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	<title>Big Wide World</title>
	
	<link>http://www.bigwideworld.org</link>
	<description>Environment, sustainability, development and travel</description>
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		<title>Browser choice is a start</title>
		<link>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/03/02/browser-choice-is-a-start/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/03/02/browser-choice-is-a-start/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:25:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nathan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[browsers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[internet]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigwideworld.org/?p=490</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Microsoft is to ask millions of users across Europe if they want to use a web browser other than its own.
Windows users will be offered the choice as part of a deal Microsoft struck with the European Commission.
The agreement resolves a long-running case in which the software giant was accused of abusing its market position.
A [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote><p>Microsoft is to ask millions of users across Europe if they want to use a web browser other than its own.</p>
<p>Windows users will be offered the choice as part of a deal Microsoft struck with the European Commission.</p>
<p>The agreement resolves a long-running case in which the software giant was accused of abusing its market position.</p>
<p>A pop-up window will prompt people to choose and install one of 12 different browsers or let them stick with Microsoft&#8217;s Internet Explorer.</p>
<p>via <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8537763.stm">BBC News &#8211; Microsoft offers browser choices to Europeans</a>.</p></blockquote>
<p>This is Microsoft&#8217;s latest concession to the EU to avoid further antitrust action in a case going back to the early 1990s, and is set to improve choice further for computer users across Europe.</p>
<p>For many, the choice will be confusing, but they&#8217;ll have it anyway &#8211; most alternatives to Internet Explorer are faster, more secure, and offer better features, but I suspect that to a lot of people it doesn&#8217;t matter in the slightest what web browser they use &#8211; their computers and their Internet connections are fast enough and idiot-proofed enough to deliver information without any major snags, and web developers have no choice but to continue sweating over hot keyboards tweaking their designs to work in Microsoft&#8217;s recalcitrant browser. To a lay user, a link to a browser isn&#8217;t a link to a browser &#8211; it&#8217;s a link to the Internet.</p>
<p>So it strikes me as a little ironic that in Europe, users are being practically force-fed even more choice between products that are, strictly speaking, much of a muchness &#8211; when in developing countries, that choice between different browsers is just one thing that could make a significant improvement to people&#8217;s access to information.</p>
<p>When I was project managing a youth development project in Cambodia in 2008, I took a class of about ten 16 year-olds to an Internet cafe in Siem Reap. The eight or so computers were all sharing a 128kbps connection. In Plain English, 128kbps is the speed of a web connection in the UK about ten years ago. It took us minutes to get pages on Yahoo.com to load, and when they did, endless graphics, prompts and other interruptions continued to slow everything down. In most cases, this was the first time that any of these teenagers had seen the Internet. They didn&#8217;t see a lot at all, and what they did see was slow, slow, slow. Way to get kids in developing countries enthused about the web.</p>
<p>As if web connection speeds in Cambodia and many other developing countries aren&#8217;t slow enough (particularly when downloading websites stuffed with graphics, scripts and animations), most computers are crippled by poor security and unreliable software. Pirated software accounts for over 80% of all software installations in many poorer countries &#8211; it&#8217;s practically impossible to buy legitimate software in Cambodia even if you want to, and difficult to keep it up to date. The average anti-virus program on a Cambodian PC hasn&#8217;t been updated since it was installed and lies on the computer like an old guard dog who can&#8217;t even be bothered to bark at passers-by any more.</p>
<p>So faster, more secure browsers and more secure software would go some way to improving access to information, and the general experience of the web, for people in developing countries &#8211; but no-one is promoting that choice in these places. Open source operating systems like <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu</a> that are straightforward, secure, faster and free could improve many people&#8217;s experience of computer use &#8211; but the average computer shop installs another knocked-off copy of Windows instead. Finally, site owners and developers need only to remember that people with Internet speeds from ten years ago still want to read their sites.</p>
<p><em>Update: <a href="http://theletter.co.uk/index/5599/link_dump/full">theletter.co.uk</a> links to a blog post on <a href="http://dangrover.com/?action=view&amp;url=toward-a-grand-unified-theory-of-n00bs">the difference between developers and &#8216;normal&#8217; web users</a>.</em></p>


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		<item>
		<title>Infographics go wild!</title>
		<link>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/28/infographics-go-wild/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/28/infographics-go-wild/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:15:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nathan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Diary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[infographics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigwideworld.org/?p=475</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Infographics &#8211; also known as &#8216;ooh, pretty, ah now I understand&#8217; pictures. Easily digestible explanations of all sorts of things.
Information is beautiful continues to produce excellent infographics such as this one on the scientific evidence for popular health supplements, but infographics are starting to get a bit silly.
This infographic on America&#8217;s wealthiest religions appears to [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/play/snake-oil-supplements/"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-477" title="Snake oil supplements" src="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/4389773258_1327335cc0_b-147x250.jpg" alt="Snake oil supplements" width="147" height="250" /></a>Infographics &#8211; also known as &#8216;ooh, pretty, ah now I understand&#8217; pictures. Easily digestible explanations of all sorts of things.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/">Information is beautiful</a> continues to produce excellent infographics such as <a href="http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/play/snake-oil-supplements/">this one on the scientific evidence for popular health supplements</a>, but infographics are starting to get a bit silly.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.good.is/post/transparency-america-s-wealthiest-religions/">This infographic on America&#8217;s wealthiest religions</a> appears to suggest that the Jews and the Hindus have all the money &#8211; and by breaking the Christians up into various denominations hides the fact that they&#8217;re dripping with cash.</p>
<p>The same site, Good.is, also features <a href="http://www.good.is/post/fifteen-things-you-should-know-about-breasts/">fifteen things you should know about breasts</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://staubman.com/blog/?p=67">This infographic illustrates how a giant shark could eat a plane</a> (via <a href="http://flowingdata.com/">Flowing Data</a>)</p>
<p>Smashing Magazine links to a raft of <a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/09/11/25-useful-data-visualization-and-infographics-resources/">data visualisation and infographics sites</a>.</p>


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		<title>After the tsunami</title>
		<link>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/28/after-the-tsunami/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/28/after-the-tsunami/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:50:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nathan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Tourism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[india]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tsunami]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigwideworld.org/?p=462</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Guardian.co.uk posted a gallery last week illustrating issues with redevelopment of the areas of Tamil Nadu and Kerala after the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, pictures taken from a new exhibition by Tourism Concern at the Guardian Gallery until 31 March 2010.
I visited a couple of villages that had been most severely affected by the [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Guardian.co.uk posted a gallery last week illustrating <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/gallery/2010/feb/19/india-tourism-concern">issues with redevelopment of the areas of Tamil Nadu and Kerala </a>after the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, pictures taken from a <a href="http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/index.php?page=destination-tsunami">new exhibition by Tourism Concern</a> at the Guardian Gallery until 31 March 2010.</p>
<p>I visited a couple of villages that had been most severely affected by the tsunami in Tamil Nadu six weeks after the tsunami had hit with <a href="http://www.salt-of-the-earth.org.uk/">SCAD</a>, an NGO involved in emergency relief. Click the thumbnails below to view.</p>

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								<img title="Fishing village" alt="Fishing village" src="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/gallery/tamilnadu/thumbs/thumbs_tsunami_damage7160048655909813320.jpg" width="100" height="75" />
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		<title>This week’s reading</title>
		<link>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/26/this-weeks-reading/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/26/this-weeks-reading/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:42:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nathan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Diary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Links]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigwideworld.org/?p=456</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This article in Red Pepper Magazine discusses the possibility of a state-managed green investment bank, or at least greater public involvement in state recapitalised banks, after it has emerged that RBS has loaned over $2.7bn to companies involved with oil extraction from Canada&#8217;s tar sands.
Here&#8217;s a fantastic infographic describing brain development, done in the style [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.redpepper.org.uk/Royal-Bank-of-Sustainability"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-458" title="Tar sands" src="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/tar_sands_ft_mcmurray_345-250x196.jpg" alt="Tar sands" width="250" height="196" />This article in Red Pepper Magazine</a> discusses the possibility of a state-managed green investment bank, or at least greater public involvement in state recapitalised banks, after it has emerged that RBS has loaned over $2.7bn to companies involved with oil extraction from <a id="aptureLink_MS6PpETpjl" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/02/rbs-environmental-regulations">Canada&#8217;s tar sands</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2010/02/phd_comics_brain_development_infographic.php">Here&#8217;s a fantastic infographic describing brain development</a>, done in the style of a comic.</p>
<p>I commented on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/panorama/raphaelrowe/2010/02/the_making_of_dying_for_a_bisc.html">BBC Panorama&#8217;s blog about palm oil and orangutans</a> after Panorama raised awareness to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00r4t3s/Panorama_Dying_For_a_Biscuit/">logging and habitat desruction in Indonesia</a> &#8211; though interest in the post quickly died off just as it looked like it was being hijacked by palm-oil lobbyists. Note to self &#8211; it&#8217;s just not worth commenting on BBC blogs. Related: mongabay.com reports that <a href="http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0222-palmoil.html">REDD funding for rainforest preservation</a> is likely to have a hard time competing with palm oil revenues, and the EU appears to be falling for the idea that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/feb/18/palm-oil-biofuels-eu-plan">destroying rainforests makes good environmental sense</a>.</p>
<p>Oxfam&#8217;s Head of Research Duncan Green kindly provides subtitles for non-economists to explain the <a href="http://www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/?p=1948">recent major rethink at the IMF</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>Translation: we thought we knew it all. We don’t. Back to the drawing board.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2010/02/18/aclu-sues-usaid-are-we-exporting-us-taxpayer-funded-religion">The ACLU is suing USAID</a> over the alleged unconstitutional use of aid money for religion-based HIV prevention programs, and it turns out that all of the &#8216;orphans&#8217; that were to be taken by a US baptist group <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/all-haitian-orphans-with-baptists-had-parents-18252100">actually had parents</a>. Not such a shock.</p>
<p>Finally, <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123534818&amp;ft=1&amp;f=1025">a story about falling in love and making the ultimate mixtape</a>.</p>


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		<title>International development reading</title>
		<link>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/18/development-reading/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/18/development-reading/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:42:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nathan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Links]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[websites]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigwideworld.org/?p=447</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve been gathering links to blogs and websites covering international development and aid &#8211; the list is growing all the time but here so far is a selection of regularly updated sites with interesting content:


Related posts:Good following "What is Twitter?" I was asked the other day in...
This week&#8217;s reading This article in Red Pepper Magazine [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/14/good-following/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Good following'>Good following</a> <small>"What is Twitter?" I was asked the other day in...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/26/this-weeks-reading/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: This week&#8217;s reading'>This week&#8217;s reading</a> <small>This article in Red Pepper Magazine discusses the possibility of...</small></li>
</ol>

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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/27916725_a34df7e873_o.jpg" rel="lightbox[447]"><img class="alignright size-medium  wp-image-450" title="Reading" src="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/27916725_a34df7e873_o-250x166.jpg" alt="Reading" width="250" height="166" /></a>I&#8217;ve been gathering links to blogs and websites covering international development and aid &#8211; the list is growing all the time but here so far is a selection of regularly updated sites with interesting content:</p>

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			<h3 class="linkcattitle">Development</h3>
			<div id="catid7">
			<ul class="xoxo blogroll">
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://aidwatchers.com/" title="Blog project of New York University&#8217;s Development Research Institute">Aid Watch</a></strong><br />Blog project of New York University&#8217;s Development Research Institute</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://bloodandmilk.org/">Blood and Milk</a></strong></li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://chrisblattman.com/" title="Research, international development, foreign policy, and violent conflict">Chris Blattman</a></strong><br />Research, international development, foreign policy, and violent conflict</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://www.dfid.gov.uk/">DFID &#8211; UK Department for International Development</a></strong></li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://blogs.dfid.gov.uk/" title="Various development and humanitarian workers all contribute to this site">DFID Bloggers</a></strong><br />Various development and humanitarian workers all contribute to this site</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://focusweb.org/" title="Research, advocacy and campaigning NGO">Focus on the Global South</a></strong><br />Research, advocacy and campaigning NGO</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://www.foreignpolicy.com/">Foreign Policy</a></strong></li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/">From Poverty to Power by Duncan Green</a></strong></li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://blogs.cgdev.org/globaldevelopment/">Global Development: Views from the Center</a></strong></li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/">Guardian Weekly</a></strong></li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/international-aid-and-development">Guardian.co.uk international aid and development</a></strong></li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://hiyamaya.wordpress.com/">Hiya Maya</a></strong></li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://www.newint.org/">New Internationalist</a></strong></li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://uk.oneworld.net/" title="Coverage of human rights and sustainable development">OneWorld UK</a></strong><br />Coverage of human rights and sustainable development</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://www.twnside.org.sg/" title="International network of organisations connected to development, third world and north-south affairs">Third World Network (TWN)</a></strong><br />International network of organisations connected to development, third world and north-south affairs</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://undispatch.com/">UN Dispatch</a></strong></li>

			</ul>
			</div>
		</div>


		<!-- end[WP Render Blogroll Links 2.0.0] -->


<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/14/good-following/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Good following'>Good following</a> <small>"What is Twitter?" I was asked the other day in...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/26/this-weeks-reading/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: This week&#8217;s reading'>This week&#8217;s reading</a> <small>This article in Red Pepper Magazine discusses the possibility of...</small></li>
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		<title>Lessons from a rainy kingdom</title>
		<link>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/15/lessons-from-a-rainy-kingdom/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/15/lessons-from-a-rainy-kingdom/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:02:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nathan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cambodia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flooding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigwideworld.org/?p=427</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Each year in South East Asia, the months from June through October see monsoon rains, consisting of torrential daily rainfall. This is a predicable annual event in Cambodia, where 75% of the country lies no more than 100m above sea level, and sophisticated irrigation systems and reservoirs were built a thousand years ago. As increasing [...]


Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://www.bigwideworld.org/2009/10/16/optimist-or-pessimist/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Are you optimistic about the future?'>Are you optimistic about the future?</a> <small>I've just finished an Environment course with the Open University,...</small></li>
<li><a href='http://www.bigwideworld.org/2009/11/13/nasca/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Nasca and us'>The Nasca and us</a> <small>Ancient civilisations usually don't get wiped out by just one...</small></li>
</ol>

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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Each year in South East Asia, the months from June through October see monsoon rains, consisting of torrential daily rainfall. This is a predicable annual event in Cambodia, where 75% of the country lies no more than 100m above sea level, and sophisticated irrigation systems and reservoirs were built a thousand years ago. As increasing population, tourism and industrialisation hamper Cambodia’s ability to manage flooding, what can we in the UK still learn from Cambodia about flood management?</strong></p>
<div id="attachment_435" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 260px"><a href="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/IMG_06011.jpg" rel="lightbox[427]"><img class="size-medium wp-image-435" title="West Baray" src="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/IMG_06011-250x187.jpg" alt="West Baray" width="250" height="187" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The West Baray</p></div>
<p>In the 11<sup>th</sup> century under the rule of King Suryavarman I, construction began on the Western Baray, a reservoir 8km long by 2km wide which initially served a ceremonial function as a depiction of the Hindu Sea of Creation, has also served as a reservoir for irrigation, and is still to be found today outside the town of Siem Reap. At the weekends, locals flock to the ‘Baray’ to drink beer, eat barbecued fish, and swim.</p>
<p>Siem Reap itself sits towards the top of the Tonle Sap, the largest lake in Southeast Asia. During the monsoon, the Tonle Sap increases 540% in size from 2,500km<sup>2</sup> to 16,000km<sup>2</sup> as water from the Mekong River reverses direction and fills the lake. November’s annual water festival Bon Om Teuk is a national event, when Khmers celebrate the bounty of the lake, and hold boat races and parties.</p>
<div id="attachment_436" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 260px"><a href="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/010-opt.jpg" rel="lightbox[427]"><img class="size-medium wp-image-436" title="Kompong Phluk" src="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/010-opt-250x185.jpg" alt="Kompong Phluk" width="250" height="185" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Kompong Phluk</p></div>
<p>The area surrounding the Tonle Sap is home to over 1 million people, who depend upon it for fishing and irrigation. The communities living around the lake consist of floating villages like Chong Kneas, where everything from the houses to the schools, churches and pig farms are on floating platforms, to villages like Kompong Phluk that teeter on twenty-foot stilts. Around 80% of the population are agricultural workers, and rice paddies cover vast swathes of the country.</p>
<p>Cambodia appears, then, to be a country very much at home around water, and which not only expects, but <a href="http://www.mrcmekong.org/flood_report/2005/impact_cambodia1.htm">depends on the flooding</a> brought by the annual monsoon for biodiversity and soil fertility – even the Cambodian currency, the riel, is named after a fish found in the Tonle Sap lake.</p>
<p>The UK Government’s Foresight report estimates that 80,000 properties are at very high risk from surface water flooding, <a href="http://www.defra.gov.uk/environ/fcd/policy/surfacewaterdrainage.htm">causing on average £270 million of damage each year</a>, as annual precipitation is set to become increasingly variable &#8211; increasingly monsoon-like. An analysis of average rainfall data for Cambodia and the United Kingdom shows the difference in variability of rainfall, and hints at how UK rainfall patterns may alter in future:</p>
<div id="attachment_428" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 532px"><a href="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/rainfalluk-cambodia.gif" rel="lightbox[427]"><img class="size-full wp-image-428 " title="Average rainfall for the UK and Cambodia" src="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/rainfalluk-cambodia.gif" alt="Graph showing average rainfall for the UK and Cambodia" width="522" height="341" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Data: World Weather Information Service, World Meteorological Association</p></div>
<div id="attachment_437" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 260px"><a href="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/IMG_5533.jpg" rel="lightbox[427]"><img class="size-medium wp-image-437" title="Flooded fields near Kep" src="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/IMG_5533-250x187.jpg" alt="Flooded fields near Kep" width="250" height="187" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Flooded fields near Kep</p></div>
<p>While <a href="http://esa.un.org/unpp/">Cambodia has a population density of 77/km<sup>2</sup> compared to 248/km<sup>2</sup> in the UK</a> and a predominantly rural population, we may nevertheless attempt to examine how Cambodia manages flooding, to see if there is anything we in the UK can learn about how to live in a climate with more variable rainfall and higher flood risk:</p>
<ul>
<li>Habitation in vulnerable areas is built to deal with flooding. Most traditional Cambodian houses are on stilts, or have bases which are resilient to flood waters. The design of new housing in flood-prone areas in the UK can be informed by the architecture of housing in areas where flooding is common – and a <a href="http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/home/riba-flood-design-competition/1788436.article">UK flood design competition</a> supported by insurance company Norwich Union encouraged just this in 2008. In Holland, <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,377050,00.html">amphibious houses</a> are already being built.</li>
<li>Most roads and tracks have ditches varying in size from small channels to canals, which absorb rainwater and run-off, channelling it away to fields or storing it. Canals and ditches are a common sight in Cambodia. In the UK, drainage and sewerage systems that often age to Victorian times are struggling with the amount of water flowing into them, from surface run-off to household usage – upgrading these systems, already in progress in many places, may go some way to reducing flood risk.</li>
<li>Relatively sparsely populated Cambodia, with an abundance of rice paddies and other agricultural land, can hold large quantities of water. Respondents to a recent survey on flood risk agreed that farmland would be the best use of river valley floodplains, above housing. Floodplains, managed properly, act as an effective buffer in times of peak rainfall.</li>
<li>Finally, Cambodia is a country still rich in vegetation and tree cover, which absorbs rainwater into the ground before it can reach rivers, exacerbating flood risk. In the UK, re-establishing hedgerows is one way that agricultural land is being restored to provide effective means of reducing surface run-off, and the further use of trees and vegetation to lessen flood risk can only improve the situation.</li>
</ul>
<p>If proof were needed of how Cambodia is able to teach us in the UK lessons on managing flood risk, we only need to look back to Cambodia to see how urbanisation, industrialisation and development are now creating problems.</p>
<p>With Cambodia now firmly on the tourist trail in Southeast Asia after years of conflict, Siem Reap now receives over 2 million tourists every year, who come to see the temples of Angkor. Scores of new hotels have been built in the last five years alone. Every year, the main streets of Siem Reap from Highway 6 to Sivatha Boulevard flood, sewage floating in the streets, because more paved roads and significantly greater water usage have put an immense strain on the infrastructure of the town &#8211; so much so that <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/heritage-site-in-peril-angkor-wat-is-falling-down-795747.html">the water table has lowered around Siem Reap and Angkor Wat faces collapse</a>. Floods in the countryside have resulted in fatalities and damaged property, partly as a consequence of damming further up the Mekong River in Laos, and partly due to extensive deforestation. Further fatalities resulted from the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8281950.stm">flooding caused by Typhoon Ketsana</a> in September 2009.</p>
<div id="attachment_440" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 260px"><a href="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/IMG_6872.jpg" rel="lightbox[427]"><img class="size-medium wp-image-440" title="Angkor Wat" src="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/IMG_6872-250x166.jpg" alt="Angkor Wat" width="250" height="166" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Angkor Wat</p></div>
<p>Cambodia, a country that for many hundreds of years has lived with an abundance of water, is increasingly seeing water as an enemy, its problems being worsened by the development that the country craves, and which, without proper planning, is leading Cambodia down the same path as us.</p>
<p>The greatest irony is that, as <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/104/36/14277.full">architectural discoveries suggest</a>, Cambodia has already been down this path. The great Angkorian civilisation had collapsed altogether by the fifteenth century, partly as a result of overpopulation, unsustainable water resource management, and climate change. History could be doomed to repeat itself &#8211; for us as well as Cambodia.</p>


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<li><a href='http://www.bigwideworld.org/2009/11/13/nasca/' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Nasca and us'>The Nasca and us</a> <small>Ancient civilisations usually don't get wiped out by just one...</small></li>
</ol></p>
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		<title>Good following</title>
		<link>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/14/good-following/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/14/good-following/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:03:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nathan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Links]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[networking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[twitter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigwideworld.org/?p=23</guid>
		<description><![CDATA["What is Twitter?" I was asked the other day in work, with the emphasis on the is, said in the rather exasperated tone of someone who has been hearing all about this Twitter thing on the BBC and, quite reasonably, just doesn't get what all the fuss is about when they've only just buckled under the pestering of their mates and joined Facebook.


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-85" title="Twitter" src="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/twitter_logo1.gif" alt="Twitter" width="250" height="104" /></p>
<p>If you&#8217;re interested in any of the themes covered by this site, Twitter is an essential tool for research and sharing information.</p>
<p>Some fascinating people &#8216;do&#8217; Twitter; thought leaders and professionals in development and sustainability, scientists and technologists, bloggers and brainboxes. Practically every charity, campaigning organisation and NGO worth its salt now has, or is developing, a presence on Twitter. You might find something through Twitter that you couldn&#8217;t find anywhere else, be it an idea, a link, a conversation or a comment. All of these things are also succinctly put &#8211; it has to fit into 140 characters of text or less.</p>
<h2>Twitterers to follow</h2>
<p>Following is what you do on Twitter when you&#8217;re interested in what someone has to say, and requires no phone calls, payments of money or exchanges of bodily fluid. If you start asking for or offering any of these things, don&#8217;t be surprised if they don&#8217;t follow you back.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re new to Twitter, <a href="http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/">Mashable offers the best and most comprehensive guidebook on the service</a>.</p>
<p>The links below are to some great Twitter feeds I follow &#8211; with links to interesting content, website updates and discussion.</p>

		<!-- start[WP Render Blogroll Links 2.0.0] -->

		<div class="linkcat">
			<h3 class="linkcattitle">Campaigning on Twitter</h3>
			<div id="catid61">
			<ul class="xoxo blogroll">
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/actionaiduk" title="Campaigning on poverty and aid issues">ActionAidUK</a></strong><br />Campaigning on poverty and aid issues</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/FaunaFloraInt" title="Leading UK-based conservation organisation">Fauna &amp; Flora International</a></strong><br />Leading UK-based conservation organisation</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/greenpeaceuk">Greenpeace UK</a></strong></li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/orangutans" title="Founder of the Orangutan Land Trust, interested in orangutan conservation, REDD and carbon issues">Michelle Desilets</a></strong><br />Founder of the Orangutan Land Trust, interested in orangutan conservation, REDD and carbon issues</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/OxfamGB">Oxfam GB</a></strong></li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/Natures_Voice" title="The RSPB, campaigning on a wide range of issues">RSPB (Natures_Voice)</a></strong><br />The RSPB, campaigning on a wide range of issues</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/sandbagorguk" title="Buying and retiring carbon credits from polluting companies to tackle climate change, lobbying government on emissions limits">Sandbag UK</a></strong><br />Buying and retiring carbon credits from polluting companies to tackle climate change, lobbying government on emissions limits</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/wdmuk" title="The World Development Movement campaigns on climate change, social justice and development issues">World Development Movement</a></strong><br />The World Development Movement campaigns on climate change, social justice and development issues</li>

			</ul>
			</div>
		</div>

		<div class="linkcat">
			<h3 class="linkcattitle">Development and aid on Twitter</h3>
			<div id="catid60">
			<ul class="xoxo blogroll">
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/alanna_shaikh" title="Editor of Global Health at change.org, health professional and development skeptic">Alanna Shaikh</a></strong><br />Editor of Global Health at change.org, health professional and development skeptic</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/decappeal" title="The Disasters Emergency Committee">DEC</a></strong><br />The Disasters Emergency Committee</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/DFID_Uk">Department for International Development, UK</a></strong></li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/ithorpe" title="International development worker and knowledge manager">Ian Thorpe</a></strong><br />International development worker and knowledge manager</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/Kiva" title="Feed and links from Kiva">Kiva.org</a></strong><br />Feed and links from Kiva</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/MerlinUK" title="International aid agency specialising in health">Merlin UK</a></strong><br />International aid agency specialising in health</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/undispatch" title="Blog posts and general tweets from UN Dispatch">UN Dispatch</a></strong><br />Blog posts and general tweets from UN Dispatch</li>

			</ul>
			</div>
		</div>

		<div class="linkcat">
			<h3 class="linkcattitle">Environment on Twitter</h3>
			<div id="catid64">
			<ul class="xoxo blogroll">
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/DECCgovuk" title="The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change">DECC.gov.uk</a></strong><br />The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change</li>

			</ul>
			</div>
		</div>

		<div class="linkcat">
			<h3 class="linkcattitle">Great websites and news on Twitter</h3>
			<div id="catid66">
			<ul class="xoxo blogroll">
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/guardianweekly" title="A superb weekly publication focussing on international and development issues">Guardian Weekly</a></strong><br />A superb weekly publication focussing on international and development issues</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/inhabitat" title="An excellent website covering sustainable architecture and design">Inhabitat</a></strong><br />An excellent website covering sustainable architecture and design</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/mongabay" title="Superb news blog specialising in biodiversity, forestry and REDD issues">Mongabay</a></strong><br />Superb news blog specialising in biodiversity, forestry and REDD issues</li>

			</ul>
			</div>
		</div>

		<div class="linkcat">
			<h3 class="linkcattitle">Jobs on Twitter</h3>
			<div id="catid63">
			<ul class="xoxo blogroll">
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/charityjob">Charity Job</a></strong></li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/UNjobs_Climate" title="An experimental stream offering climate change related jobs">UN climate jobs</a></strong><br />An experimental stream offering climate change related jobs</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/UNJobs">UN Jobs</a></strong></li>

			</ul>
			</div>
		</div>

		<div class="linkcat">
			<h3 class="linkcattitle">Travel and responsible tourism on Twitter</h3>
			<div id="catid62">
			<ul class="xoxo blogroll">
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/danielapapi" title="Managing a non-profit and adventure / education tour company in Cambodia">Daniela Papi</a></strong><br />Managing a non-profit and adventure / education tour company in Cambodia</li>
				<li class="brlink"><strong><a href="http://twitter.com/whlcambodia" title="Promoting responsible tourism in Cambodia">WHL Cambodia</a></strong><br />Promoting responsible tourism in Cambodia</li>

			</ul>
			</div>
		</div>


		<!-- end[WP Render Blogroll Links 2.0.0] -->
<p>List updated 15 Feb 2010, more soon.</p>


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		<title>To hell with good intentions</title>
		<link>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/10/to-hell-with-good-intentions/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/10/to-hell-with-good-intentions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:54:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nathan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[volunteering]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigwideworld.org/?p=401</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For most of my life, all I knew of Ivan Illich was that he was the was the author of Tools for Conviviality, particularly this excerpt, which was ironically his restating of a comment by Swedish economist Staffan Linder:
&#8230;there is a strong tendency for us to over-commit the future, so that when the future becomes [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-402" title="Ivan Illich" src="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/illich-208x300.jpg" alt="Ivan Illich" width="208" height="300" />For most of my life, all I knew of Ivan Illich was that he was the was the author of <a href="http://clevercycles.com/tools_for_conviviality/">Tools for Conviviality</a>, particularly this excerpt, which was ironically his restating of a comment by Swedish economist Staffan Linder:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8230;there is a strong tendency for us to over-commit the future, so that when the future becomes present, we seem to be conscious all the time of having an acute scarcity, simply because we have committed ourselves to about thirty hours a day instead of twenty-four.</p></blockquote>
<p>A while ago however, a friend pointed me to <a href="http://www.swaraj.org/illich_hell.htm">this speech</a> given by Illich, a philosopher and Roman Catholic priest, to the Conference on InterAmerican Student Projects (CIASP) in Cuernavaca, Mexico, on April 20 1968. While the speech was given in 1968 to American students in Mexico, many of the sentiments expressed  are still relevant. The tone of the speech is biting and confrontational, but should be seen as required reading for anyone considering overseas development work or volunteering abroad, and an interesting read when looking at themes in International Studies such as poverty, dependence, collective action, sovereignty and politics.</p>
<p><em>The piece below is available in several places on the web, but I have included it here as well for ease of reading.</em></p>
<p>IN THE CONVERSATIONS WHICH I HAVE HAD TODAY, I was impressed by two things, and I want to state them before I launch into my prepared talk.</p>
<p>I was impressed by your insight that the motivation of U.S. volunteers overseas springs mostly from very alienated feelings and concepts. I was equally impressed, by what I interpret as a step forward among would-be volunteers like you: openness to the idea that the only thing you can legitimately volunteer for in Latin America might be voluntary powerlessness, voluntary presence as receivers, as such, as hopefully beloved or adopted ones without any way of returning the gift.</p>
<p>I was equally impressed by the hypocrisy of most of you: by the hypocrisy of the atmosphere prevailing here. I say this as a brother speaking to brothers and sisters. I say it against many resistances within me; but it must be said. Your very insight, your very openness to evaluations of past programs make you hypocrites because you &#8211; or at least most of you &#8211; have decided to spend this next summer in Mexico, and therefore, you are unwilling to go far enough in your reappraisal of your program. You close your eyes because you want to go ahead and could not do so if you looked at some facts.</p>
<p>It is quite possible that this hypocrisy is unconscious in most of you. Intellectually, you are ready to see that the motivations which could legitimate volunteer action overseas in 1963 cannot be invoked for the same action in 1968. &#8220;Mission-vacations&#8221; among poor Mexicans were &#8220;the thing&#8221; to do for well-off U.S. students earlier in this decade: sentimental concern for newly-discovered. poverty south of the border combined with total blindness to much worse poverty at home justified such benevolent excursions. Intellectual insight into the difficulties of fruitful volunteer action had not sobered the spirit of Peace Corps Papal-and-Self-Styled Volunteers.</p>
<p>Today, the existence of organizations like yours is offensive to Mexico. I wanted to make this statement in order to explain why I feel sick about it all and in order to make you aware that good intentions have not much to do with what we are discussing here. To hell with good intentions. This is a theological statement. You will not help anybody by your good intentions. There is an Irish saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions; this sums up the same theological insight.</p>
<p>The very frustration which participation in CIASP programs might mean for you, could lead you to new awareness: the awareness that even North Americans can receive the gift of hospitality without the slightest ability to pay for it; the awareness that for some gifts one cannot even say &#8220;thank you.&#8221;</p>
<p>Now to my prepared statement.</p>
<p>Ladies and Gentlemen:</p>
<p>For the past six years I have become known for my increasing opposition to the presence of any and all North American &#8220;dogooders&#8221; in Latin America. I am sure you know of my present efforts to obtain the voluntary withdrawal of all North American volunteer armies from Latin America &#8211; missionaries, Peace Corps members and groups like yours, a &#8220;division&#8221; organized for the benevolent invasion of Mexico. You were aware of these things when you invited me &#8211; of all people &#8211; to be the main speaker at your annual convention. This is amazing! I can only conclude that your invitation means one of at least three things:</p>
<p>Some among you might have reached the conclusion that CIASP should either dissolve altogether, or take the promotion of voluntary aid to the Mexican poor out of its institutional purpose. Therefore you might have invited me here to help others reach this same decision.</p>
<p>You might also have invited me because you want to learn how to deal with people who think the way I do &#8211; how to dispute them successfully. It has now become quite common to invite Black Power spokesmen to address Lions Clubs. A &#8220;dove&#8221; must always be included in a public dispute organized to increase U.S. belligerence.</p>
<p>And finally, you might have invited me here hoping that you would be able to agree with most of what I say, and then go ahead in good faith and work this summer in Mexican villages. This last possibility is only open to those who do not listen, or who cannot understand me.</p>
<p>I did not come here to argue. I am here to tell you, if possible to convince you, and hopefully, to stop you, from pretentiously imposing yourselves on Mexicans.</p>
<p>I do have deep faith in the enormous good will of the U.S. volunteer. However, his good faith can usually be explained only by an abysmal lack of intuitive delicacy. By definition, you cannot help being ultimately vacationing salesmen for the middle-class &#8220;American Way of Life,&#8221; since that is really the only life you know. A group like this could not have developed unless a mood in the United States had supported it &#8211; the belief that any true American must share God&#8217;s blessings with his poorer fellow men. The idea that every American has something to give, and at all times may, can and should give it, explains why it occurred to students that they could help Mexican peasants &#8220;develop&#8221; by spending a few months in their villages.</p>
<p>Of course, this surprising conviction was supported by members of a missionary order, who would have no reason to exist unless they had the same conviction &#8211; except a much stronger one. It is now high time to cure yourselves of this. You, like the values you carry, are the products of an American society of achievers and consumers, with its two-party system, its universal schooling, and its family-car affluence. You are ultimately-consciously or unconsciously &#8211; &#8220;salesmen&#8221; for a delusive ballet in the ideas of democracy, equal opportunity and free enterprise among people who haven&#8217;t the possibility of profiting from these.</p>
<p>Next to money and guns, the third largest North American export is the U.S. idealist, who turns up in every theater of the world: the teacher, the volunteer, the missionary, the community organizer, the economic developer, and the vacationing do-gooders. Ideally, these people define their role as service. Actually, they frequently wind up alleviating the damage done by money and weapons, or &#8220;seducing&#8221; the &#8220;underdeveloped&#8221; to the benefits of the world of affluence and achievement. Perhaps this is the moment to instead bring home to the people of the U.S. the knowledge that the way of life they have chosen simply is not alive enough to be shared.</p>
<p>By now it should be evident to all America that the U.S. is engaged in a tremendous struggle to survive. The U.S. cannot survive if the rest of the world is not convinced that here we have Heaven-on-Earth. The survival of the U.S. depends on the acceptance by all so-called &#8220;free&#8221; men that the U.S. middle class has &#8220;made it.&#8221; The U.S. way of life has become a religion which must be accepted by all those who do not want to die by the sword &#8211; or napalm. All over the globe the U.S. is fighting to protect and develop at least a minority who consume what the U.S. majority can afford. Such is the purpose of the Alliance for Progress of the middle-classes which the U.S. signed with Latin America some years ago. But increasingly this commercial alliance must be protected by weapons which allow the minority who can &#8220;make it&#8221; to protect their acquisitions and achievements.</p>
<p>But weapons are not enough to permit minority rule. The marginal masses become rambunctious unless they are given a &#8220;Creed,&#8221; or belief which explains the status quo. This task is given to the U.S. volunteer &#8211; whether he be a member of CLASP or a worker in the so-called &#8220;Pacification Programs&#8221; in Viet Nam.</p>
<p>The United States is currently engaged in a three-front struggle to affirm its ideals of acquisitive and achievement-oriented &#8220;Democracy.&#8221; I say &#8220;three&#8221; fronts, because three great areas of the world are challenging the validity of a political and social system which makes the rich ever richer, and the poor increasingly marginal to that system.</p>
<p>In Asia, the U.S. is threatened by an established power -China. The U.S. opposes China with three weapons: the tiny Asian elites who could not have it any better than in an alliance with the United States; a huge war machine to stop the Chinese from &#8220;taking over&#8221; as it is usually put in this country, and; forcible re-education of the so-called &#8220;Pacified&#8221; peoples. All three of these efforts seem to be failing.</p>
<p>In Chicago, poverty funds, the police force and preachers seem to be no more successful in their efforts to check the unwillingness of the black community to wait for graceful integration into the system.</p>
<p>And finally, in Latin America the Alliance for Progress has been quite successful in increasing the number of people who could not be better off &#8211; meaning the tiny, middle-class elites &#8211; and has created ideal conditions for military dictatorships. The dictators were formerly at the service of the plantation owners, but now they protect the new industrial complexes. And finally, you come to help the underdog accept his destiny within this process!</p>
<p>All you will do in a Mexican village is create disorder. At best, you can try to convince Mexican girls that they should marry a young man who is self-made, rich, a consumer, and as disrespectful of tradition as one of you. At worst, in your &#8220;community development&#8221; spirit you might create just enough problems to get someone shot after your vacation ends_ and you rush back to your middleclass neighborhoods where your friends make jokes about &#8220;spits&#8221; and &#8220;wetbacks.&#8221;</p>
<p>You start on your task without any training. Even the Peace Corps spends around $10,000 on each corps member to help him adapt to his new environment and to guard him against culture shock. How odd that nobody ever thought about spending money to educate poor Mexicans in order to prevent them from the culture shock of meeting you?</p>
<p>In fact, you cannot even meet the majority which you pretend to serve in Latin America &#8211; even if you could speak their language, which most of you cannot. You can only dialogue with those like you &#8211; Latin American imitations of the North American middle class. There is no way for you to really meet with the underprivileged, since there is no common ground whatsoever for you to meet on.</p>
<p>Let me explain this statement, and also let me explain why most Latin Americans with whom you might be able to communicate would disagree with me.</p>
<p>Suppose you went to a U.S. ghetto this summer and tried to help the poor there &#8220;help themselves.&#8221; Very soon you would be either spit upon or laughed at. People offended by your pretentiousness would hit or spit. People who understand that your own bad consciences push you to this gesture would laugh condescendingly. Soon you would be made aware of your irrelevance among the poor, of your status as middle-class college students on a summer assignment. You would be roundly rejected, no matter if your skin is white-as most of your faces here are-or brown or black, as a few exceptions who got in here somehow.</p>
<p>Your reports about your work in Mexico, which you so kindly sent me, exude self-complacency. Your reports on past summers prove that you are not even capable of understanding that your dogooding in a Mexican village is even less relevant than it would be in a U.S. ghetto. Not only is there a gulf between what you have and what others have which is much greater than the one existing between you and the poor in your own country, but there is also a gulf between what you feel and what the Mexican people feel that is incomparably greater. This gulf is so great that in a Mexican village you, as White Americans (or cultural white Americans) can imagine yourselves exactly the way a white preacher saw himself when he offered his life preaching to the black slaves on a plantation in Alabama. The fact that you live in huts and eat tortillas for a few weeks renders your well-intentioned group only a bit more picturesque.</p>
<p>The only people with whom you can hope to communicate with are some members of the middle class. And here please remember that I said &#8220;some&#8221; -by which I mean a tiny elite in Latin America.</p>
<p>You come from a country which industrialized early and which succeeded in incorporating the great majority of its citizens into the middle classes. It is no social distinction in the U.S. to have graduated from the second year of college. Indeed, most Americans now do. Anybody in this country who did not finish high school is considered underprivileged.</p>
<p>In Latin America the situation is quite different: 75% of all people drop out of school before they reach the sixth grade. Thus, people who have finished high school are members of a tiny minority. Then, a minority of that minority goes on for university training. It is only among these people that you will find your educational equals.</p>
<p>At the same time, a middle class in the United States is the majority. In Mexico, it is a tiny elite. Seven years ago your country began and financed a so-called &#8220;Alliance for Progress.&#8221; This was an &#8220;Alliance&#8221; for the &#8220;Progress&#8221; of the middle class elites. Now. it is among the members of this middle class that you will find a few people who are willing to send their time with you_ And they are overwhelmingly those &#8220;nice kids&#8221; who would also like to soothe their troubled consciences by &#8220;doing something nice for the promotion of the poor Indians.&#8221; Of course, when you and your middleclass Mexican counterparts meet, you will be told that you are doing something valuable, that you are &#8220;sacrificing&#8221; to help others.</p>
<p>And it will be the foreign priest who will especially confirm your self-image for you. After all, his livelihood and sense of purpose depends on his firm belief in a year-round mission which is of the same type as your summer vacation-mission.</p>
<p>There exists the argument that some returned volunteers have gained insight into the damage they have done to others &#8211; and thus become more mature people. Yet it is less frequently stated that most of them are ridiculously proud of their &#8220;summer sacrifices.&#8221; Perhaps there is also something to the argument that young men should be promiscuous for awhile in order to find out that sexual love is most beautiful in a monogamous relationship. Or that the best way to leave LSD alone is to try it for awhile -or even that the best way of understanding that your help in the ghetto is neither needed nor wanted is to try, and fail. I do not agree with this argument. The damage which volunteers do willy-nilly is too high a price for the belated insight that they shouldn&#8217;t have been volunteers in the first place.</p>
<p>If you have any sense of responsibility at all, stay with your riots here at home. Work for the coming elections: You will know what you are doing, why you are doing it, and how to communicate with those to whom you speak. And you will know when you fail. If you insist on working with the poor, if this is your vocation, then at least work among the poor who can tell you to go to hell. It is incredibly unfair for you to impose yourselves on a village where you are so linguistically deaf and dumb that you don&#8217;t even understand what you are doing, or what people think of you. And it is profoundly damaging to yourselves when you define something that you want to do as &#8220;good,&#8221; a &#8220;sacrifice&#8221; and &#8220;help.&#8221;</p>
<p>I am here to suggest that you voluntarily renounce exercising the power which being an American gives you. I am here to entreat you to freely, consciously and humbly give up the legal right you have to impose your benevolence on Mexico. I am here to challenge you to recognize your inability, your powerlessness and your incapacity to do the &#8220;good&#8221; which you intended to do.</p>
<p>I am here to entreat you to use your money, your status and your education to travel in Latin America. Come to look, come to climb our mountains, to enjoy our flowers. Come to study. But do not come to help.</p>


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		<title>The real Na’vi</title>
		<link>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/09/the-real-navi/</link>
		<comments>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/09/the-real-navi/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:06:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nathan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mining]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.bigwideworld.org/?p=391</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Survival International is campaigning to raise awareness of the plight of the Dongria Kondh of India&#8217;s Orissa state, who they say face the destruction of their land and livelihood, including their sacred mountain.
British mining company Vedanta Resources plan to dig an open-pit bauxite mine on the Dongria Kondh&#8217;s sacred Niyamgiri mountain, in a situation with [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_392" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><img class="size-medium wp-image-392" title="Dongria Kondh" src="http://www.bigwideworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/IND-DON-JT-19_bulletin_band-300x190.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="190" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Dongria Kondh</p></div>
<p><a href="http://www.survivalinternational.org/films/mine">Survival International is campaigning</a> to raise awareness of the plight of the Dongria Kondh of India&#8217;s Orissa state, who they say face the destruction of their land and livelihood, including their sacred mountain.</p>
<p>British mining company <a href="http://www.vedantaresources.com/">Vedanta Resources</a> plan to dig an open-pit bauxite mine on the Dongria Kondh&#8217;s sacred Niyamgiri mountain, in a situation with close parallels to the plot of James Cameron&#8217;s recent movie Avatar, where the Na&#8217;vi people of Pandora saw their way of life and sacred tree threatened by a mining company from Earth. Such is the similarity, Survival have <a href="http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/5529">appealed directly</a> to Avatar director James Cameron for help.</p>
<p>The Church of England recently<a href="http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0207-hance_vedanta.html"> sold its stake in Vedanta</a> citing the company&#8217;s lack of respect for human rights and local communities, and the UK government last year rebuked Vedanta for its treatment of the Dongria Kondh. Despite this, <a href="http://www.vedantaresources.com/sustainable-development.aspx">Vedanta cites its commitment to sustainable development</a>, including the empowerment of women, the positive impact the company is having on communities in Orissa and their integrated approaches to HIV/AIDS in Zambia &#8211; amongst other examples.</p>
<p>Survival however report allegations of forced evictions, and the likelihood of destructive mining of 80 million tonnes of bauxite deposits over 30 years, causing pollution and environmental devastation. <a href="http://www.survivalinternational.org/progresscankill">Finally</a>,</p>
<blockquote><p>Survival’s own research shows that the introduction of large scale projects in the face of indigenous opposition is almost always accompanied by a high incidence of depression, suicide and substance abuse.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.survivalinternational.org/films/mine">See Survival&#8217;s film on the Dongria Kondh and more information</a>.</p>


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		<title>Back in a swanky new suit</title>
		<link>http://www.bigwideworld.org/2010/02/08/back-in-a-swanky-new-suit/</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:36:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Nathan</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[After a short absence, the Big Wide World blog is back online &#8211; sorry it&#8217;s been a bit quiet lately.
I&#8217;ve updated the design with something easier to update &#8211; the old design could be a little time-consuming, which put me off writing.
I&#8217;d appreciate your feedback!


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>After a short absence, the Big Wide World blog is back online &#8211; sorry it&#8217;s been a bit quiet lately.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve updated the design with something easier to update &#8211; the old design could be a little time-consuming, which put me off writing.</p>
<p>I&#8217;d appreciate your feedback!</p>


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