A member of the Soweto Forum in door to door campaign explains the SMS action to a Peter, a slum dweller ©Amnesty International
Evangelia Papada is in Kenya
We left the hotel at 8am and headed for the high-rise project, one of the entry points to Kibera, the biggest slum in Kenya and perhaps in the entire continent.
It has been a very exciting day from the start. Immediately after we arrived, we met with the ISSA community project in Laini Saba, one of Kibera’s most active neighbourhoods. We have planned to march through Kibera and raise support and interest for our action with a street theatre act.
Continue reading ‘Irene Khan visits Kibera and launches e-action’
Evangelia Papada is in Kenya
Greetings from Nairobi, Kenya. The Demand Dignity campaign has officially been launched and we have switched on our campaign engines. Amnesty International has just released a report on informal settlements in Kenya and the Secretary General Irene Khan is here on a High Level Mission.
Jennifer and I arrived here a few days ago. Our aim is to engage the public, and predominately slum dwellers, in an SMS action.
We have trained over 70 volunteers from community-based organisations who, in turn, trained over a 100 of their peers on how to carry out the action. We are equipped with leaflets, postcards, and a video camera crew and our aim is to collect people’s voices.
Continue reading ‘Demanding Dignity with a Kenya e-action’
We have come to the end of the World Social Forum. It has been a very interesting journey for all members of the Amnesty delegation. We have gained a lot of inspiration from the sheer amount of people present in the Forum and the true diversity of its participants.
We have met with individuals and organisations and identified points of convergence in our thinking as well as discussed possibilities of future collaboration. Through our stand, we have amplified Amnesty International’s voice; we reached out to hundreds of people.
Above all, we have worked together, eighteen Amnesty International delegates and friends, as one Amnesty.
Below, some of the reactions of two representatives of the Indigenous Community of Yakye Axa and Sawhoyamaxa. They participated in a workshop organized by Amnesty International and Civicus and told their story to participants.
Albino Gomez, Yakye Axa:
“What I liked most today was the participation of many people in the workshops and I am really happy with their interest in our case. They have also signed a petition to the Government of Paraguay requesting our ancestral lands back.
Continue reading ‘WSF2009: “The solidarity will help us a lot”’
29 January 2009: Amnesty’s delegation participated in several workshops at the UFPA (Federal University of Pará) and UFRA (Federal Rural University of the Amazonia). The UFRA holds most of the thematic tents including the Human Rights tent and the Indigenous Peoples’ tent.
The representatives of the two indigenous communities of Yaky Axa and Sawhoyamaxa from Paraguay joined a workshop/forum organised by FIAN and HIC, two organisations working on the right to food and right to housing, called human rights and struggles over land, habitat and the environment.
Continue reading ‘WSF2009: Participating and accomplishing something’
