Message-ID: <mailto:KF16+Aampja@ssc.msu.edu> Date: Thu, 8 Jun 1995 11:45:51 EDT From: mailto:don.osborn@SSC.MSU.EDU Subject: Re: Telecommunication in 3rd. World To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L
> Do anyone of you know any particular information about the development of
> Telecommunication in 3rd. world? I personally think telecommunication
> is a way to improve information distribution in 3rd. world countries and
> help them "know how to fish" instead of "feed them the fish".
Hsun-i, In addition to a couple of materials already forwarded to you, I would also like to respond with some info of possibly wider interest to the list. This includes two different types of community radio activity. First however a more general comment. Development projects, whether or not they involve telecommunications, have often labored under the assumption that their efforts will "teach someone to fish," ignoring that the people they hope to help may 1) not want to "fish" (i.e. their real needs and interests may be something else), and/or 2) may already know more about fishing in their particular environment than outside devt. experts do. Recently there has been more attention to "beneficiary participation" in development, even in some cases to the point of assisting in project design and in assesment of needs prior to project design. In the area of telecommunications in devt. (which is not my specialty) there appear to be some grassroots radio efforts which help to give voice to local people in poor areas as well as to convey information of value to them. One example is the local radio stations run by Baha'i communities in several countries, notably in the Andean region of South America (in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia), but also in other regions of the world. These small-scale stations have focused on respect for local culture, addressing local needs, and serving both the local Baha'i communities and the wider communities in their broadcast areas. Radio Baha'i in Ecuador, for instance, was perhaps the first to broadcast in the indigenous language of the area and played an important role in reviving traditional forms of music there in the 1980s. A Radio Baha'i in Bolivia includes programming on sustainable agriculture techniques directed to people moving into the lowland areas. All of these stations are staffed mostly by local Baha'is. A book and an article will give some further info: Kurt John Hein, _Radio Baha'i Ecuador: A Baha'i Development Project_, G. Ronald, Oxford, 1988 [this is in the Michigan State Univ. library]; an article in the Jan.-March 1995 issue of _One Country_ (newsletter of the Baha'i International Community) mentions the important role played by a Radio Baha'i in part of Panama. Another item in this category is the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC after its French acronym), a Western non- governmental organization based in Montreal with contacts in the Global South. They may also have information of interest to you on the role of local radio in local development. Their E-mail: mailto:amarc@web.apc.org Hope this helps... See you later... Don Osborn mailto:osborndo@student.msu.edu, don.osborn@ssc.msu.edu Resource Development Michigan State University