DigiActive.org

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

Social Media Hype Tracking

The Moldova “Twitter Revolution” Hype Curve

How quickly excitement about a new social media tool evolves into charges of “hype.”    On Monday April 6th, a small flash mob collected in central Chisinau, Moldova, to protest the recent elections.  The following day a much larger and rowdier crowd gathered and the Twitter hashtag #pman appeared, referring the location of the protest, a square called Piata Marii Adunari Nationale.

The world took notice of two things: 1) People are rioting in the capital of Moldova. 2) They seem to be using Twitter to organize the protests.  The second observation, being the more unusual, became the headline.  On the 7th and 8th both the traditional media and the bloggers were harolding the “Twitter Revolution“.

In a few hours the backlash came.  Evgeny Morozov, responsible for one of the first Twitter Revoltion posts,  wrote a new post with caveats.  Turns out there are too few twitters in Moldova for it to be an effective organizing tool.  Blogger Daniel Bennett pointed to evidence that there was no cell phone coverage in the square, making live twittering impossible, and called the revolution meme a myth.

But that cynical view, just like the enthusiastic one first put forth, was not the end of the story.  The final version of events, promoted by such writers as Evgeny Morozov, Ethan Zuckerman, and Kate Brodock of DigiActive, was that Twitter played a role, though one of increasing international awareness rather than for organizing, that Twitter was only one of several social media tools used, and that journalists’ (and bloggers’) fascination with Twitter was also a large contributing factor to the popularity of that narrative.

The hype curve had moderated itself.  Moving from enthusiasm to backlash to cautious optimism.  Final verdict: Twitter is useful for activists but not game-changing and the enthusiasts and cynics were both over-reaching.

Hype Tracking for other Social Media

Twitter as a tool for digital activism came out of this a bit bruised, and unfairly so.   Too much was attributed to it during the “revolution” phase.   It was unfairly criticized during the backlash and was made out to be less useful than it is.   This got me thinking, has this hype curve occurred with regard to other digital activism tools and, if so, can we expect similar patterns in their rise and fall from glory?

“Hype” is a difficult thing to measure and by necessity requires a proxy variable.  I chose Google Trends, which ranks a term relative to all Google searches over a given time period.  (Please let me know if you can think of a better proxy.)  I tracked searches for four prominent (and much-hyped) social media tools used for activism: blogs, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. All data is from today, April 16, 2009.

The blog data is the most useful because it goes back the furthest.  Searches for “blog” (our hype proxy) grew steadily from early 2004 to mid-2007 and then plateaued.    I interpret this plateau to mean that the hype around blogging has “died,” although blogging has not.  There has been a backlash to the blogging hype and the “post-blog” meme, referring to the popularity of new social media tools like Facebook and Twitter, has had some traction.  Yet blogging continues to be extremely popular to a general audience and useful to many digital activism campaigns.   It seems to have passed successfully through the hype where it is not longer the answer to every advocacy question, yet has been shown to have lasting value of an accessible means of creating alternative narratives.

YouTube is a little different.  It seems to be following the blog hype trend, with increased interest since early 2006, yet, beginning in 2008, it seems to plateau.  However, its Search Volume Index is still pretty high, which means that the hype around YouTube may not yet have peaked, so it’s unclear whether it will follow the hype-backlash-normalization trend.

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Tactic: Iranian Blog Declaration Against Filtering

Description: Iran has always been a land of filtering, but in recent months pressure on sites and blogs has increased. Recently, about 100 bloggers signed a declaration that condemns filtering and call for freedom of speech. They also asked the end of filtering. The declaration says that freedom of media has become more restricted than before. In recent weeks, several blogs and sites, especially the ones that write about political and social issues, have been filtered [blocked]. Several women’s blogs that are filtered too. At the same time, pro-government blogs and sites continue their activity and enjoy freedom. The declaration also notes that filtering and censorship are against the Declaration of Universal Human Rights.

Organizer: The blog Boyehkhak published[fa] the declaration and other bloggers supported it and signed it.

Purpose of Action: To try to convince the Iranian government not to filter blogs.

Organizing Tools: a declaration published on a blog

Outcome:It is very difficult to imagine that Iranian blogs’ protest against filtering can have any practical effect on the Iranian government. But when 100 blogs sign a declaration together, it shows that the cyber world is not a divided space.

Ease of Replication: It is easy to post a declaration on your blog. The hard part is getting other people to sign it. This is a classic organizing task. You need to contact people and organizations who you think also care about the issue – using e-mail, listservs, social networking groups and any other mass communication tools at hand – to convince people to sign your declaration.

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Guide: How to Access Banned Blogs

Title: How to Access Banned WordPress.com Blogs

Author: Lorelle VanFossen

Published by: Lorelle on WordPress (2008)

What is it?: A detailed post reviewing how to access blocked blogs (and other sites). Unlike other guides to circumvention, Lorelle gives links to specific proxy site and downloads. The guide is a quick and easy read and a great reference. Topics covered include:

• Client Side Proxy Software
• Online Web Proxy Bypass Sites
• Using a Peer-to-Peer Content Distribution Network
• Browser Extensions

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Campaign: Blogging for Land Rights in China

Chinese Translator’s note: I have submitted the following blog post on behalf of Digiactive.org’s China correspondent, Zola Zhou. The Chinese text from Zola’s original post is displayed in the image below the translation. Additions to the original text are marked in brackets.

After the Reform and Opening policy began to dramatically alter China’s economy at the end of the 1970s and early 1980s, the country has undergone an almost unfathomable transformation. One of the most striking areas of change has been in real estate development. Old neighborhoods have been razed to make way for office towers and seemingly endless rows of high rise apartment buildings.

Many of China’s booming middle class citizens, who still remain in the minority on a national scale, have eagerly taken residence in 21st century China’s urban comfort. This onslaught of development has also caused hardship for countless families and individuals that have been left behind or pushed aside to make way for “progress.”

Knocking down a house in Sipingfang, to the left, officials are beating up a young girl and child (red circle).

Description: In the town of Sipingfang, in China’s Hunan Province, residents have found Zhou Shu Guang [the author], who has helped them establish a website to preserve their rights: www.sifangping.com. Moreover, Zhou provided two days of in-home instruction to teach them how to use the blog process to publish articles that introduce their circumstances. Residents of Sifangping hope that this website can become a bargaining chip in negotiations with the government to acquire reasonable compensation rates.

Digital activism tool: Blog

How These Tools Are Being Used: Given that domestic Chinese media never provides coverage on issues of residence demolitions and relocation, citizens affected by these activities frequently have no way to appeal to higher authorities in a court setting to acquire reasonable compensation [for land appropriated by the government]. Therefore, they are left with no other choice but to publish their stories online. They hope that this website will be viewed by more people, and that they can become model resisters against forced relocation. This web site has an international domain name and the mainframe is located in America, thus the Chinese government is unable to delete it.

Outcome: [No word yet on whether the blog is helping the residents of Sipingfang gain better compensation for appropriated land.]

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Campaign: Free Fouad

Fouad Alfaran, only of Saudi Arabia’s most important bloggers, was arrested on December 10 for blogging about Saudi Arabia’s political prisoners. Ironically, he is now a political prisoner himself.

The campaign to free him is taking advantage of several digital activism techniques, including a Free Fouad blog (in English and Arabic), a Free Fouad Facebook group, and an e-petition.

Please consider taking action by signing the petition, joining the Facebook group, and learning more about the case on the blog. I’ll be posting more about this campaign as it develops.