John's Memorial Fund in Action!

Per this earlier post, I just got back from the 7th World Movement for Democracy Global Assembly in Lima, Peru where, among other things, I got to observe John's memorial fund in action. The purpose of the latest iteration of this fund was to pay for a number of democracy assistance activists from around the world to come to Lima and share their special expertise in the use of technology to support the spread of the universal human value of self-determination. It is also went to support the furnishing of these training sessions with the appropriate technological devices and the setting up of an Internet "cafe" so the attendees could remain in contact with individuals and organizations back in their home country.

As you can see below, John's fund's contribution was recognized in the Assembly's program and on banners throughout the meeting space.

In term of its overall objective of supporting youth and technology, I can report that John's fund was a tremendous success.  

The first session was devoted to how to make Internet radio an effective communication tool.  Two excellent and extremely knowledgeable individuals presented this well-attended session; Ahmed Samih from Horytna Radio Egypt and Christina Karchevskaya from European Radio for Belarus.  Photos from the session are below (as you can note, simultaneous translation was provided for the session):

The second session was on how to design an effective web site.  It was provided by Matias Federicio Bianchi of Argentina and Eduardo Vergara of Chile. Both are from Asuntos del Sur.  Unfortunately, I only got to see a few minutes of this workshop (picture below) in that I was handling visa issues for many of the attendees and I had to make frequent trips to the Peruvian Foreign Ministry offices downtown.

The third session was on effective video sharing for activists and it was presented by Premesh Chandran of Malaysiakini in Malaysia.  

The fourth and final session was regarding how to protect your information online.  Unfortunately, the individuals scheduled to present it had visa issues and got stranded on the way from Azerbaijan; so instead, an individual from Turkmenistan provided the very informative session.  What was particularly noteworthy was that it was given in Russian (with translation).

Monday night there was a cultural evening and reception for the assembly attendees hosted by the mayor of Lima.  It was held in the in the Parque de la Reserva which contains the largest interactive fountain complex in the world.  It included the Peruvian jazz group in the video below.

From Oct 18, 2012

Additional photos from the Assembly can be see by clicking the album below.

7th WMD Global Assembly

Thanks again to all who have generously donated to John's Memorial Fund.  It has proven to be an extraordinarily effective way of continuing John's spirit in this world.  He's still making a difference!