[Imc-africa] dakar concerns

[Jay]

Hi Nicolas,

Thanks for your e-mail.  I got involved in the conference project about two 
weeks ago when I found there were some people able to be there from outside 
of Africa but weren't enough (any) funds to support delegates coming to 
Dakar from around Africa.  Seemed to not make much sense, having an African 
IMC gathering without people being there from several African IMCs.  So, I 
offered to send around the fundraising information through the indymedia 
network and see if anyone could help.

I haven't been involved in the planning of the conference programming, so I 
can't really reply to your concerns.  My general thought is that, while the 
scope and detail of the programming is of course essential, most of the 
benefit of any IMC conference, at least the couple I've attended, comes in 
face-to-face communication between people who are already involved with 
IMCs (in this case, those coming from both outside of Africa and from 
around the continent) and people who are interested in forming their 
own.  Getting together to share skills, experiences and ideas, as well as 
to brainstorm and make plans for the future, seems to be a worthwhile goal 
on its own, at lesat enough to try to gather money to make that possible.

Perhaps Sphinx could offer some more details on the programming itself.

Jay

At 2/6/2004, nicolas dieltiens wrote:

>Dear all, for a two-week conference that's scheduled to begin at the end 
>of the month, very little discussion has focused on the conference itself, 
>its programme and objectives. Everyone on-list has been scurrying around 
>for funds to make it happen when what it is that will occupy the few that 
>will attend for two-weeks is actually quite unclear. The conference has 
>been suggested as a technical workshop, and 9 volunteers are to offer 
>workshops on skills still to be determined for 12 or less IMC-africa 
>participants. If this is all the Dakar conference is hoping to achieve, I 
>could think of better ways to spend our efforts and their money.
>
>Perhaps some responses could clarify my concerns, but at the moment the 
>conference hasn't been conceptualised and organising the event lurches 
>towards the question of funds. Let's better re-schedule and conceptualise 
>the conference before exasperating volunteered contributions. I'd really 
>be a reluctant participant in a conference of 6 with 9 workshop 
>facilitators - for two-weeks (the count recommended recently by Jay (IMC 
>Philadelphia)). The political agenda for the conference is entirely absent 
>and subsumed by presumptions of African neediness and northern activists' 
>benevolence.
>
>regards
>
>Nicolas
>Indymedia sa
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