[Imc-finance] more background on imc-africa conference

[Jay]

Hi,

Here is some more information on the planning that has gone into the 
imc-africa conference.

1) infrastructure in senegal
According to Sphinx, "....There are some people who have been with the tour 
group that started in October in Spain moving to Senegal. And they have 
equipment with them for use in workshops during the conference; like Spot 
from switzerland who is already in Morocco and should be in Senegal next 
week. There are the Swiss group(4 persons) who have already got their own 
tickets.... Moreso, one of them is Senegalese thus will be a great 
resources in networking in Senegal. There is Maurine who though British, 
lives in Switzerland and is a member of a network that works with lots of 
African universities and one is planing to use this like a link to present 
indymedia to the universities in Africa starting with UNI-Dakar; which will 
be a very important place to engage ppl that will probably drive the 
develpment of the network in the continent...."  So, it looks as if there 
is some decent infrastructure in place, at least decent enough to provide 
the possibility of there being a good conference if people can get there.

2) fundraising
The Indymedia Growth in Africa Project (managed through the IMC in Urbana) 
has donated $1500, I believe to support Sphinx's ticket to Senegal and, 
afterward, to Nigeria.  I don't know where the Swiss group got their funds 
but I assume they did their own fundraising to support their travels and 
equipment.  Also, the Philly IMC is hoping to raise $500 at an event this 
weekend.  I also sent around the fundraising e-mail to many local IMCs, 
asking them to help raise funds, for what that's worth.

3) other continent-wide African organizing:
Sascha, perhaps you can fill in the details, but the Indymedia Growth in 
Africa Project has received a grant from the Threshold Fund to support an 
organizer with knowledge of Indymedia who will spend a few months in Africa 
helping solidify current IMCs there.  I don't know if they've found anyone 
yet to fill that role, but that's another step toward building 
international unity within Africa.

I don't know if this information will be helpful, but it has helped me feel 
confident that imc organizing in Africa is moving forward, with the dakar 
conference as one of the steps.

Jay