Date: :Sun, 23 Apr 2000 14:37:09 -0400
From: Luis BARNOLA <[email protected]>

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING IS A NON-EDITED AUTOMATIC TRANSLATION FROM THE ORIGINAL IN SPANISH

Hello:

I am so the same one that has sent them a message inviting them to share their experiences with the virtual community, with a lot of pleasure I will share with you the process that I am about to begin.

A community Ashaninka in the Peruvian amazonia has been able to be connected through radio waves, preparing that connection Internet in the remote valley of Peren�. The initiative PAN of the international center of investigations for the development (CIID) gave support to this community, especially to Mino Eusebio Castro ([email protected]) so that he woul lead the project managed completely by the indigenous community (to see: http://www.idrc.ca/pan/pr04240_1_s.htm).

The firm success of the experience pilot has motivated the CIID to give support to a second project of more scale through which 5 more communities will be connected using the same technology. More important even, the organized communities will carry out an investigation-action process to be able to study and to estimate the impact of this technologies in the internal dynamics of this communities.

I will travel very soon since for the Valley of Perene, together with them, I will make my doctoral thesis of the University of Toronto (Education for Adults) it has more than enough new technologies and informal education. The Valley of the Snakes, it is translated directly from the language Ashaninka, has acquired recently certain visibility in the international press, and pictures of the telecentre in Maranquiari Bajo have appeared in European newspapers and in a special of the magazine Time for Latin America. However, the biggest and specialized Atlas in the library of the CIID not even shows the exact geographical location of the place where this community is. Is this a people ghost that only exists in the ether of the cyberspace?

No, Mino exists, and next to him its brothers trying to understand the influence and the magic of a carameled apple that you us (them) it presents as the solution of all our historical conflicts. Certainly that the Internet will be good in the communities to communicate better among them, and also to communicate (e-mail and telephone) with the relatives that have emigrated in search of a better life. But, which will the effect that will have in them the access to the marejada of information be that you (re) does it overturn for Internet? Who will really have access inside of and among the communities? Will the women be excluded? How content will it be created in language Ashaninka that resists the overpowering presence of the English language (and Spanish)?... These and many other questions hum as bees in my hearings!

They are maybe many more the deep challenges that the Ashaninka now has for before that the simple possibility to see resolved immediately their economic problems. The Ashaninka enarbolan the flag of the etno-development, and for her they have fought from a lot before the Internet incorporated so dramatically in our lives. To have access to these new technologies has been a decision taken by them and in this coalition of instantaneous worlds, the Ashaninka has the word now!

Many greetings

http://funredes.org/mistica/english/emec/production/c4/0205.html
Last modified: 25/04/2000