[Imc-africa] Update for Delegates for Dakar-Senegal Conference(20/12/03)

[GATSby at riseup.net]

Hello World, Hello Africa!

i'm [The great/de_]GATSby from germany: some of you already met me, others
have seen some of my work. for all the others: i was involved with indymedia
germany for the first time a little more than two years ago. since then i
wrote some heavily link-stuffed features, for example for "buy nothing day",
reported from some local demonstrations (against war, globalisation, cuts in
social spending, rightist political parties) and some alternative protests
and actions (a spiritual commune, anti racist shopping, vegan kitchen, pre
cancun conferences). i also made by now more or less two dozens audio/video
interviews (i was the perosn to ask strange questions like "how do you think
capitalsim is abolished best?") with a minidisc recorder and cut themselves
(audio) with the most easily usable program on earth, the fabulously open
sourced Audacity ( http://audacity.sourceforge.net ). it is so simple to use
i even didn't have to learn it, i just started to cut.
moreover i was a webdeveloper for an internet company for three years and
there i taught pupils an internet scripting language.
last but not least i'm a former social antropolgist so i can deal with
people scientifically that means deconstruct power structures on the
organizational level if necessary.

i didn't reply to the roll call on time due to my ability to pay the plane
myself, i would nevertheless very much appreciate it if we would be able to
stay with some locals in senegal or at least at a friendly place like an
university because i despise hotels and would be pleased not to support such
institutions if it's not really unavoidable.

i could bring at least my minidisc recorder, but i think it shouldn't be to
difficult to buy two older ones, imc-germany has probably even some money
left so we could maybe offer those two to our african peers as presents.
audacity in the current version is already packed with many powerful
functions, so i would rather propose to use an older simpler version. all of
the versions are very small in size so you don't have to use the newest
hardware. best thing about audacity: it is compatible with all three most
used operating systems, windows, apple mac and linux.

nevertheless, i am somewhat surprised about the overt technical schedule of
our festival. it seems to me that we are some kind of new media missionaries
coming to africa, teaching the wild primitives how to do media. sorry if
that sounds offensive but i perceive it is a little too optimistic teaching
people internet skills even almost nobody uses here taking into account that
senegal has (according to the CIA! which is google's first hit for the term
"senegal") an internet access rate of roughly 1! (that is "one") % which is
sadly even much for an african country, an analphabetism rate of ca. 50!
(that is "fifty") % and a below the poverty line rate of also around fifty
percent of the whole population. so if we want to reach the more general
public or even some rural areas, we can not just walk in there and teach the
elite students "alternative media", video, audio and so on. we have to go
in, say hello, explain who we are and ask politely what the situation is and
then ask "how could we help?"
moreover, we should take into account that in africa, and i'm sorry if i
sound insulting once again, i'm no expert in this case whatsoever, there are
some of the countries with the most horrendous human rights records you can
imagine. whereas we risk to be held for a day and questioned people in
countries like nigeria risk being shot immediately for just taking part in a
demonstration. so we need a totally different approach to those new imc's if
we do not want just to show off our overt white media supremacy consisting
of unaffordable gadgets half of the population would probably kill for just
to survive.

personally i would like to explain mainly the idea of "independent" grass
roots media making using my skills from improvisation theatre for example
and then let the people use it according to what they have on the ground,
even if that's nothing. if indymedia in africa to be democratic does have to
be storytelling in the shade of a palm tree by the only person who can read
in the whole village, then i want an independent media center like that
installed under every palm tree throughout all of africa and not even
mention the incredibly white concept of alienated communication called the
"internet".

so maybe we should just take some steps back "to the roots" and focus on the
traditional ways of communicating in some areas of the african continent
which are spoken word (even gossip), images with spoken word (not necesarily
video but even drawings, comics you could distribute even to analphabets)
and so on. also radio could be a very good medium but no streaming whatsover
but just conventional radio. especially the self powered (solar or human
powered) radios can be used even in the remotest areas:
http://www.urbanjunkie.co.uk/product.php/169/0/

ok, now that i effectively messed up your day one final blow to the good
mood: all that said, i'm not even sure if i ago. reason one is, i am really
ashamed to write that especially as some of you almost got killed while
reporting and stuff like that, but i am AFRAID to go! i am afraid to be
treated as a rich white tourist and being killed for my minidisc player
because a family can live of it for half a year or something. i am afraid of
being killed for being a rich white postcolonialist, or of getting sick of
some malaria or other lethal illnesses and just dying because i get sick
even if i do not sleep not long enough or eat or drink enough, if i get to
much sun or whatever. moreover i know not enough about senegal, just that
there is at least one armed conflict down in the south, and several in the
neighboring countries including liberia, guinea, mauretannia and so on.
so basically i need to know that we know locals there that could help and
lead us and that we go there as a collective with a sense of solidarity,
which very very sadly i until now never really experienced with the local
german collectives. my impression was the opposite, people are very
interested when someone was to be expelled from the collective, but just
mildly interested when some imcista was in jail or surrounded by armed
police with 5:1 relation and 40 degrees hellish heat and being burned by
teargas. so what i need to know is that there are people there with me that
if needed block the plane if someone is taken out or lost, that make a
global feature out of it one hour after one of the imc people ends up
missing in the desert or is taken into custody and that there will by a
group of anarchist superhereos flown in and they rescue us like in an action
movie. my impression until now with indymedia anarchists is as follows:
everybody has its own problems and doesn't care for the others whatsoever.

moreover, after being a refugee myself in early childhood, i'm still kind of
traumatized (i know it's hard to believe tough looking as i am) and almost
never travel. i never was outside of europe, indeed i don't even travel to
italy or spain. i'm especially uncomfortable with border guards and borders
as such, any uniformed personnel, dictatorial countries, armed people and so
on and so forth. so if i am not sure that when some former child soldiers
want to kill me so they don't have to starve the next morning somebody will
help me i will not go.
so don't laugh at me please and take this seriously because i really would
like to overcome this inner borders and come forth and help the people from
the african countries to establish their own independent media structures.

besides i think i just fell in love and i don't know what will be in several
weeks so i can't promise to go.

i don't speak enough french to talk to people so i would need someone i can
talk to in german, polish, english or spanish who can speak/translate french
so i am not completely lost there and just a stupid white tourist asking to
be robbed. then we could move there together at least two of us.

i am not willing to pay like 500 euros for a flight just to stay for two
weeks, so i would like to stay at least 4 or 6. therefore i could fly
earlier and maybe help organizing (but not organize by myself) there or stay
longer.


finally there are also good news from me, i am NOT, i repeat i am NOT afraid
of wild animals like venomous snakes, scorpions, biting spiders, tigers,
elephants or whatever. if i can have like 4 liters of clean water, something
to eat that is also edible for someone who is not accqainted with the local
bacteria and a place to sleep where i am safe i would really enjoy the
journey and be very helpful. if you feel that this would be too much of a
hassle just tell me right now so i don't bother anyone anmore then.

sorry for this long email.


p.s.: i also am afraid of dying of a broken heart. even seeing one beggar on
the public transportation here makes me so sick i want to smash capitalism
right there with my head. i am therefore not sure i can bear the sight of
many beggars, really poor ones unlike here, children begging me or
something. probably i would give away the equipment to the first kids i
would meet who beg me so they can eat something even before they kill me.



i now you aren't social workers or something, but i need at least a glimpse
of assurance or of solidarity to go there, otherwise i just stay here.




sincerely, GATSby, "meet" me at times at irc.indymedia.org





Quoting sphinx <sphinx at indymedia.org>:

> In responses to the call for the lists of IMC delegates for the
> Alternative(Indymedia) Conference built for Dakar Senegal from the 1st to
> the
> 14th March 2004 we got this, as our list this far for the Conference.  If
> you
> responded to the call for delegates and you are not in the list, please
> do
> indicate . Thanks.
> -South Africa opted to send 3 delegates 
> -Ambazonia opted to send 3 delegates
> -Kenya opted for 1 place though we are still waiting to hear from the
> other
> Kenyan group who filled their application in December 2003.
> -Angola opted to send 2 delegates
> -Congo opted to send 1 delegate.
> -Madiaq opted for 2 delegates. 
> 
> -UCIMC (IGAP) is sponsoring 1 volunteer(delegate) to the conference.
> -There is a volunteer from IMC-Holland coming to the conference.
> -There is a volunteer from IMC-Germany. 
> -IMC Italy showed interest we are still waiting to hear from them.
> -An activist from North America MAY come.
> -Four other activists from Switzerland. 
> -Sadly enough we've not received any reply from IMC-Nigeria which is one
> of
> Africa's official IMCs.
> -We've as well NOT heard from the forming IMC Morocco; of which
> IMC-Madiaq have
> been active in helping them in the forming process. 
> 
> 
> 
> As it stands we need funds to cover Transport fair ESPECIALLY for the
> African
> delegates to the conference and the 2 other delegates from IMC-Madiaq who
> cannot
>  afford the fair to Dakar. We also need material for the conference which
> 
> include  technical equipments and printed material; which since we sent
> out 
> calls, we have not recieved any serious feetback yet.
> 
> Again;  material needed to run the workshops :
> 
>    1. -A beamer
>    2. -Five computers (at least)
>    3. -Three video recording machines and a video editting machine. 100
> video
> cassettes.
>    4. -Three mini-disc recorder/audio recording machines. 200 pieces of
> mini-disc/tapes.
>    5. -Three printers.
>    6. -5 small radio transmitters.
>    7. - 10 video cassettes of films made by other indymedia video working
> groups
> to be used in screening .
> 
> Software needs
> 
>    1. -We need to ask indymedia-tech to load the computers for use in the
> tour
> with one of the many freesoftware Operating System.
>    2. -Need a portable version of an indymedia production system which
> allows
> articles and other content to be published and produced on the computer
> without
> internet connection.
>    3. -We need an easy to use audio editing program.
>    4. -We need an easy to use video editing program.
>    5. -We need an easy to use lay-out program.
> 
>     
> Waiting for your opinion on ways to slove these problems.
> Sphinx
>  -- 
>  but for fate we could have been one another
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> but for fate we could have been one another 
> 
>