Megabytes

Webvisions bills itself as a conference that explores the future of the Web. And certainly most of the scheduled sessions have been about appropriately technological themes like CSS, RSS, Javascript, social media, Drupal, memetics, and more such topics.
This year’s event, held May 22-23, 2008 at Portland Convention Center, was true to form with at least one exception; the presentation by Jensine Larsen, A River Runs Through The Digital Divide: Women Using Global Communications Technology to Shift the Balance of Power.
With images of women from countries around the world playing in a slideshow behind her, Ms. Larsen told the story of how she came to create World Pulse magazine, and its website, PulseWire.net. WorldPulse asks women activists these questions: What is your vision? What do you see? What do you need? The answers are always immediate and well-thought out including 7-page plans for village support programs and 10-page business plans.

Ms. Larsen shared with us the struggles of Malalai Joya, Afghanistan leader who was elected to Parliament in 2003 and later silenced by her own government. Ms. Joya refuses to be silenced. She continues to speak out and organize. Some Malalai Joya links: Women in Media and News Blog; Defend Malalai Joya; Speech on YouTube; World Pulse Magazine article.
PulseWire is an interactive website where women worldwide, including those using internet cafes in rural areas, can speak to the world and collaborate to solve global problems. Ms. Larsen mentioned a statistic that 80% of women have cell phones compared to only 4% having a computer or access to one. Given the large number of cells phones, PulseWire makes posting from a cell phone a priority in its interface. They also provide lots of training for new users, sometimes registering the new user to get her started. The site uses a Google translator to facilitate translations in 12 languages for visitors.

Excerpt from Malalai Joya speech:

I will continue to speak out because I have no fear in my soul anymore. I have seen too many sorrows. Maybe it will be me they kill, but there will be others whose voices will be louder than mine.

I know life is so beautiful. But a life without freedom, democracy, and peace is meaningless for me. I have many small hopes and dreams, but as an Afghan and as an open-minded and conscious young woman, my only dream is to see my country free.

I have heard lots of beautiful things about my country from people across the world who had visited it before the war. I was born in war and have seen nothing or heard nothing about my people and country except war, killing, violence, the kidnapping and raping of young girls, terrorism, and fundamentalism.

I believe a day will come when there will be peace, security, and democracy and all the people, the girls, the children will sing the song of freedom and have smiles lingering on their lips.