DigiActive.org

Tactic: Homelessness highlighted in video

Description: The current economic downturn continues to take its toll in both industrialized and developing countries. According to a report from UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Miloon Kothari, nearly one billion people around the world lack adequate housing, and approximately 100 million people have no housing of any kind. Recently, there have been efforts to spotlight the plight of society’s most vulnerable members.

Digital Tools Being Used: Video, Blog, Twitter, Text Messaging

What Are They Doing: TakePart.com is a cause-related site designed to help explore today’s pressing issues using video, images and audio, and added actions to make a difference such as signing a petition or educating the community. Their latest video is called Beth’s Story, which looks at homelessness.

“Beth’s Story, was created to shine a light on the millions of people living on the street who are often times overlooked, said TakePart.com organizer KC Webster. “She is a composite of their many complicated, often heartbreaking realities and of the issues and challenges lead to homelessness.”

Impact: It is too early to tell the ultimate impact of the campaign, but so far, success has been made. Beth’s Story has also been promoted on TakePart’s blog, Twitter feed, text messaging and YouTube account, each tool has a few hundred followers supporting the cause.

“We are trying to get the word out about Beth’s Story, to get as many eyeballs to recognize the homeless issue as possible (On You Tube it is already 21,555 views strong!) and to realize that even though most of us are only exposed to numbing statistics, each individual number has a story,” Webster said.

7 Marathons, 7 Continents, 7 Weeks: Campaign for AIDS Orphans

Background: Hope Runs is a non-profit NGO based in East Africa that uses education, athletics, and social entrepreneurship to empower AIDS orphans. When founders Claire Williams and Lara Vogel were travelling through Kenya in 2006, they came across the Tumaini Children’s Center, an orphanage that houses over 170 children. They were immediately impressed by the strong commitment the center had to building a haven for the children- most of them AIDS orphans- to live in.

Both avid runners and bloggers, Williams and Vogel decided to start a non-profit in which they could educate the children in many ways, especially the thrill of running. They set up marathons within the community and athletic education programs within orphanages. They created a blog  in order to teach the orphans technological skills and get their voices heard. They also started an online video series, which highlighted the children’s lives. This program led to a computer class for the kids, further advancing their digital education. The class, in turn, developed into “Tomorrow’s Leaders,” a business and social entrepreneurship training program for Kenyan high school graduates. While the program is still being developed, Hope Runs is currently working with the UCLA Anderson School of Business to launch it at a Kenyan orphanage shortly.

As stated on the website, “with its ability to show personal progress, to prove the effectiveness of goal-setting and discipline, and to improve these children’s health, running has proven an amazing tool to teach these children motivational and disciplinary lessons that can apply to every aspect of their life.” These children are just a few of the estimated 53 million children in sub-Saharan Africa who have lost one or both parents to AIDS. This is why Hope Runs created the 777 Challenge. Hope Runs works to empower this entire generation to enable them the prosperous future they deserve. All proceeds from the 777 Challenge’s fundraising will go to assisting Hope Runs in their efforts.

Campaign Description: The Hope Runs 777 challenge is a fundraising effort that literally spans the globe. It involves a team of volunteer runners who plan to run 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 weeks starting in January 2010. The goal of this challenge is to raise money and awareness of the plight of AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa. As of now, the team consists of 30 members from all around the world, who will raise more than $26,000 each (in addition to travel expenses) for Hope Runs. This venture, if accomplished, will break 5 Guinness World Records, including Natasha Peters, the youngest woman to complete 7 marathons in 7 continents.  Peters is an 18-year-old student from  Canada, and she is one of a few team members to write about her experiences on her blog, www.tasharuns.wordpress.com. DigiActive had a chance to ask her a few questions:

Gaby: How did you hear about the organization and get involved in the 777 challenge?

Natasha: I read about Hope Runs in Runners World a couple of years ago and was really interested because I thought it was such an innovative and transformative model, and I have followed what the organization does ever since.  This year, I wanted to fundraise in conjunction with doing the Ottawa marathon and was talking to Lara and Claire at Hope Runs about this and then got more information on the 777.  It was at that point that I became transfixed with the idea of combining my passions of travel, cultures, running, and contributing to the world community.  Hence, I applied to the 777 and the rest is history.

Gaby: Did you ever think about how running could make such an impact on other peoples’ lives the way it will with the 777 challenge?

Natasha: One of my favorite quotes is “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” by Howard Thurman.  I am a true believer that everyone has something unique to offer and that change and impact can come in the most surprising of ways.  Therefore, I definitely have always thought that a lasting and powerful impact can come from running, or anything else for that matter, and am really excited to be a part of that!

Gaby: Why do you think an event such as the 777 challenge is a good tool in activism and advocacy? What do you think it can it teach other activists who want to make a difference in the world?

Natasha: For me, running is a particularly good tool for advocacy because it both pushes me to my limit and demonstrates the lengths I’m willing to go to for a cause, inspiring others to become involved as well; it also makes me come alive because it is one of my favorite activities. Running is what I love, therefore, I am able to put so much more into what I do because I love it.  If a large amount of passion and dedication is put into something, it will be so much more powerful than just trying to fit into someone else’s mold that does not inspire you.  The first step in successful activism is to show your own dedication and passion, thus, the 777 challenge is a perfect way to make an impact.

Gaby: 7 marathons in 7 weeks on 7 continents sounds exciting, but for someone like me (who is not exactly “fit”) also a bit terrifying! How are you preparing yourself physically for such an adventure?

Natasha: I get this question a lot! Firstly, training; secondly, not getting injured.  I will be running the Ottawa marathon coming up soon and have (more or less) followed pre-established marathon training plans to train for that (a long run every week, weekly base mileage, some cross training, speed training, etc).  I will be more or less maintaining that fitness while expanding on endurance and speed for the next months and will do some fall racing to keep in shape.

Gaby: Of all 7 continents, which are you most excited to run in?

Natasha: Antartica! (but really, all will be adventures)!

Gaby: How does the fundraising aspect of the challenge work? Do you raise all the travel expenses on your own? How are you accomplishing this?

Natasha: Yes, I need to fundraise for the trip itself, and also my goal is $42,200 CAD for Hope Runs as well.  I am asking for personal and corporate donations, as well as hosting several events to fundraise.

Gaby: What you and your team members are doing is truly inspiring. What can others do to help you all accomplish your goal?

Natasha: Spread the word! And donate: http://tasharuns.wordpress.com/donate/

Digital Tools Being Used: Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

How These Tools Are Being Used: So far, three 777 team members have blogs that raise awareness for the campaign. The team member blogs are all well organized and provide a lot of insight into what the runners are trying to accomplish. The blogs are also used to raise money, as each member is responsible for raising at least $26,000 and an additional $14,000 for travel costs.

Hope Runs has two blogs: the first is www.TumainiKids.blogspot.com in which the children from Hope Runs’ partner orphanages write their own posts. It possibly one of the first blogs on the Internet written by orphans and vulnerable children.  The blog is used both to raise awareness of the millions of orphaned children in sub-Saharan Africa, and to educate the children in grassroots digital activism. It has generated a lot of comments and support. Because it is, most likely, the only blog of its kind, it is refreshing to see the children’s technological education come to fruition. The other blog, http://runningonhope.blogspot.com, written by founder Claire Williams, consists of posts about the organization and the challenge. Hope Runs also has a channel on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/trippingonwords) that is used to create the online video series.

Some members have used Facebook groups that explain the campaign and encourage others to help them raise money. Team members organize fundraising events and post the information on the page. Most groups have substantial membership and discussion. Julianne Chai, a team member from California has 95 followers on two blogs and almost 3,000 followers on twitter. She has been using these tools to raise the money she needs.

Success and Impact: The 777 challenge has not officially started yet, and will only be completed in March 2010. While Hope Runs and the 777 team members use many digital tools in their efforts to raise awareness and fundraise, it is difficult to determine how successful the campaign is until the challenge commences in January. Only then can we determine whether or not sufficient funds were raised. However, it is assumed that if someone is able to raise enough money, then the awareness raised in the process is a significant amount, as well.

The fundraising aspect seems extremely difficult to accomplish. Hope Runs acknowledges this on the website:

“Raising both funding and awareness for the cause of these children, the 777 Challenge represents a sacrifice, dedication and commitment by the team that many have said is impossible. But we hear that word a lot.People also say these kids’ beating the odds to have healthy, productive lives is impossible. We simply consider that untrue. And so 777 is going to show everyone–including our kids–exactly how far commitment and perseverance can take you.”

If the challenge is completed successfully, an estimated total of $780,000 will go to educating thousands of children with extracurricular activities as well as the vocational skills they require to better their futures.

Image: Hoperuns.org

09NTC Lessons for Online Organizers

Description: The 2009 Nonprofit Technology Conference concluded yesterday, and there was a nuanced energy about how the nonprofit sector can use new media to bring social change. “Community organizing” became popular, yet controversial during Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. As new media played a large role in Obama winning the White House, many 09NTC attendees came to learn about using the virtual energy from Obama’s campaign and bridging some of the core principals of community organizing into online organizing.

One of those hopeful online organizers was Tika Giday, a Ethiopian nonprofit health advocate, who was given admission to the conference by a friend who registered and couldn’t attend last minute. Giday said that she was happy to have the opportunity to attend 09NTC by chance to meet with other nonprofit technies about digital activism, and was looking forward to using her skills when she gets back to Addis Ababa.

Digital Tools Giday Learned About: Facebook, Twitter, blogs and online strategizing

What Were The Lessons: “I am so blessed to come to a technology conference in America now because in Africa, everyone is happy to see Barack win the presidency,” Giday said. “We are very impressed with the way he used online media tools, and I am here to learn from other activists and their best practices of political and social activism online.”

Giday went to two workshops that addressed the online “Obama effect;” one of which was called “Online Organizing for Community Organizers.” The workshop was lead by Charles Lenchner of the Working Famiies Party, who has an extensive background using online organizing for many political and environmental organizations, including Democracyinaction.org, Change.org and MoveOn.org. Giday also went to another workshop that featured Michael Silberman of EchoDitto and Anne Marie Ashburn of the New Organizing Institute. Silberman worked on Howard Dean’s presidential campaign, while Ashburn was a Obama campaign field organizer in Chicago last year, who switched over to training campaign staff on using new media tools.

Giday wrote down some notable quotes from the panelists in these workshops, which include the following:

“Anyone can start a Facebook cause, but it is another thing to mobilize the people joining the cause.”

“You can’t separate the mission of the organization from the tools used to reach the goal of the mission.”

“You have to be clear about your social mission”

“Email addresses are people too!”

“Be an active listener of what your online constituency wants and what they will give to your cause.”

“Treat people respectfully online, especially if you want them to support your causes.”

“It is important for online organizers to mobilize supporters to do real world actions.”

Impact: Before the conference, Giday said she didn’t feel sure she could be a digital activist. However, three days later, she feels more confident about going back to Ethiopia and training others about being onling organizers. In the next few days, she would like to start her own Facebook and Twitter accounts in preparing of a digital activism she wants to do.

“I have even purchased a Flip camera, and I would like to record the many injustices in my community and share them with the world online,” Giday continued. “Maybe Mr Obama will see my videos!”

The Perils of Facebook Activism: Walled Gardens, Serial Activists and Hackers

I have written before about the brilliant Pink Chaddi Campaign and highlighted the important role played by Facebook in helping the campaign go viral.

Briefly, journalist Nisha Susan set up The Consortium of Pubgoing, Loose, and Forward Women on Facebook and urged women to gift pink panties to Pramod Mutalik, the head of the ultra-conservative Hindu group Shri Ram Sena, in order to shame him into backing down from his threats to disrupt Valentine’s Day celebrations.

The campaign has become one of the best Indian examples of how a grassroots community can come together, collaborate and take collective action using social media tools.

The Pink Chaddi Facebook Group has been getting hacked throughout last month, and, instead of dealing with the hackers, Facebook suspended both the group and Nisha’s account last week.

Before the group was suspended, the hackers changed the name of the group to ‘A Good Bong is a Dead Bong’ and posted vulgar and violent messages on the group. Over the month, the hackers had used names like ‘Nathuram Godse Appreciation Society’, ‘Dara Singh Appreciation Group’ and other vulgar names.

In an open letter to Facebook posted on Kafila, Nisha wondered if the first rule of Facebook activism is to not use Facebook.

In an update on the Pink Chaddi blog, Nisha warned her supporters against joining a fake Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women group created by the hackers.

In fact, several groups supporting and impersonating the Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women have sprung up on Facebook.

While Facebook activism has become an important part of any activist’s technology toolkit, it comes with its own perils.

To begin with, Facebook allows you very little flexibility in changing the design of your cause, group, page or event. Each of these options come with in-built limitations and once you have chosen one, you are wedded to it.

Facebook also gives you very little control over the content created by you or your supporters. For instance, you can’t highlight wall messages as important or sticky and you can’t export them.

Most importantly, you can’t export the names or contact details of your supporters, so the support base you build within Facebook stays within Facebook.

Then, there is the question of the involvement of your Facebook supporters. Ethan Zuckerman has wondered if Facebook protests are glorified petitions that attract serial activists. Beth Kanter has written about the difficulty of moving casual Facebook activists to higher levels of engagement.

We have also seen in the case of Egypt’s April 6 Youth Movement that Facebook activism groups come together for a specific protest, but lose the momentum thereafter.

Finally, there are serious security concerns associated with Facebook protests which have become all too clear in the case of the Pink Chaddi campaign.

Facebook groups can be hacked into, in spite of reasonable security measures, and the Facebook team is often not responsive to pleas of redressal. The FACThai Blog had written about the possibility of such attacks on the Pink Chaddi group last month and now, the attacks have really gone out of control.

Beyond the threat of hacking, detractors or even well meaning supporters can create duplicate groups, pages, causes, or events with similar sounding names, leading to confusion and a dilution of message.

So, if you are an activist, do leverage the virality of Facebook, but use it with an eye on its many limitations.

By all means, use Facebook as part of your campaign but don’t build your campaign around it. Use all the social media tools at your disposal and interlink them to increase their virality. In the US, it would mean using Facebook with MySpace, YouTube and Twitter. In India it would mean using at least Orkut, apart from Facebook.

Whichever tool you use, have a plan to transition your supporters to a traditional mailing list, so that you have more control over how you communicate with them. If you have been able to build a large and vibrant community, it might even make sense to move to a proprietary social network built on Drupal or Ning. I’m not implying that such a transition will be easy, or even successful, but it’s definitely worth a try.

Finally, do take basic security precautions like using strong passwords and changing them often, logging out of public computers after using them, and having more than one admin so that the group is not orphaned if your account gets hacked.

If your Facebook account, and your group, does get hacked, I guess the first step will be to try the Forgot Your Password? link, which will send the new password to your email ID, unless the hacker has already changed it.

If that doesn’t work, your next resort should be the Login Problems Help Page,which will lead you to one of two forms based on whether you have or don’t have access to your login email.

If you are lucky, the Facebook support team will respond quickly, otherwise you would do well to quickly move on to step three, and start an online campaign to put pressure on Facebook to restore your access.

Coming back to the Pink Chaddi Campaign, Nisha Susan has taken all these three steps and still doesn’t have access to her Facebook group.

If you know a way to help Nisha regain control of the Facebook group and avoid such hacking attacks in the future, do leave a comment below.

I’m convinced that someone should write a blog post titled “three steps to get your hacked Facebook activism group back”. Perhaps, we can write that post together here.

Cross-posted at Gauravonomics, my blog on social media and social change.

Campaign: Online activists bring Shell to trial

Description: Royal Dutch Shell is the second largest private sector energy corporation in the world. Shell started business in Nigeria in 1937 as Shell D’Arcy, and petroleum production in the West African nation accounts for 40 percent of revenue today for the company. However, the native Ogoni people of the Niger Delta have complained for many years that not only have they not reaped the benefits of the oil riches in the area, but also environmental injustices caused by Shell’s practices have devastated the region. The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, led briefly by famed environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa in the 1990s, has campaigned rigorously against Shell, but next month, the oil giant will stand trial in a United States federal court to answer to charges of human rights abuses. Online activists are using this opportunity to shed light on this matter.

Digital Tools Being Used: Facebook

What Are They Doing: Human rights group Shell=Guilty recently launched a Facebook group to educate the public about ongoing human and environmental abuses in the Niger Delta, and to seek support for a soon-to-be-announced campaign initiative.

The group is asking Shell to:

* Stop gas flaring in Nigeria, a practice devastating to the environment and human health, and a significant contributor to global warming.

* Disclose its role in the abuses committed against the Ogoni people in Nigeria, including the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni 9.

Impact: It is too soon to determine the impact of this project, since the Facebook group was just launched.  However, the group has a rapidly growing number of members.  As the trial date draws nearer, it is expected that more interest will grow for the site.  According to Han Shan, ShellGuilty Campaign Coordinator, online users should expect to find a plethora of information about the case in the next few week.

“In the meantime, I also wanted to point you to the efforts of the plaintiffs’ attorneys in the case. Because of their role in the litigation, they have to be more careful in what they can say and do but there’s excellent educational resources, including a mini-documentary video, here: www.WiwavShell.org.”

Tactic: Social entrepreneurs go tech

Description: Social enterprises - organizations or ventures that achieve their primary social or environmental mission using business methods - are growing in popularity around the world. With a ever collapsing global economy, social entrepreneurs are tapping into technology to help turn a profit while accomplishing their social missions.

Digital Tools Being Used: Ning

What Are They Doing: Africa Bags, a non-profit organization founded by Todd and Holly Pettit in 2007, is economically empowering Africans by selling reusable cloth shopping bags that are hand-crafted in five small villages in northern Malawi. The bags are sold mainly in the United States and 100 percent of the profit goes back to the villages.

Todd Pettit has created a Ning page where users can find other like-minded social entrepreneurs helping to make the world more sustainable and purchase their products.

R@D: Mobile Activism in African Elections - a Comparative Case Study

The purpose of Research@DigiActive (R@D) is to produce applied, thought-provoking, actionable research at the cutting edge of Digital Activism. It seeks to highlight and disseminate studies in the new academic field of digital activism by publishing short papers by promising scholars. To submit a paper or get more information, please contact our Director of Applied Research, Patrick Meier, at Patrick AT Digiactive.org.

Title: Mobile Technology in African Elections: a Comparative Case Study

Author: Rebekah Heacok

Abstract: The proliferation of mobile phones in Africa is transforming the political and social landscape of the developing world, empowering people to source and share their own information and to have a greater say in what comes to international attention. This R@D product compare the use and impact of mobile technology in three recent African elections: Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Kenya.

In Nigeria’s April 2007 presidential election, a local civil society organization used free software to collect over 10,000 text message reports from voters around the country, boosting citizen participation in a political process many Nigerians doubted. In Sierra Leone’s August-September 2007 elections, trained local monitors used mobile phones to collect data from designated polling sites, enabling the independent National Election Watch to compile and release an accurate, comprehensive analysis of the election almost two weeks before the official report. And in Kenya’s December 2007 election, a group of local digital activists developed and implemented a citizen reporting platform to allow Kenyans to report and track post-election violence during a month-long media blackout, collecting and publishing a comprehensive account of riots, displacement and human rights abuses that serves as one of the best available records of the crisis.

Read the publication…

African bloggers stand up to bad governance

Description: Blogging for social justice has taken off throughout the African continent in recent years. The international television channel, Current, recently aired a “pod,” or a viral video featuring two bloggers who are taken on their governments.

Digital Tools Being Used: Blogs and Video
What Are They Doing: “African Bloggers” features two enduring citizen journalists who are taking risks to tell the truth about political corruption. Cedric Kalonji, a Congolese journalist, started his blog in 2005 as a way to communicate with his friends. However, his writings on bad governance in his country not only grew in popularity, but also gained the attention of the Congolese authorities. Chadian blogger Makaila Nguebla also came under suspicious eyes when he began blogging about the horrors the country’s government has imposed on its citizens. Despite the dangers that come along with their “line of work,” both activists are glad they are making a difference.

“We tell ourselves everything is worthwhile, so long as we contribute to shaking up the system,” Nguebla said.

To watch the video, click here.

Campaign: Free Jestina Mukoko!

Description: It has become commonplace in Zimbabwe for anyone to be tortured, jailed and sometimes murdered for disagreeing with the policies of President Robert Mugabe. Jestina Mukoko, journalist and director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), was abducted and jailed in December for attempting to “overthrow the Mugabe government.” However, her supporters believe that she was taken from her home in an unmarked car because she bravely speaks out about the abuses under ZANU-PF. Since her abduction, the Zimbabwean government has refused to back down on Mukoko, despite pressure from the international community for her release, claiming that they don’t know her whereabouts. Mukoko’s supporters are still hopeful that she will be released in a timely manner, and are making efforts to expedite the efforts.

Digital Tools Being Used: Facebook

What Are They Doing: Internet users can join a Facebook group, which was created by supporters to raise awareness about Mukoko’s plight, including photos of Mukoko being taken into custody. On the page, supporters can also read updates on Mukoko as well as other prisoners being held in Zimbabwe for their political beliefs.

Campaign: Online activists want Indigenous rights protected

Description:Protecting the rights of indigenous people has always been a thorny issue for the international community. Indigenous peoples and their interests are represented in the United Nations primarily through the Expert mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous People. Last year the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a non-binding declaration outlining the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to identity, culture, language, employment, health, education and other issues. Most countries – 143 of them - voted for the declaration, while 11 nations abstained and 34 nations didn’t vote at all. Four countries – the United States, New Zealand, Canada and Australia – voted against the declaration. Now, online activists are trying to get the leaders of the four industrialized countries to change their votes.

Digital Tools Being Used: Facebook

What Are They Doing: Indigenous rights activists worldwide have form a Facebook group to agitate President-elect Barack Obama to adopt the declaration. Users can also read articles and view images and videos relating to Native issues. Group members are currently under discussions to start a second Facebook group to petition Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.