טוטאָריאַל נומער זעקס (tutorial number six)
Language of the week:
Yiddish
This week we picked an area of interest and then found three online communities around this community. I chose to look at online communities that work towards changing social injustice/ issues
The Three Communities I'm going to look at are:
This is what their website says about them:
"We are a group of friends motivated by the values of JUSTICE and FREEDOM of all people. We are particularly passionate about seeing human trafficking eliminated.
We are defined by our name - PRESCHA ("pray-sha") which means...
-ACT URGENTLY
-WITH GREAT HASTE
-TO ADVOCATE FOR THE BROKEN HEARTED,
in four different languages. We are a movement dedicated to advocacy, freedom and justice."
The sites purpose is to raise awareness about human trafficking, then to encourage and facilitate action. They do this by providing information and links to other websites to help people get educated around the issues of trafficking. They then offer a forum for discussion, a space for people to post their creative response if they have one and information on how they can help, with a way for people to get in touch with Prescha. They also have information on past and present events that Prescha are hosting or will be attending. I believe that people want to contribute to this community because they see its value and the need for the community and their response
People are able to contribute via the creative response or the discussion forum. This is an example of a topic being discusses:
13 April 2010 at 9:45am last edited: 15 April 2010 11:42am
Community Member 1:
I completely agree with what's being said here. I think chronic poverty makes people take unwise risks & it's heartbreaking that others take advantage of their desperation. Human trafficking as a global trade (which unfortunately it is) has fed off our obsession with acquisition, whether cheap food, clothes, employees or sex. We are a society of consumers that need to feed our own selfish greed. At the very minimum, we (as consumers) need to be aware of where our purchases come from. Are we prepared to put others before our own selfish desires??
Community Member 2:
15 April 2010 at 11:07am last edited: 30 April 2010 1:44pm
I think I would be and I'm stoked to see that there are more moralistic choices when buying...especially FOOD. But for example, in New Zealand, there are only a handful of equitable shops where you can buy fair trade clothes and often they're not even that cool. It would be awesome if we had more morally conscious options available, but at the same time, would we really shop at them if it meant we had to curb our spending or not look quite as trendy........?? I completely agree. Human trafficking is selfish acquisition. It centres on demand for self-gratification whether that is material possessions or sex. Nevertheless, it is one thing to SAY that we'll live unselfishly and another to do it... I love Joel Houstens quote where he says "it's time for a revolution.. fuelled by a dissatisfaction with self-centred living and complacent faith.. driven by a desire for truth, love and justice.. " But what does that actually mean and how does it affect us as individuals? How does it affect the wider scope of human trafficking?
Having the on-line community rather than a geographical one allows people from all over the world to share ideas and thoughts, which is important, as the issue discussed on the community is a global issue.
Streetworks facebook page allows people to inform each other of events, to share photos and information and to share thoughts and feelings from events. Streetworks is a Hamilton-based community initiative aimed at meeting the needs of the wider community through a variety of projects. Put simply their purpose is to encourage a mindset in people whereby meeting the needs of the community is a part of daily life. With this purpose in mind, Streetworks runs two major events per year and a number of smaller projects aimed at exposing the volunteers who attend them to different needs in the community. To follow this up, they look to provide further opportunities for engagement with the community for those individuals or groups who are passionate about turning this type of activity into a lifestyle. Streetworks looks to support and facilitate peoples’ ideas on how to get involved in the community rather than prescribe set way of doing things.
Over the last three years, Streetworks has run six major events, each attended by around 180 volunteers. These events consist of about 20 different projects around the city being completed over the course of one day.
Examples of projects include:
• Chopping and delivering firewood
• Building sandpits in the homes of financially struggling families
• Cooking and freezing emergency meals for community centres to disperse
• Baking and visiting rest homes and hospitals
• Painting murals
• Cleaning houses and gardens
• Planting fruit trees and vege gardens
• Family Fun Days The purpose of the community website is to promote awareness of Streetworks and their events. Anyone can ask to be a friend of streetworks and most, if not all are accepted. Once accepted they can view photos from events, see post from the streetworks team informing about events or commenting on events. Others are then able to comment on this post or make their own post. Many people support Streetworks and they contribute to be informed about what is happening, so that they can express their feelings from events, often thanks, and so they can see photos to see past events to see what happens at streetworks events or to remember them.
This is one of the comments made in response to the latest Streetworks event, and people’s responses to the comment:
Thanks for your marvellous demonstration of practical love to Hamilton. Bless all those who took part.
·
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o Streetworks member #2 Was such an awesome day!
o Streetworks member #3 what a great day thanks you guys
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This community is an online community and a physical community. Having the online community is very important for the group. It helps the members of the community stay connected to the group between the six-month gaps between big events. It allows the main organisers another median to share their message and ask for help when needed. It is a place for members who may have meet at the events to get in touch with each other. It also allows a place for people to talk and discuss events, a place where they can share their feels on the event, share their response.
Thirdly is Watoto, Restore Tour
Watoto is a holistic care programme that was initiated as a response to the overwhelming number of abandoned and vulnerable children and women in Uganda, whose lives have been ravaged by war and disease. The Watoto model involves physical care; medical intervention including HIV/AIDS treatment; education – formal and technical; trauma rehabilitation and spiritual discipleship. The Restore Tour is a tale of the tragedy and the triumph of the child soldier and the greater community of northern Uganda, who have endured some of the worst atrocities known to man. As we meet the people and hear the true stories of many, we hear one single story - a story of conflict, struggle, forgiveness and restoration. Every testimony is true, as told by the individual.
Their twitter account allows them to give up dates on what is happening with the tour. They inform people of shows that are coming up, comment on shows that have been. Anyone is able to access their account and see what is happening with the group. If you have a twitter account you can add the Restore Tours address into your tweet and the message will be linked with their page and whoever manages the tours account will be notified of this message. I think people are a part of this because they are interesting in Watotos story and they want to find out where they can go to watch a performance, they may also want to wish the group luck, or make a comment a performance they viewed.
Their latest tweet was about the opening of the Watoto Church:
A comment about the tour that was retweeted by Watoto was:
"Watoto Restore tour tells the power of forgiveness! Don't chase the snake that bit you-deal w/ the venom it released! UnforgivenessKills"
The restore tour travels all over the world, so they do not stay in anyone place long enough, apart from Uganda, to be able to form physical communities. By having the several online communities that they have, they are able to stay connected to those they form friendships with in different countries, and have a place for response for those who are greatly affected by their story.
References
(n.d.). Retrieved 04 01, 2011, from Twitter: http://twitter.com/
(n.d.). Retrieved 04 01, 2011, from the prescha initiative: http://www.prescha.org/
(n.d.). Retrieved 03 28, 2011, from Watoto: resuce, raise, rebuild: http://www.watoto.com/
Restore tour. (n.d.). Retrieved 03 28, 2011, from Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/restoretour
restore tour; child soldier no more. (n.d.). Retrieved 03 28, 2011, from restore tour: http://www.restoretour.com/
Streetworks Hamilton. (n.d.). Retrieved 04 01, 2011, from Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/streetworks.hamilton
