and someone posted this one:
Haiti, a legitimate cause
Hey, I'm seeking help for the kids of Haiti. I'm doing my part for a non-profit organization in which the main focus is to creating oppurtunities for the children in haiti. If anybody wants to give money then this is the site: Donate to Haiti or Help Haiti They give children in Haiti books and teach them. Yes, they're a real cause. Please help us
I confess my first responses were
Hi Vijay
Sorry you could not make it to February First Thursday, but I know you are very busy at present. You would have met some interesting people including members of the Dadamac team in Nigeria. It would have been interesting to compare some of the eco-developments there, such as growing Jatrohpa, with what is happening in India
I mention Jatropha because at our UK-Nigeria meeting yesterday we were told that "we are raising a nursery of 2000 jathropha palnts we intend to transplant when the rains begin"
This is a copy of an email sent to Victoria Sinclair (Project Manager Generate Project and director ArcSpace Manchester):
Hi Vicky
I am writing to you ref Ref ArcSpace Manchester, the email you sent to PRADSA, and the information below which I read on your website:
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We cultivate a holistic, environmentally sound entrepreneurial zone, seeding inspiration and cohesion, nurturing creativity through workshops and peer to peer learning. People are empowered through intercultural and creative skills-based exchanges - from visual to musical to written word and everything in between using inclusive technologies, academic and international partnerships.
