I got a great comment from Gareth on my last post Why aid and development workers should be reading blogs:
Do you know of any good blogs from local aid workers? I enjoy reading all these blogs from western-educated aid workers like myself, but we do tend to have a fairly similar way of looking at things, so it’d be great to read something from a different perspective. Any suggestions?
He’s right of course. It would be nice to add some local perspectives to the lists of aid and development bloggers that float around.
Two well-known sites to find ‘local’ voices are Global Voices and Rising Voices. There is also Maneno which is (used to be?) a platform for bloggers in Africa, but it seems to be under maintenance while an open source platform is developed. I’m not sure how many of the bloggers on those platforms technically work at aid or development organizations, but regardless of that minor detail, you will get great local perspectives on aid and development issues there.
But the question stands – where can we find local aid and development worker blogs?
Suggestions please!
Wait... What? 
Ask @ourman – currently in Vietnam but inveterate blogger -worked in Africa too
I’m a fan of Kenyan Pundit (http://www.kenyanpundit.com/), a blog by one of the creators of Ushahidi. She also has a long list of links to other Kenya blogs.
Depending on how broadly we define “local” — another good one is Can?We?Save?Africa? (http://savingafrica.wordpress.com/), which is by a professor in the US who is a native Kenyan.
You can also often find good blogs through local or regional newspapers, e.g. http://www.africareview.com/Blogs/-/979192/979192/-/wd0qnq/-/index.html
thanks for that, Dave!
Had a chance to check out africareview and you’re right – some great stuff there. thanks again!
This is tricky. I have a friend who runs a tiny development organization in Kenya, for example, but they don’t even have a computer. I spent a few days in the summer of 2008 helping him set up an email account he could access at internet cafes. I guess with larger organizations that might facilitate blogs by local staff, you run the risk of it being mostly fluff, or else there may be reluctance on their part to talk about issues candidly. If there is sufficient interest in this, I may try to figure out a way to help my friend set up a blog for his organization since he has no one to answer to but himself. It would probably involve collaboration and work on my part, as he is not that comfortable in English and someone would have to translate from the Swahili (which I’d enjoy immensely anyway). I’m sure he’d love the attention. In the meantime, I’ll keep looking!
Hi Carol, that would be cool and look forward to that if you two can get it going.
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Wondering if blogging is a cultural thing, specific to a specific kind of education and income.
I am wondering too. I know a lot of ‘local people’ write, but maybe not about ‘being an aid worker’ and maybe not so much in the form of ‘blogs’….
…. I was thinking this too, which is why my friend’s organization came to mind. He periodically sends me emails about what the group is doing and what the major successes and challenges are, but it’s in private conversation and always in Swahili. He doesn’t write about “being an aid worker” or “as an aid worker,” in the sense that you’re talking about, but his stories are always interesting and I know if he had the technical know-how he’d blog about them. I’ll write to him this afternoon and see what I can figure out!
A Rwandan blogger I got the chance to meet at UN Week. He is not an aid worker, but is providing a perspective from an individual from the country.
Twitter – @Rwandankunda
Blog – http://newsrwanda-nkunda.blogspot.com/
Thanks for the tip!
[…] development workers like…. By Shotgun Shack So the Wait… What blog is asking Where are the local aid and development worker blogs? and having a hard time coming up with an answer. Maybe “blogging” comes under that […]
Linda, you just hit the nail right on its head. There is indeed a need for the entire development sector eco-system to have a platform where we can meet, build connections & share ideas that would shape the future of the world. Unfortunately when we do get to meet at global meetings of experts in conferences & forums whatever we discuss and the revolutions that build up are confined to the premises of the Hotels, the conferences/ events take place in.
Although I have worked with International Financial Institutions but currently I am working on women development through micro-financing. In Pakistan I was heading the portfolio of the largest micro finance activity in the country, with 3 Million active borrowers. We setup the Shahina Aftab Foundation (SAF) for women development, income generation and women entreprenuership. And from the 1st of August, worked actively in floods for the relief and rehabilitation of women and their families. From building houses for them to schools, health centers and income generation centers.
I have this formula, that I call Noor’s Formula for economic growth. Invest in women = income for women= food for families + school for children + health care for family. When this happens the future will never be the same. Women having the economic incentive will delay marriage and have fewer children. Lesser children means, more resources per person. In a single stroke, we get two benefits— one ending poverty & two better standard of living.
Imagine what that means: it will transform the way we eat, breathe, sleep, shop and make choices. The tomorrow we will step into will be drastically different from today. Our lives would be transformed just like industries and economies.
To share world shaping ideas like these, we need a platform. A connection point. A hub. A blog maybe but much more than that. We will not find very many of these in the developing world. And if we do dig in deep, we maybe able to catch a gem here or there. But they are like islands that don’t show on the map. One can’t easily locate them. The challenge for us then lies in holding a carnival and inviting everyone there, virtually.
Your blog could be a great starting point. People could come in and comment here but then it needs to expand and grow. It should be something that google should be able to pick up. Something thats within reach. And on our radar screens!
Hi Noor and thanks a lot for your comments! I agree that investing and working with girls and women is key to making people’s lives better.
I know of a few existing platforms that you might check out, one is:
http://www.coalitionforadolescentgirls.org/
there is also the because I am a Girl campaign:
http://plan-international.org/girls/
I will keep my eye out for other existing platforms. I know that there are online spaces that discuss women’s rights and women in development, but I am having a hard time finding them by Google for some reason….
You might try searching around on this link for people and places to connect:
http://globalvoicesonline.org/-/topics/gender/
And of course it would be great to know if you are blogging and where we can read your thoughts!
Linda
Wait… Did Gareth *really* just say that we (“western educated” aid bloggers) all have “a similar way of looking at things”???
Woah there tiger. Yes he did. 🙂 I take it as we come from similar perspectives (eg., middle class, western educated) not that we all agree on the issues….
Via Twitter this morning I came across @sanasaleem’s blog Mystified Justice from Pakistan
http://sanasaleem.com/
HT @jilliancyork
[…] Where are the local aid and development worker blogs? Given the absence of non-Western blogs on my recent guide to development blogs, Linda Raftree put out a call for links to local voices in the development blogosphere. Scroll down to her comments section for the responses. […]
@J: You question that you all come from similar perspectives? well you all sound pretty much the same to me … i have been hunting around for more local (or even local to my continent) stuff from NGO workers who do at least the I&C if not the T of ICT … there doesn’t seem to be a helluva lot going on — or it’s hidden.
well, I can hardly criticise as I’ve had ADSL for years and relatively well resourced in South Africa, and still don’t write about it from my perspective … mostly a question of time, between full time job, two kids, friends and activist (non-work) stuff.
actually i’ve blogged a lot but on an x-rated site 😮 but planning to get going on something less risqué very soon … well, i’ve set the blog up, but haven’t written anything yet … http://pressthisbutton.wordpress.com/ … come back in January 😉
my view is that people are still suspicious and nervous of social media in NGOs here (and if that’s the case in SA which has the biggest African net footprint, I assume its more so in the rest of the continent)
i just started at plaas.org.za in August and its the first NGO i’ve worked for (in 16 years in the NGO sector doing only media, communications and publications work) that is a little-teeny-weeny bit open to the idea of social media, but i’ve had to do heaps of research to convince them that it is viable.
the common argument is “our audience are not on the web because its too expensive for the average person. and if the audience isn’t there, what’s the point?” fortunately mobile technology is increasing the footprint and so it now starts to become viable/useful activity for a communications worker like me.
hence i am now wading in the deep end and trying to learn about the T in ICT — because it’s a whole new intimidating world to me (despite social blogging and FB for years).
Here’s a place to find African bloggers.
“Pambazuka News is produced by a pan-African community of some hundreds of citizens and organisations – academics, policy makers, social activists, women’s organisations, civil society organisations, writers, artists, poets, bloggers, and commentators who together produce insightful, sharp and thoughtful analyses and make it one of the largest and most innovative and influential web forums for social justice in Africa.”
There are currently 2646 authors.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/
What a response! Its great to see there are some local blogs out there. Its been something to stop me going too crazy during all these lockdowns we’ve been having in haiti at the moment. Also I found this workshop that’s looking for participants:
http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/blog/2010/12/16/open-call-for-participation-in-digital-natives-with-a-cause-workshop/
Thanks Gareth – and thanks for asking the question! It sparked not only this nice list of local bloggers, but one of the comments appears to have indirectly caused a new website: http://www.stuffexpataidworkerslike.com. If you are on lockdown in Haiti, that should give you several hours of entertainment for sure.
Maybe shotgunshock is right, and actually blogging is just one of those things that expat aid workers like and the reason that there aren’t many local aid worker blogs is that they just don’t like doing it so much. If not blogging though, then what do they like? Maybe there’s scope for another website there!
Come to think of it, is the process of sharing successes and (especially) failures with random strangers a bit of a western quirk anyway? I’ve heard it said from people with more experience of such things than I, that actually this openness is one of the important, though not necessarily unique features of a western education/culture. Maybe there is something in there too about peoples background as you are more likely to be open about things if you feel secure in your job.
As a Congolese diaspora blogger with a shop in Maastricht, I speak all major languages of the DRC, I lived both in Lubumbashi and in Kinshasa. I mostly use my blog to attract clients to my hairshop in the heart of Limburg. You are allways welcome to get your hair done and I will explain you the ins and outs of Congolese culture. If you have a question you can allways find me through my blog.
Hi Gareth and Linda
I can recommend a few great blogs from African writers:
http://projectdiaspora.org/blog/
http://jimmykainja.co.uk/
http://demokrasia-kenya.blogspot.com/
http://afrisciheroes.wordpress.com/
These all cover ‘development’ issues- as well as other matters.
Hope you like them- would be interested in your thoughts..
A couple of the authors are friends of mine so I will also direct them to this chat to see what other African voices they have to add.
Kirsty
Do African people read blogs? If we were to poll the top African blogers where do a majority of there readers come from? Is blogging just an echo chamber for a certain set cliques?
Anyway try http://ionian-enchantment.blogspot.com/ he keeps a list of African science and skepticism blogs.
In part that is the big question! Thanks for the link!
I have been pondering this issue a bit further and have a few questions I would love to hear people’s thoughts on:
1. Is it possible that bloggers in the south just don’t categorise their blogs as about ‘development’ even if they are covering topics which are similar to northern development blogs?
2. Three of the four blogs I have mentioned above are written by Africans living outside Africa- is this typical or is that just the people I happen to know of?
3. What influence do people think these blogs have on politics and development in African countries? Who is reading them?
Thanks for the list Kirsty, and for the good questions. I think 1 and 2 get to the heart of it. And I’d also like to know the answer to #3….
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My colleague in Balkh Province, Afghanistan, has set up a blog and is writing some really insightful posts on issues surrounding maternal healthcare. http://healthprom-afghanistan.blogspot.com/. Internet connection and poor IT is a big problem though, especially when he’s trying to deal with photos.
Bottom Up Thinking says:
@meowtree here’s a good partly dev related blog from a tanzanian: mikochenireport.blogspot.com