These are two organizations that I support anyway and trust to use my money wisely.

Doctors Without Borders/MSF Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/MSF_USA

Partners in Health have been on the ground in Haiti for over 20 years so I think it’s definitely worth getting involved with their Stand With Haiti campaign – give money and spread the word! Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/PIH_org

I’m also really happy to see people using technology for good and sending so much money via cell phones. The charges are added to your phone bill so it’s safe and easy.

To donate to the Red Cross: Text HAITI to 90999 ($10 donation). Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/redcross

To donate to Yéle Haiti: Text YELE to 501501 ($5 donation). Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/yelehaiti

UPDATE: The Washington Post have published an article showing that Yele Haiti are under financial scrutiny so you may want to stick with the Red Cross, MSF and Partners In Health.

The Huffington Post has also posted a list of ways to help.

Ushahidi are crowdsourcing information here.

Global Voices are collating reports here.

MediaShift have lots of good links for news and donating here.

There is something called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean, an island of rubbish roughly the size of Texas. This is the stuff that keeps me awake at night and turns me into a self-righteous pain in the ass during the day. I’ve started to pay more attention to the crap I throw away and it’s a lot. I feel like I live fairly lightly but I’m also a New Yorker. I like my coffee to go and I buy a lot of shit that is produced so cheaply the actual costs are disguised and there is usually too much packaging involved to boot. I recently bought a copy of the The Urban Homestead but living in a rented apartment with absolutely no outdoor space makes keeping chickens a little problematic.

Despite the lack of chickens I believe that the choices we make as individuals are hugely important and make a real difference so I am going to continue on my path of occasional hypocrisy, frequent sanctimony and absolute joy (swapping the subway for a bicycle!)

But we also need to come together to find solutions as communities which is why initiatives like Blog Action Day (which is today – hence this post!) and 350.0rg’s International Day of Climate Action are such a good idea. And we need to pressure our governments to make the really big policy changes. I’m heartily behind Gandhi’s “be the change you want to see in the world” but I’m pragmatic enough to realise that all my recycling and urban homesteading won’t amount to a hill of beans if governments don’t take action too. That’s why I’ve added my name to the Tck Tck Tck campaign.

I’m really not interested in yet more arguments about the scientific proof for global warming. Texas-sized islands of trash in the Pacific are SCARY and WRONG. We are not living sustainably on this planet and it’s going to bite us on the bum sooner or later. I’d rather err on the side of change and take action now.

Yours piously (but I stand by it),
Ingrid

UPDATE: You can also sign your name to the 10:10 campaign to cut emissions by 10% in 2010.

This is doing the rounds at the moment and it’s bloody great. Watch it and spread the love (not hate!).

Today, December 1st, is World Aids Day.

I’ve been watching lots of films about HIV/AIDS recently and reading a lot on the subject too. As a result I’ve been pressing copies of Stephanie Nolan’s 28 Stories About AIDS in Africa and Elisabeth Pisani’s The Wisdom of Whores into the palms of my friends who are probably thinking “Oh piss off you sanctimonious bore” but I promise you these books are anything but.

SnagFilms are marking the day with two films streaming free online, We Will Not Die Like Dogs (which I’ve linked to below) and India’s Hidden Plague. Misinformation and silence around the disease is still rife in many parts of the world – and the actions and policies of governments and other organizations (like churches for example) make a huge difference in how HIV/AIDS is dealt with on a national level, and how it is treated and perceived by local communities. There was an interesting article in The Guardian last week about a Harvard study that calculated the number of people in South Africa who died because of Mbeki’s denial of the link between HIV and AIDS:
The authors estimate that more than 330,000 people died unnecessarily in South Africa over the period and that 35,000 HIV-infected babies were born who could have been protected from the virus and would probably have a limited life.

There may still be no cure but ARVs are making a huge, positive difference in communities that once stood no chance against the ravages of the disease. So let’s make sure we continue to fight the good fight.

Thanks to Agnes Varnum at Doc It Out for the heads up about this. Frontline’s The Choice 2008 is available to watch free online in its entirety. I’ve only watched part of it so far but it’s definitely vital viewing on the political and personal histories of Obama and McCain and I’m looking forward to watching the rest when I can give it my full attention (although giving ANYTHING my full attention at the moment is proving tricky).

Also, women of the world I do salute you but make sure you vote. Emily Wilding Davison threw herself in front of the King’s horse in the UK for the right to vote. All we have to do is go to the polling station.

Demos, the “think tank for everyday democracy” in the UK, has recently published a report on the Video Republic which I recommend reading. The report, which focuses on young video creators in Europe, is primarily concerned with online video and it makes some strong arguments about the power of the Video Republic in the digital age: “Music, television and film companies no longer hold a monopoly on the way content moves between people.” It also outlines why this must be taken seriously by people concerned with freedom of expression, social inclusion, and democratic possibilities:

‘Content’ is not just an economic asset. Content is culture. It is the currency through which we build a sense of who we are. There is a democratic imperative to give people the ability to contest, remake and critique it. A society that claims to value free speech and a vibrant, grassroots cultural life has an important tension to manage. It means making some difficult and groundbreaking choices, but as Lawrence Lessig observes, there can be some guiding principles: ‘We start with the principle of free speech, not the values of the proprietary network. We start with the principle and see what’s possible.’

Much of the report’s research findings are not going to be a great surprise to those of us who are already working in this space but the conclusions they draw are definitely worth a read. More than anything it is refreshing to hear this subject being taken as seriously as it deserves to be because I bet a lot of people would agree with the former Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski who said that he was “not an enthusiast of a young person sitting in front of a computer, watching video clips and pornography while sipping a bottle of beer and voting when he feels like it.” The report shows how much Kaczynski and others underestimate what young people are getting up to in front of their computers (although I’m sure pornography and beer are often involved!) and it shows how vitally important personal expression and participation are if young people are to fulfill their role in a democracy:

These ‘new democratic institutions and practices’ now need to incorporate a visual, expressive dimension to be meaningful to the next generation of voters and citizens. Consequently, the major question arising from experiments in the Video Republic for decision makers should not be ‘how do we use video to communicate our messages?’. Rather, along with everyone else, they should ask how democracies will operate in a time when young people expect to be able to directly represent their own, more nuanced versions of themselves. Popular culture and personal information will be their raw materials; and videos, blogs and social networking sites are currently their tools of choice.

Sameer Padania has written an interesting post on the report from a human rights perspective over on WITNESS’s The Hub blog:

Video Republic is focused on online video-sharing among youth on a local level in Europe (specifically the UK, Turkey, Germany, Romania and Finland), and so doesn’t include or reference many international initiatives like Video 24/7 or the Hub, but they extract lessons for anyone working with video and inclusion anywhere, many of which are at the heart of why we built the Hub.

You can watch a video from Demos introducing the Video Republic here:

Message from Andrew Berends via D-Word sent on Wednesday this week:

As you may know, I’m back in the U.S. after ten days being detained by the State Security Services in Nigeria. I’d been in Nigeria for six months filming DELTA BOYS (http://deltaboys.com/) about the oil conflict in the Niger Delta. I was picked up while filming at the Nembe Waterside in Port Harcourt. Nembe Waterside is a bustling port through which all kinds of traffic flows. It’s a point of entry to the Niger Delta creeks where villagers fish and militants are encamped. I was arrested while filming women bringing their products to market, and was falsely accused of espionage.

In the end, I was never charged with a crime. I was turned over to immigration and deported. While I regret that I didn’t manage to spend just a few more weeks there filming, I am happy to be back in New York with six months worth of footage.

Unfortunately, my Nigerian translator Samuel George and my friend and host Joe Bussio are still in Port Harcourt. They were also arrested and harassed simply because of their association with me. While I’m safe in my Brooklyn apartment, I’m doing everything I can to assure their well-being.

Joe has been cleared of all charges. Samuel is expected to report to the SSS again in a few days. During the course of this ordeal, Joe and Samuel incurred $10,000 in legal expenses. We have raised $2,000 from the support of Reporters Without Borders (http://www.rsf.org/), and $3,000 from the Committee to Protect Journalists (http://cpj.org/) and the Correspondents Fund (http://correspondentsfund.org/) combined. We’ve also raised over $1500 since Friday evening through donations from individuals, including a number of very generous D-Worders. But, we still need help to raise all the money.

To make a donation, please visit: http://helpandy.chipin.com/

As independent documentary filmmakers and journalists, we rely on people like Samuel and Joe, especially when working in unfriendly environments. When things go wrong, it’s our responsibility to help them. It is important that translators and local journalists around the world know that they can do their jobs without fear for their lives, their families, or the expenses they will incur on our behalf.

Thank you so much for your support.

Andrew Berends

Good news from Nigeria – documentary filmmaker Andrew Berends has been released and is heading back to the United States. It appears that his Nigerian translator, Samuel George, and another man arrested with them have been asked to return to State Security Services today but it is hoped that they will be cleared too.

Thanks to everyone in the Shooting People community (and beyond) who made calls on Berends’ behalf.

Excerpt from recent press release:

NEW YORK, September 5, 2008 – American filmmaker Andrew Berends is being provisionally released to US embassy personnel late Friday night, but is required to return to the State Security Services on Monday for what is expected to be routine final processing. Berends was moved Friday from the SSS offices in Port Harcourt to the Nigerian capital of Abuja. His translator, Samuel George and a Port Harcourt businessmanhave apparently also been provisionally released in Port Harcourt and must return to the SSS there on Monday.

“Andrew’s family, friends and colleagues are relieved and happy to hear of this progress and appreciate the hard work on many fronts to get to this point,” said Aaron Soffin, Berends’ colleague and coordinator of the release efforts. “We trust that his final processing on Monday will be expedient and routine. We are anxious for confirmation that he is safely on his way out of the country.”

Berends sent an email out, containing the following paragraph:

There is one boy I filmed here who has endured far more difficulties than I have. He made a statement which has given me great solace. He said, “Any time that you wake up, it’s your morning. Now is the bitter time. I pray that soon we will enter into the joy side.” I couldn’t put it any better myself.

Keep updated at helpandy.wordpress.com

Documentary filmmaker Andrew Berends is still being held in Nigeria, along with is translator Samuel George. Get updates here: helpandy.wordpress.com and take action here: helpandy.wordpress.com/contact-your-representatives.

“CPJ calls for the immediate release of Samuel George and Andrew Berends whose only crime is carrying out their work,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes. “The Nigerian military must stop arresting local and international journalists on spurious allegations, and it should halt its effort to censor reporting of the Niger Delta region.”

CPJ’s board also expressed deep concern. “Nigeria’s democratic government must release Berends and George and allow journalists to freely cover this vital story,” said Christiane Amanpour, a CPJ board member and CNN chief international correspondent.