[Imc-africa] Re: [New-imc] Travel Stipend for Indymedia Organizer / IndymediaGrowth in Africa Project

[Petros Evdokas]

Greetings friends and colleagues of Africa- related imc
groups,


Below are copies of letters exchanged in global imc
grops which concern you directly, and I felt that you
should be able to have access to them.

Your thoughts or feelings would be most welcome -
please make sure to send your views not just to me, but
to the global groups as well.

Thanks,
Petros
-------------------


Subject: Re: [New-imc] Travel Stipend for Indymedia
Organizer / Indymedia Growth in Africa Project
Date: Wed, 08 Oct 2003 20:28:24 +0300
From: Petros Evdokas <petros_cyprus at burleehost.net>
Reply-To: petros at cyprus-org.net
To: imc-process at lists.indymedia.org,
imc-communication at lists.indymedia.org,
         new-imc at lists.indymedia.org, sascha at ucimc.org


(forwarded  letter from Sascha)

Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2003
From: Sascha Meinrath <sascha at ucimc.org>
Subject: [New-imc]  Travel Stipend for Indymedia
Organizer:
        Applications due by Nov 1, 2003.
To: imc-process at lists.indymedia.org,
        <imc-communication at lists.indymedia.org>,
<new-imc at lists.indymedia.org>


**********************
*** PLEASE FORWARD ***
**********************

Hi all,

I am writing to let folks know that the
Urbana-Champaing IMC (UCIMC) is
soliciting applications for a travel stipend to an
Indymedia Organizer who
is willing to help with the Indymedia Growth in Africa
Project (IGAP).

If you are interested, more information about the
project and how to apply
is available at:

http://brainstorm.ucimc.org/ucimcWiki/igap

Briefly, the strategy behind IGAP is to help solidify
two current African
IMCs (Nigeria and South Africa) so they can act as hubs

for Indymedia
growth throughout sub-Saharan Africa. New Indymedia
initiatives in
different areas (e.g., Congo and Zimbabwe) would be
greatly advanced if
they could rely on more-established IMCs in their
region.  The project
funding was applied for by the UCIMC Grantwriters in
collaboration with
South Africa and Nigeria IMCs and funded by the
Threshold Foundation.

The ideal candidate has:

1. Experience starting an IMC in their own community.
2. Experience helping IMCs start up in other
communities.
3. Excellent English writing skills and is a personable

communicator.
4. Familiarity with Global Indymedia Network processes.

5. Familiarity and/or expertise in multiple media
formats (print, web,
photo, audio, video, tech); ability to teach others
skills in multiple
media formats.
6. Knowledge or willingness to learn about the
struggles in Africa.
7. Comfort traveling and ability to transport
equipment.
8. Adequate time to accomplish project goals.
9. Dedication to the ongoing documentation and growth
of the Global
Indymedia Network.

Below are some of the tasks we are hoping the candidate

will help
accomplish:

Tasks (before trip):

1. Prepare packets of information explaining Indymedia
and some tips on
how to start a new IMC in a community.
2. Become familiar with IMCs working in Africa and
contact the people
involved.
3. Research and study ongoing struggles that in African

IMCs' communities.
4. Plan trip itinerary including obtaining necessary
visas & vaccinations.
5. Research and purchase the right equipment to bring
to IMCs in Africa.
6. Prepare translations of important documentation.


Tasks in Africa:

1. Deliver equipment.
2. Listen to the needs and learn first-hand about local

struggles and
situations.
3. Conduct workshops & skills training with equipment
and/or software.
4. Conduct discussion forums on the Global Indymedia
Network, its
principles, how it works; and provide examples of best
practices in
various IMCs around the world. Also share insights into

common development
problems shared by IMCs around the world.
5. Guide forming IMCs through the New-IMC process.
6. Facilitate ongoing communication among IMCs and
forming IMCs in Africa
(especially those one is unable to visit).
7. Create a list of further needs and wants from
existing and forming IMCs
in Africa.  Foster integration of African IMCs into the

Global Indymedia
Network (e.g., create "sister-IMC" relationships;
Global North-South
mutual aid pacts).

Tasks post trip:

1. Write a detailed report on the status of IMCs in
Africa including:
local context, needs fulfilled by this project at each
site, remaining
needs, suggestions for future collaborations, and best
practices learned
from African IMCs. Appendices should include research
reports and other
documentation prepared for this project.
2. Follow up on helping to establish mutual aid
relationships.
3. Distribute the prepared report.

In solidarity,

--Sascha Meinrath
Urbana-Champaign IMC



---------------------------


Sascha and other imc friends and colleagues,

I believe in the good intentions of yours and everyone
else's who is involved in this project, but I must
voice some concerns: this project is treading very
dangerous ground.

It sets up the same old intervention- policy which is
practiced by the Western and advanced- industrial
countries toward the rest of the world, right in
between us, as an IndyMedia policy. No matter how good
the intentions, something  like this must not be
allowed to become an institutionalized attitude, nor
allowed to congeal into a project unless some
conditions are met:

1. Trust.
Right now, the "global south" and thirld- world
countries (whether we have an imc group or not) view
anything like this with mistrust. Western, and
specifically, US/ UK- based activists, must do a *hell
of a lot* of trust- building before anything like this
is not viewed as a "benign" intervention.

2. Consensus.
This is a decision which is absolutely political, but
being promoted (disguised ) as a financial transaction.

A project like this can only be part of a global
IndyMedia policy if there is a global consensus (or a
severely heavy majority globally, among us) to back it
up. Do we have that among us?

3. Self- assessment, self- criticism and learning from
our mistakes.
- We already made the same mistake regarding this kind
of relationship to our Nigeria- based colleagues (two
years ago), and we ignored offers from our South Africa

imc colleagues to rectify the mistake (one can see all
this in the imc-finance archives).
{A sub-heading here about credibility:  there is a
certain particular individual, who is associated with
this imc group who is *continuously* involved in
efforts to create large, expensive, financial imc
projects. Do you think associating with this individual

helps you or any of us sound credible?)
- We made the same mistake in setting up the
imc-palestine group which is *still* unable to
function, ot becaue of zionist aggression but becaue of

our own irresponsible "crusader" attitude.
- We made the same mistake (and we keep in ignoring it,

refusing to deal with it, not wanting to talk about it)

in the fraud that's being presented as a "baghdad imc"
which does not really exist, and which, sadly, has
allowed some imc people to misguide well-meaning,
honest  activists in Baghdad to become discredited, and

stuck, not knowing how to fix their relationship with
imc now.

All of these political projects of imc were presented,
initiated and carried out as "financial" transactions
(by good people who keep being misdirected), without
thinking through the steps or the ramifications first.
Of course, a broad dialogue, which is a form of
"collective thinking" could help with that.

We need to have a network- wide dialogue about how we
are represented by these ambassadors, what exactly will

be the policy they will actualise, etc.

4. Evaluation.
Whe isn't this project aimed directly and specifically
at African IndyMedia activists?
These same projects keep coming up (and always from the

same people or "wings" of imc among us) with the same
cultural biases because the unaknowledged US/ UK -based

leadership of imc in general has an *inability* to
generate and cultivate relationships of trust with
revolutionary- minded, radical- minded, free- media
activists in the the third world, in the developing
world, in the global colonies.
Our colleagues keep dealing with really difficult, very

involved, political problems as if they are simple
crusades to spread technology and money around to some
vaguely "progressive" allies. In reality, the global
Empire, and the Liberation Movement opposing it,
require of us more thoughtful steps, more conscious
participation.

The good news, is that this problem can be fixed, but
it needs to be aknowledged first. I believe you really
do care. And most of the individuals and imc "wings"
who are taking these initiatives over and over (and
causing the rest of us a lot of worry and some
dangers), are actually good people, with good hearts,
but who happen to be steering the imc boat without
realizing the depth of the waters. The depth can be
learned, and there are maps.

Please, let's have some real dialogue about this,
instead of a series of similar  proposals which ignore
the essence of the global liberation movement.

I'm willing to help. But only if there is an
aknowledgement that we have problems, that there are
"wings" of imc among us with very different concepts of

what should be the role of projects such as these. A
step like this will help build trust.To start with,
let's at least try to articulate some consensus about
which features of this proposed project express all of
us. This step also can build trust.

I'd appreciate your feedback, suggestions, thoughts,
questions, disagreements, inspirations.

Petros,
Cyprus IndyMedia volunteer,
http://Petros-Evdokas.cyprus-org.net
-------------------