Indigenous network

There will be one center at the headquarters in San Lucas Sacatepequez and 3 other centers in indigenous communities in different areas of the country. In each community, the people speak a different indigenous language and very few read or speak much Spanish. However, each center will employ 4 "tecnicos" who are bilingual in Spanish and the local dialect. There will be a computer center in each community, but none of these will have internet access, at least initially. Two of these are in a location with electrical service, and alternative energy sources such as solar are being investigated for the third. Communication among the centers in the communities will need to be accomplished by mobile phone or by using the internet service (internet cafe) in a nearby town. Because of the time involved with traveling to town and expense of using the internet, it will be probably be practical for the tecnicos in the communities to access the internet only once or twice per week.

In the center at the headquarters, there will be internet access, a training facility, and access to translators to translate the materials from one community into the dialect of the others (with Spanish being the standard interchange language).

Initially at least, the content of the media developed at the centers is expected to have to do with topics such as food sovereignty (i.e. production for local consumption), sustainable development alternatives, agriculture, conservation, nutrition, etc. The idea is to facilitate sharing of experiences and knowledge among the communities and to allow them to work together to build an alternative economy that is better for the people. FUNCEDESCRI does not intend to direct the content of the media, but rather to provide the tools to allow the communities to plan, design, and manage the media production and distribution process themselves.

written by  cjones on August 13, 2008 from San Lucas Sacatepequez, Guatemala
from the travel blog: so-journ
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