The deep dive: Millions are spent on pre-arrival settlement services. Do they work? Some say no - New Canadian Media
Tazeen Inam and William Koblensky Varela
January 24, 2024
Canada is among one of only three countries in the world that assist immigrants with settling in their new country well before they leave their native lands, along with Australia and New Zealand, according to leading researchers.
It’s called “pre-arrival services”.
But after 23 years of providing these services, are they worth the millions of dollars being spent on them? Are they effective? Should they be continued?
Their record to date is mixed: while service providers point to a few gaps but feel the approach is working, New Canadian Media’s interviews with newcomers tell otherwise.
The extent of settlement services in Canada is relatively unique in the world, according to Anna Triandafyllidou, the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration at Toronto Metropolitan University, and Stein Monteiro, Senior Research Associate for the program, as well as  Nafiz Zaman Shuva, an assistant professor at the City University of New York, who were contacted by NCM.
Last May, the government doubled down on pre-arrival services by providing $65 million in funding for all settlement services and extending the programs until 2025.
Immigration, Refugee, Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in part justified the extension with findings from the Newcomer Outcomes Survey which found 96 per cent of non-refugee pre-arrival clients used at least one settlement service. Additionally, 95 per cent  of clients who received a needs assessment said the referrals to services and organizations and linkages were very useful.
However, the services are relatively unknown. A 2023 Settlement Outcomes Report found only 68 per cent of newcomers were aware of the pre-arrival services available to them, despite a recommendation five years earlier calling for the agency to promote its benefits.
Newcomers to Canada say they’re being let down by vital job-readiness programs called pre-arrival services, which experts say highlights the need for more staff and better advice for potential immigrants before they apply.
Experts explained that federally funded pre-arrival services, which prepare immigrants for the job market before they land in Canada, increases the likelihood of employment.
But some service providers get overwhelmed by the number of newcomers, and newcomers only receive information on what to expect in Canada after they’ve already applied for permanent residency.
Pre-arrival webinars with 30-50 attendees offer general information that doesn’t address individuals’ specific needs, according to Carolina Castillo Escobar, who came to Burnaby, B.C. from Ecuador in March 2023.
Most of the advice offered in the webinars could be found online, Escobar said, who used the free YMCA-affiliate Next Stop Canada pre-arrival service.
Escobar said she expected a more personalized approach.
Understaffing at pre-arrival services can cause a disconnect between the overall success rate and disappointment some immigrants feel, according to Henry Akanko, director of Hire Immigrants Ottawa.
“Those expectations are valid, but the reality is, the capacity isn’t at the same level to be able to support that,” Akanko said.
Pre-arrival services should receive more funding, Akanko said, considering the federal government is planning on bringing in 1.5 million immigrants into the country over the next three years.
It’s not a question of money, according to Patrick Mackenzie, the CEO of the Immigrant Employment Council of BC.
Settlement services need to find innovations to meet the needs of newcomers by either helping prepare them more effectively or informing them how the preparation they already offer is useful, explained Mackenzie.
Right now, pre-arrival services don’t always prepare immigrants the way they’re supposed to, Mackenzie said.
But another layer of information services could address the capacity issue.
Prospective immigrants should be offered advice before they apply to Canada, instead of waiting until their arrival to find out if the country is suited for them, Mackenzie suggested.
Mackenzie said that would ease the demand that pre-arrival services currently face.
“I don’t know if we can ever fully meet demand,” Mackenzie said.
Escobar came to Canada under the Express Entry Skilled Workers Program and is now a permanent resident, with eight years of experience as an international policy analyst in Ecuador, Spain, and Sweden.
She submitted more than 100 job applications to Canadian employers before arriving in the country, but only landed one interview.
Despite offering her a mock interview, her pre-arrival service was unable to help her prepare due to a two-week waiting period.
“I could not opt for the mock interview because my official interview was scheduled in two days,” Escobar said.
These services sometimes experience a surge in people signing up, overwhelming the organization’s ability to meet their clients’ needs, Akanko said.
Akanko said Escobar may have been caught up in a surge, which delayed her access to a mock interview.
“Some of the agencies, rather than to use staff to do these mock interviews, also rely on volunteer members to conduct these mock interviews,” Akanko said, which further decreases a service’s reliability.
Artificial intelligence-enabled virtual reality is being used for mock interviews by a company working with the Immigrant Employment Council of BC, Mackenzie said.
The chatbot can walk through the interview questions with the newcomer, and offer feedback on their answers, explained Mackenzie, who argued that technology has a role to play in the capacity issue.
Sabeen Ali (a pseudonym to protect her identity) was told by a pre-arrival service to remove seven years of their work experience.
Ali arrived in Toronto in April 2023 under the Express Entry Skilled Worker Program with work experience at multinational brands in the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, and India.
“First thing I was told was to tone down my resume,” Ali said. “I will just make it as basic as possible so that people think that they can hire me and they are not intimidated by me.”
That advice was wrong, inappropriate, and detrimental to Ali, both Akanko and Mackenzie said.
Companies receiving funding from the federal government should not invalidate someone’s work experience before they even arrive in the country, according to Mackenzie.
“Horrific advice, I think it’s an absolute travesty that someone’s told that,” Mackenzie said.
No one should devalue themselves when applying for a job, Akanko said.
Further to the point, rejecting a job applicant because they are overqualified runs contrary to human rights rulings where Ali was applying for jobs, Akanko pointed out.
“The Ontario Human Rights Commission has made it clear that employers can’t use the basis of overqualification not to recruit somebody. Individuals apply for jobs for all manner of reasons,” Akanko said.
Ali holds two postgraduate degrees in business, one from India and the other from a U.S. school.
She is still waiting for an immigration services mentor to respond and help her navigate the Canadian job market.
Akanko and Mackenzie agree pre-arrival services have demonstrated success through participants being more likely to find jobs in Canada than newcomers who don’t use those services.
Immigrants who use pre-arrival services are even paid at a higher rate than non-participant new arrivals, added Akanko.
Among the clients of ACCES Employment 30 per cent land a job pre-arrival and 60 per cent secure employment within three months of landing, according to Sue Sadler, the company’s Senior Vice President of Services and Program Innovation.
IRCC collaborates with 15 organizations across Canada to offer two types of pre-arrival services to  approved permanent residents.
According to the IRCC, 96 per cent of non-refugee pre-arrival clients accessed at least one settlement-related service online.
This story was updated on Jan. 25, 2024, to clarify the positions held by Anna Triandafyllidou and Stein Monteiro.
Tazeen is based in Mississauga and is a reporter with the New Canadian Media. Back in Pakistan where she comes from, she was a senior producer and editorial head in reputable news channels. She holds a master’s degree in Media and Communication and a certificate in TV program production from Radio Netherlands Training Center. She is also the recipient of NCM's Top Story of 2022 award for her story a "A victim of torture, blogger continues fight for human rights in Pakistan"
William Koblensky Varela is a journalist who reports on local news, finance, and politics. He has worked for Metroland Media, BNN Bloomberg, and Carbon Pulse among others.


Guinea, Senegal: Lansana Conté Must Leave if He Loves His Country · Global Voices
Alice Backer

At Pourquoi l’ Afrique Claudique, Senegalese novelist Ndické Dieye tells (Fr) Guinea’s embattled head of state: “Lansana, leave if you have even an inkling of conscience or patriotism left! Leave to avoid an unnecessary blood bath! … I ask the police … to refuse to execute any illegal order given by Conté. ” The writer is pained by “the aiding and abetting silence of the international community” and is confident that Guinea’s intellectual elite can bring peace and development to the country.


Iran: “Bloggers persecuted” · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Reporters Without Borders informed us that Ali Pirhasanlou (Alpar), one of the first journalists to start blogging in Iran was arrested last week. This organization adds that Iranian authorities continue to persecute the bloggers.


Palestine: Peaceful Resistance in Bethlehem City · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Al Khadr is yet another example of a peaceful village bearing the brunt of the Israeli occupation's policies to annex land while undermining the social and economic viability of the Bethlehem governorate. The soon to be built Apartheid wall near Al Khadr will isolate 95% of the village's lands behind the wall. The result will be to push the people of Al Khadr further towards economic ruin and poverty, Gaialing  from Voices from the Bethlehem Ghetto said.


Serbia: Belgrade River Pollution · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

LimbicNutrition Weblog writes about the sorry state of Belgrade's rivers.


Serbia: Solidarity for South Ossetia · Global Voices
Elia Varela Serra

Eric Gordy of East Ethnia has translated a “special message of brotherhood” for Serbia from the President of South Ossetia, published in the Serbian newspaper Glas gadosti. Byzantine Blog reports that on Tuesday protesters against Radovan Karadžić's arrest went in front of the Russian Embassy in Serbia to congratulate the representatives of Russian Federation on “successfully restoring peace and the victory of Russian peace-keeping forces in South Ossetia”.


2021: Electricity, Banking, Aviation Top Consumer Complaint Chart - FCCPC - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (A.M)
December 28, 2021
Chief executive officer of the Commission, Babatunde Irukera, said
banking related complaints were second on the chart.
He explained that aviation and telecommunication related complaints
followed the chart, adding that the commission received and completed
the processes of no fewer than 32,000 consumer related complaints in
2021, adding that 80 per cent of complaints were resolved.
He added that the joint committee tackling violation of consumer rights
in the money lending industry will shut down illegal businesses at the
commencement of its enforcement.
The joint committee is made up of representatives from FCCPC, the
Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC.
Other agencies involved in the committee are the National Information
Technology Development Agency, NITDA, and the National Human
Rights Commission, NHRC.
Irukera said that committee would also be writing interim regulations
which money lending companies must comply with.


Fact-check: Did an official Pakistani Defence account retweet Rahul Gandhi's tweet? - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
26th October 2018 / 4:49 pm / Last updated: 22nd March 2019
With the caption “retweet indicates someone is fighting for Pakistan in India”, Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Giriraj Singh, on October 25, tweeted a screenshot of Rahul Gandhi’s tweet on former CBI Director Alok Verma. Gandhi’s tweet was retweeted by a Twitter account “Pakistan Defence” and the language used by Giriraj Singh in his tweet attempted to imply that the Congress President is supported by Pakistan’s Defence wing. His tweet was liked over 1,500 times and retweeted 810 times at the time of writing this article.
Retweet indicates that someone is fighting for Pakistan in India. pic.twitter.com/5mcEPznqtK
— Shandilya Giriraj Singh (@girirajsinghbjp) October 25, 2018
Anurag Dixit also made the identical claim, with his tweet drawing over 1,000 retweets. Dixit is followed by top leaders of the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Allies of @RahulGandhi are retweeting him. Indeed a proud moment. pic.twitter.com/wNfCdy1fud
— Anurag Dixit (@bhootnath) October 25, 2018
Several others who are followed by the office of Railway Minister Piyush Goyal also circulated that the Pakistani Defense wing retweeted Rahul Gandhi’s tweet.
Within hours of the aforestated tweets, it was pointed out that the account which retweeted Rahul Gandhi’s tweet wasn’t the official handle of the Defense Ministry of Pakistan. However, none of those who made the claim took down their tweets.
There are several clues that indicated that the Twitter account “Pakistan Defence” (@defencedotpk), which retweeted Rahul Gandhi, has nothing to do with Pakistan’s Defence Wing:
Numerous unofficial/parody accounts are active on social media and it is common to fall for them. Alt News had earlier reported how parody accounts of several news organisations fooled individuals on the internet. In June this year, a parody account of Warren Buffet escaped the noticed of The Economic Times which published one of its tweets on the daily. Several social media users had also fallen for a parody handle dedicated to Tripura CM Biplab Deb.
However, a cabinet minister posting the screenshot of a retweet by the Twitter handle of an online forum to imply that Rahul Gandhi is “fighting for Pakistan in India” cannot be ignored as a mere slight. Despite several social media users pointing out the falseness of the retweet, Giriraj Singh and others are yet to take down their tweets and issue a clarification.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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North Korea: Official defects · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Joshua from The Korea Liberator compares the recent defection of a North Korean man rumored to be a diplomat with the 2003 defection of senior North Korean weapons official Bok Ku Lee.


Image from 2017 viral as Aamir Khan recently met Turkish President Erdogan - Alt News
Archit
19th February 2020 / 5:33 pm
An image of Bollywood actor Amir Khan with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is being circulated on social media with the claim that the duo met recently.
On February 18, Anant Gandhi, who to claims to be a member of Ahmedabad BJP IT cell, posted (archive link) the viral image and said, “Why did film actor Aamir Khan go to Turkey to meet Turkish President? Turkey’s anti-India and pro-Pakistan war continues. (फिल्म अभिनेता आमिर खान तुर्की के राष्ट्रपति से तुर्की मे मिलने क्यों गये??तुर्की का भारत विरोघ और पाकिस्तान प्रेम जग जाहिर हे।)”
It is noteworthy that Erdogan raked up the issue of Kashmir in the Pakistani parliament on February 14 and offered to support Pakistan’s stand. The Turkish President had made a similar statement in the United Nations last year.
Another Twitter user posted (archive link) the image and said, “The jihadi President of Turkey who opposed India for the removal of section 370 in UNO… the one who supports Pakistan openly and just visited Pakistan two days ago…Aamir, the pig who feels scared in India, has gone to this enemy.” This tweet was retweeted over 150 times.
[ Translated from #हमने_तो_आस्तीन_मे_ही_सूूवर_पाले_है जिस तुर्की के जेहादी राष्ट्रपति एबोर्देन ने यूएनओ मे 370 हटाये जाने का भारत का विरोध किया..जिसने खूलकर पोर्किस्तान का साथ दिया और अभी दो दिन पहले भी वही कर चुका है..उसी दुशमन से मिलने..हिन्दुस्तान मे डर लगने वाले सूअर आमिर खान मिलने गया है..!!]”
Similarly, several other accounts posted the viral image on Twitter.
Alt News did a reverse image search on Yandex and found the viral image on Getty Images. According to the stock photo agency, the picture was clicked in Ankara, Turkey on October 6, 2017, by Kayhan Ozer.
A News Nation report from October 8, 2017 states Khan met President Erdogan to promote his film ‘Secret Superstar’ at the Presidential Complex in the Turkish capital Ankara.
Therefore, the social media claim that Khan met Erdogan after the latter’s recent comment on section 370 is false. Khan met President Erdogan in 2017 for a movie promotion.
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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15 safety measures school owners must ensure | EduCeleb
20th March 2019
Conversations on school safety are much important than ever.
School owners should always set safety measures ahead towards protecting everyone who steps their feet into the school compound.
The building structures are the first things people see toidentify a place as a school. School owners should be mindful of ensuring thatquality control is ensured in school building construction.
Employ the services architects, quantity surveyors, civilengineers and other professionals, depending on the enormity of the structures.
Using inferior building materials may lead to collapsed buildings, electric fire and susceptibility to flood. Avoid such!
Proprietors would not afford to jeopardise the safety of anyone who uses the school facility.
Your school environment should be as conducive as possible.
The other structures around the school may have some effect on the school and pupils therein.
Markets, religious centres, petrol stations, dump sites, disco houses and other elements of health and environmental hazards should be nowhere near schools.
Of course, building construction professionals would put ventilation into consideration.
That is even more important as people start occupying the building. Air conditioners and fans should be placed in strategic locations.
Poor ventilation may have negative effect on learning.
We can’t afford to have incidences of fainting, excessive sweating, asphyxiation, and other thing that may result poor ventilation in our schools.
As there are provisions for ventilation, overcrowding should be limited.
Every school should at least  adhere to the minimum teacher-student ratio of the government.
According to the National Policy on Education, at the Early Childhood Education level, it is 1:25. At the Primary School, it is 1:35 and at the Junior Secondary School level, it is 1:40.
Overcrowding can lead to stampede in emergencies.
Where larger numbers of students have to gather at any point, the ‘right to space’ of everyone there must be protected.
This helps users identify the location equipment and know where to go in the event of an emergency.
Everyone should be taught what each signage is, especially when such are not expressed in words.
As part of measures to guarantee the safety of visitors into your school, it is important to have more than one exit point in every room and building within the school.
Emergency exits will help to provide alternative roots of escape in the even of a fire outbreak or other incidents.
A Close Circuit Television (CCTV) is increasingly becoming necessary to keep visual record of happenings everywhere.
More schools should include CCTV as part of their basic school infrastructure as part of commitment to protect and monitor staff and students.
Every school should have some healthcare facility in form of a sickbay.
If not any other thing, a first aid box is cheap to purchase and equip.
In cases of emergencies, personnel in the school should be able to treat students and personnel in the event of any injury or illness.
While anyone thus trained can administer first aidtreatment, it is also important to employ qualified medical personnel in yourschool.
If you don’t have the capacity to have them as full timestaff, have them on standby from a nearby hospital or primary health centre.
Preferably, have them visit the school at least once weeklyto conduct medical care services.
The security and safety architecture of a school cannot be complete without these professional personnel.
There are companies that help schools hire security personnel just as we have safety professionals that provide consultancy services to train staff and students towards preparedness in case of emergencies.
Employ their services to improve on the safety and security situation in your school.
Fire incidents can be devastating on a school. This preventable incident can be curtailed with appropriate fire equipment available.
Fire extinguishers, fire blankets, fire hose reels, smoke alarms, sprinklers and other fire safety equipment could be all that would salvage the situation, in the event of fire outbreak.
Periodic fumigation would dispel the infestation of insects, and rodents from the school environment. It is a way of saving you money for other uses.
Every person within the school must be familiar with safety, irrespective of professionals assigned for that.
Safety rules can be taught as part of co-curricular activities or can be written on charts hung around the school. Everybody should recognise that the safety of all is the responsibility of all.
Not every emergency can be internally managed in a school. Emergency contacts are therefore important.
In Nigeria, we have the 112 and the 767 emergency lines available to connect with all public emergency services.  Those of other countries may be similar or different. Know that of your country.
You should also be familiar with the emergency contacts of your staff and students too by keeping proper records of that.
With the help of professionals, you can always do routine safety exercises to assess the level of preparedness of everyone in the possibility of an emergency.
Test the viability of your safety equipment at least bimonthly. Conduct safety drills. How prepare are you, in the event of an emergency in your school?


Video from 2015 shared as woman commits suicide in US due to coronavirus infection - Alt News
Priyanka Jha
29th March 2020 / 2:51 pm / Last updated: 29th March 2020
A video of a person committing suicide by jumping from a high rise building is doing the rounds on social media. It is being claimed that the person was infected with coronavirus in USA’s New York City.
[The video might be disturbing for some users, Viewer discretion is advised.]
न्यूयॉर्क में कोरोना के मरीज़ ने फ्लैट से कूदकर की आत्महत्या…….
ये तस्वीर आपको हिला कर रख देगी, न्यूयॉर्क में…
Posted by Bharat Breaking News on Saturday, 28 March 2020
Vikas Bhadauria, a journalist with ABP News, also tweeted the video claiming that a person infected with coronavirus committed suicide in the US: “ये तस्वीर आपको हिला कर रख देगी, न्यूयॉर्क में #Corona से जूझ रहे एक शख्स ने अपने फ्लैट से कूद कर आत्महत्या कर ली, अमेरिका के 1 लाख कोरोना मामलों में 46 हज़ार अकेले न्यूयॉर्क के हैं अकेले इस शहर में 606 लोगो की मौत हो चुकी है।”. An archived version of the tweet can be accessed here.
Many other individuals on Twitter and Facebook shared the video with the same narrative. We have also received a request on our official mobile application to fact-check this claim.
Alt News broke the video into multiple frames using the digital verification tool InVid. A Google reverse image search of one of the keyframes revealed that the video is from 2015 and is not related to the recent coronavirus pandemic.
We found a Facebook post where it was claimed that a pregnant Ghanian woman committed suicide by jumping from the roof of her building after finding out that her husband was cheating on her with her mother.
Graphic: Pregnant Ghanaian Woman jumps off the Cliff
Suicide Pregnant Ghanaian Jumps Building
Shocking Video
Ghanaian Woman jumps off the Cliff as Hubby sleeps with Her Mom. Pregnant Ghanaian Woman Jumps From 40 Storey Building Because Her Husband Was Sleeping With Her Mom and was carrying her husbands child,40 Storey Building jumping
Must she commit suicide?
Comment your opinion and share
Posted by Ọmọ Oòdua on Monday, 10 August 2015
“It is understood that the woman’s mother and husband had been having an affair for some time and that their secret relationship was only discovered when the wife caught them in [the] act of having sex. While still trying to come to terms with the double betrayal, the woman suffered further humiliation when she learned that her mother had actually fallen pregnant as a result of the affair,” stated a report published by Daily Mail on August 12, 2015. There was confusion over exactly where the woman’s alleged suicide took place, however, many reports have claimed that a local police report in Ghana has confirmed it.
In conclusion, a 2015 video of a Ghanian woman committing suicide is being shared with the claim that a person committed suicide after getting infected with the coronavirus. At the time of writing this article, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases crossed over 1 lakh in the United States of America, with close to 27,000 cases in New York itself. The death toll in New York City has climbed to 450.
Note: The number of positive cases of the novel coronavirus in India exceeds 1,000. This has caused the government to impose a complete restriction on movement apart from essential services. Globally, more than 6.5 lakh confirmed cases and over 30,000 deaths have been reported. There is a growing sense of panic among citizens, causing them to fall for a variety of online misinformation – misleading images and videos rousing fear or medical misinformation promoting pseudoscience and invalid treatments. While your intentions may be pure, misinformation, spread especially during a global pandemic, can take lives. We request our readers to practice caution and not forward unverified messages on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.
She specializes in information verification, examining mis/disinformation, social media monitoring and platform accountability. Her aim is to make the internet a safer place and enable people to become informed social media users. She has been a part of Alt News since 2018.
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Harlem Shake Rocks Central Asia · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

Harlem Shake, the latest global Internet meme craze, has arrived in Central Asia. Neweurasia.net shares a compilation of the best Harlem Shake videos from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Blogger Sanjar writes:
With this cultural virus we clearly see that if people want to have fun, nothing will stop them. Fighting with Western influence or restrictions on YouTube will not  help the authorities.


Bahamas: International Literacy Day  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Bahamian bloggers Womanish Words and tings mash dedicate their posts to the marking of UNESCO’s International Literacy Day.


Jigawa to spend N22 m coaching classes for SSCE | EduCeleb
27th February 2021
The Jigawa State Government has approved over N22 million for coaching of students who registered for the 2021 Senior Schools Certificate Examinations (SSCE) in the state.
Dr Abbas Abubakar, the Executive Secretary, Agency for Mass Education, disclosed this to newsmen in Dutse on Friday.
Abubakar said the exercise titled “Extra Coaching for SSCE Final Year Students in Mathematics and English” would be conducted by the agency.
He explained that the exercise was initiated by Governor Muhammad Badaru of the state in 2019 to enable the students pass their SSCE with good grades.
The executive secretary added that the extra coaching would start two months before the commencement of the SSCE by both West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO).
According to him, the exercise will be conducted in 167 senior secondary schools across the state, where 33,879 final year students are expected to benefit.
Abubakar further stated that 340 facilitators for each of Mathematics and English Language would be engaged to conduct the exercise.
He added that 240 coordinators and 269 inspectors would also participate in the program in order to ensure its successful implementation.
“Governor Badaru initiated the programme with a view to reduce the number of students that failed Mathematics and English Language.
“This is because without these two core subjects, most of the students cannot gain admission into tertiary institutions.
“So, to achieve this, the governor in 2019 approved N13 million, N22 million in 2020 and N22.5 million in 2021.
“And since then, the state has recorded significant improvement, especially with regards to the two core subjects.
“And during our last meeting with teachers in the state, all of them testified that a lot of improvement had been achieved in this regard,” the executive secretary said.
According to him, if sustained, the exercise would along in enhancing the level of performance, especially in the core subjects.
Abubakar therefore urged state governments particularly in the northern part of the country to emulate the gesture in order to address the major setback in the two core subjects.


The WSIS Youth Caucus in Ghana · Global Voices
Andy Carvin

I've just completed an interview with Leopold Armah and Regina Banini of Ghana's WSIS Youth Caucus, chatting about the role of African youth in the UN's World Summit on the Information Society. Have a listen to the podcast. -andy
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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Israel: Secret Service Creates New Blog · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Shin Bet, the Israeli secret service joins the blogosphere this week, causing Molly of Israeli blog The Big Felafel to ask: “Can you really imagine a Shin Bet techie cracking top secret codes and then writing a blog about how neat it is to work underground?”


‘Tag the trees’: The disappearing Kenyan language being saved with afforestation · Global Voices
Minority Africa

Illustration by Minority Africa, used with permission.
This story was originally published by Minority Africa, and this edited version is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing partnership agreement.
A stroll through the Mukogodo Forest in Laikipia County, Kenya’s largest national and dry forest reserve covering a landmass of over 30,000 hectares, reveals a sight: metallic tags adorning the trees, each bearing two words. One word is in English, while the other is its translation into Yaakunte, the language of the Indigenous Yaaku people.
The tags, for example, one with the English word “Elephant” and its counterpart in Yaakunte Sogomei, are an initiative of Ann Naibini and Juliana Kageni, sisters working hard to revive their dying Yaakunte language and traditions. They are the grandchildren of one of the three remaining elders of the Yaakunte tribe.
“The words are in English, and their translations are in the Yaakunte language to make it easier for young learners to understand,” says Kageni.
In 2020, Yaakunte was declared among the critically endangered languages in Kenya by UNESCO.
The Yaaku people were a traditional hunter-gatherer community that migrated from southern Ethiopia to Mukogodo Forest more than a century ago. They settled in Laikipia County, Mt Kenya region. The Yaaku resemble the Rendille and the Somali people living in northern Kenya.
The community migrated away from the forest in 1977 after the government banned all kinds of hunting in the forest, which affected their way of life. Since then, the Yaaku people have been losing their cultural identity to the neighbouring Maasai community and other tribes like the Kikuyu. Today, many of them cannot communicate in their own language.
“We have been assimilated by the neighbouring Maa (Maasai) community, therefore slowly killing away our traditions and language,” says Naibini.
Her sister, Kageni, 30, a teacher by profession, is using her skills and knowledge to revive her forefathers’ language by teaching the community members how to write and pronounce it.
Kageni has a total of 390 learners in her classroom, which comprises adults and children. There are 100 adults and 290 children in her class. She conducts her weekly classes in Mukogodo village, near Mukogodo forest. According to Kageni, on average, a person can speak or write Yaakunte after six months of learning.
”As a teacher, I ensure that by the end of the week, at least the majority of the attendees can add a Yaakunte word by knowing how to pronounce it and maybe how to write for those who can write,” says Kageni.
Kageni further explains that the higher the number of children who are willing to learn, the greater the chances of the revival of the language in the future. It is similar to the sisters’ own experience, where they developed an interest in learning Yaakunte while living with their grandfather, Lerima Letiko, following the death of their parents when the girls were very young.
“Children are the pioneers of future generations of any community, so when we see them coming here in large numbers, we see, and we believe that our traditions and language will be revived very soon as this shows some interest in young people, which will be transferred to the many generations to come,” Kageni says.
This mirrors a similar sentiment shared by their grandfather Letiko, who is approximately 110 years old and is now the pioneer of Mukogodo Location Resource Center, a community-based organisation championing the revival of Yaakunte and the conservation of Yaaku traditions.
Since leaving the forest over four decades ago, the elder looks back with a sense of satisfaction about the progress made.
“Living outside the forest really affects our traditions and the way of life,” says Letiko, who remained after the Yaaku people left the forest in 1977.
He notes that thanks to the efforts of Naibini and Kageni, some people have started to understand words in Yaakunte, and he firmly believes that as time goes on, more people will be able to have conversations in Yaakunte.
“None of my sons can speak the language, but I applaud my granddaughters for learning the language and now teaching others,” he says.
According to local historian and linguist Peter Chamasuet, many young people believe that using English and Swahili is a way of modernizing. However, this mindset has a significant impact on local languages.
This is not the first language to suffer this fate. Says Chamasuet, “Many have gone, and many are yet to follow due to the way of life where people are embracing foreign languages,” he says.  “When Yaaku found that their numbers were declining, they decided to intermarry with the neighbouring Maa community and accepted to be assimilated, and this has really affected their traditions.”
But today, this story is changing. The classes and the tags in the forest are turning the tide. According to Kageni, people herding livestock or collecting firewood from the forest also have an opportunity to learn the language without necessarily attending classroom lessons.
“We’ve decided to tag the trees because not all people will be able to attend classes,” says Kageni. I’m sure many access the forest while herding their livestock, collecting firewood, or just touring it. They will be able to learn the language while there.”
Beyond helping to revive the language, this initiative has also taken on the mantle of reviving the forest that was originally home to the Yaaku people.
In 2010, the Yaaku community, under the guidance of Letiko and supported by the Yaaku Laikipiak Trust, embarked on an initiative to plant more trees. This initiative has already planted about 600 tree seedlings in the Mukogodo Forest from their tree nursery and has pinned the tags with different names.
So far, more than 300 trees have been tagged. Their target is to plant, tag and transfer more than 3,000 trees to the Indigenous forest annually.
According to Naibini and Kageni, well-wishers have donated more than 50,000 tree seed balls, and in the coming years, they will ensure that all these trees are tagged and planted inside Mukogodo Forest.
“I am optimistic that one day, the Yaaku community will be like other tribes that enjoy, and are proud of, using their language,” says Kageni.


Comoros: Blog monitors Fuel Shortage in Anjouan   · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

In his blog, Dafinemkomori documents fuel and power shortage [fr] in the Comoros. He explains that fuel shortage has greatly impacted greatly many other aspects of the economy on the island of Anjouan (rise of the price of tuna and power shortage).


Cambodian Children Books Project · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Cambodian Children Books Project is a collaborative effort of a team of Cambodian writers/artists to create reading books in Khmer for Cambodian school children in Cambodia.


Educational Exclusion of BiH’s Most Vulnerable: An Introduction | Balkan Diskurs
Amer Macedonci | Christoffer Kjeldsen | Patrick McGovern
December 4th, 2019
In the aftermath of conflict, societies are faced with the challenge of rebuilding their education systems under the auspices of new political landscapes. Oftentimes, those that suffer most from these broken education systems are children, especially those physical, mental, or emotional disabilities.
Editor’s note: Recently, Sabina Ćudić, a member of the opposition party ‘Naša stranka’ (‘Our Party’), released photographs showing the terrible conditions within the Pazaric Institute, a care home for children with special needs, after the ruling parties refused to address the problems. Her action sparked protests across the country.
In light of the recent events, Balkan Diskurs has been working on a series about the challenges faced by children with special needs and their families. In a context where caring for children who so desperately need it is far from a governmental priority, none of the mothers with whom Balkan Diskurs spoke will have been surprised by the recent disclosures – callous indifference to their children’s suffering is an everyday reality, with which they must cope.
In the aftermath of conflict, societies are faced with the challenge of rebuilding their education systems under the auspices of new political landscapes. Confronted by weak governance structures, civil society in a state of disarray, and a lack of dependable sources of funding, educators in post-conflict societies begin on the back-foot. Oftentimes, those that suffer most from these broken education systems are children, especially those physical, mental, or emotional disabilities.
In the absence of state support, parents and caretakers are often compelled to find their own solutions to the challenges presented as a result of these broken systems. In light of the recent allegations of abuse and mistreatment of disabled children by State-run institutions, Balkan Diskurs will publish a multi-part series featuring interviews with people who have to come up with their own solutions to BiH’s educational problems. We aim to provide them with the opportunity to tell their story and capture the breadth of reasons children are ostracized by the education system in contemporary BiH. Focusing on the consequences of the education system’s structural problems can furnish us with great insight into the potential steps we can take to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families.
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) provides us with a textbook example of the educational challenges post-conflict societies must face. The Dayton Agreement, which was successful in bringing the war of the 1990s to an end, was used as a constitutional document to govern modern-day BiH. This has, in turn, served to maintain divides, both political and territorial, between the country’s three primary ethnic enclaves – Bosnian Croat, Bosnian Serb, and Bosnian Muslim.
With regard to BiH’s education system, this division manifests itself as the ‘two schools under one roof’ phenomenon. Throughout the school day, students split off into different classrooms to learn the curriculum that corresponds to their ethnic identity. Segregated classes include history, religion, and language (of course, almost all impartial linguists regard these as a single language, only distinguished by accents and regional dialects). Furthermore, each entity, canton, and district have different policies and their own budget, which results in the uneven implementation of educational policies and curriculum.
We all know that what’s taught in schools will be taken into society. In BiH, the way the education system is set-up perpetuates ethnic divisions and performative nationalism before class even begins. The system links identity and space – it regards society as comprised of distinguishable collective units that must be kept separate. The individual is dispensable to the extent they do not fit within one of the collective frameworks. Where ‘two schools under one roof’ policies are implemented, those who do not fit into either are excluded from both.
The widespread exclusion of schoolchildren in BiH transcends even ethnic divides, and it is often children with special needs, those with troubled backgrounds, and those who are members of minority groups that suffer most. This is compounded by a weak political structure, which has no mechanism for facilitating the inclusion of children in the education system.[1]
Social stigma accompanies any health issue that isn’t immediately visible. A widespread and collective perception of ‘problematic children’ affects those who have been diagnosed with special needs, as well as those coming from troubled backgrounds. A recent example involves a taxi driver who ejected an autistic child from his taxi because he didn’t understand the condition and, thus, responded inappropriately.[2] These children, who lose out on education for a seemingly endless variety of reasons, are the true victims of the broken post-conflict educational system.
Children with any kind of disability have difficulty enrolling, and re-entering, schools. Education for All (EDUS), a not-for-profit organization for the advancement of education of children, points out there is no record kept regarding the number of children with disabilities who are not attending school. A cantonal interagency group was formed to analyze the problem “but had never met”. EDUS estimates that 2.7 million BAM is necessary to properly implement a “strategy for inclusion,” but the government only allocated 600,000 BAM. This situation both characterizes and perpetuates the broken system.
There have, however, been a few successful cases in which kids were readmitted to school after experiencing discrimination. In 2015, then 16-year-old Slavko Mršević, from the city of Rudo in the Republika Srpska, enrolled in a local high school, but a diagnosis of a mild form of autism complicated his ability to successfully focus on his studies. Slavko was expelled without any explanation, preventing him from graduating high school alongside his peers. According to his father, Nenad Mršević, Slavko was expelled because his diagnosis made it difficult to fulfill the school’s requirements.[3] After three years of legal battles between the school and the Mršević family, who were supported by legal representative, Bojan Bajić, Human Rights Watch sent an open letter to Natalija Trivić, the Minister of Education and Culture of Republika Srpska. The letter drew attention to Trivić’s failure to comply with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified in 1993, which guarantees the rights of children to education without discrimination. On April 12th, the day after Human Rights Watch sent the letter and following three years of legal battles, it was announced that Slavko could finally return to school.
[1] https://www.unicef.org/media_5356.html
[2] https://www.klix.ba/vijesti/bih/sarajevo-taxi-ce-kazniti-vozaca-koji-je-iz-vozila-izbacio-autisticno-dijete/190602002


5 things to do and know the weekend of Aug. 21 | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Ana Martinez-Ortiz
August 21, 2020
Join the Farmhouse Paint Bar & Banquet Hall for a virtual or in-person step-by-step painting class. (Photo provided by The Farmhouse Paint Bar and Banquet Hall Facebook)
It’s Friday in Milwaukee, and here are some things we think you should know about as the nation grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic.
If you would like your event to be considered for this column, please email<EMAIL_ADDRESS>and put “5 things” in the subject line by noon Thursday.
1. Step-by-step virtual and in-person painting class: Friday, Aug. 21
The Farmhouse Paint Bar & Banquet Hall, 4511 S. 6th St., is hosting a step-by-step painting class from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 21. The theme is starry night. The class is being offered in person and virtually. To purchase tickets, click here. Participants who attend virtually can use their own supplies or order the same supplies as the artist. They will also receive a pre-recorded video of the class upon registration.
2. Mental and behavioral health discussion with Children’s Wisconsin: Friday, Aug. 21
Children’s Wisconsin and Shine Through are hosting a live Q&A session on the topics of children’s mental and behavioral health as they prepare to return to school. The session is taking place online from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 21. Dr. Jenny Walczak, the clinical director of mental and behavioral health, and Shanna Sullivan, a child and family counseling training supervisor, will be answering the questions.
3. Community rowing with All Hands Boatworks: Saturday, Aug. 22
All Hands Boatworks, 1313 W. Mt. Vernon Ave., is hosting a free community rowing day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 22. The wooden rowboats were handcrafted by students in the organization’s STEM programs. Before rowing off, participants will be given some instructions on boat safety and rowing tips.
4. Motivating Milwaukee cleanup: Saturday, Aug. 22
Motivating Milwaukee and Jordan Cloyd are hosting a cleanup event at Carver Park, 911 W. Brown St., from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 22. There will be cleaning equipment available, but some items such as gloves are limited. To make a donation, click here. Masks are required and social distancing measures will be implemented.
5. “This is America: The Stitching” wearable arts fashion show: Saturday, Aug. 22
5 Points Art Gallery & Studio and Rachael Nicole Turner are hosting a virtual fashion show showcasing wearable art. The show is titled “This is America: The Stitching” and is a spinoff of the gallery’s current exhibition “This is America.” “The Stitching” features 20 artists of color and over 30 original designs. Tickets cost $15. Zoom and Twitch links will be provided upon purchase.
Bonus: The latest coronavirus coverage from NNS
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service reporters are hard at work bringing readers up-to-date information regarding coronavirus. Stay informed on coronavirus by following us on our Facebook page and subscribing to our daily newsletter. All coronavirus related articles can be found on this landing page. If you have a question or concern about coronavirus, send them in our way. We’re here to serve you.


South Africa: Bring the Brits on! · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Following South Africa's victory against Argentina in Rugby World Cup 2007, Lux Mantambo writes: “It was not pretty, it was not the type of game we wanted to see, but the Sprinboks scrambled through and booked their place in the rugby world cup final.
Now, bring the English on!”


Cayman Islands: Biodiversity project · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Cayman Time reports on last week's launch of the Cayman Islands Darwin Project, whose centerpiece is a biodiversity action plan for the territory.


Philippines: Cebu Blog Camp · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Tonyo Cruz uploads his lecture on citizen journalism during the 2010 Cebu Blog Camp. Cebu is a major province in the central part of the Philippines.


Groups urge We Energies to end shut-offs for nonpayment | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sam Woods
April 18, 2023
The annual winter moratorium of utility disconnections ended on Saturday. This means We Energies can now legally disconnect residential power for nonpayment.
However, several community groups are urging We Energies not to shut off utilities for nonpayment because of rising prices on other necessities such as food and rent.
For instance, at a protest outside the We Energies location at 3100 W. North Ave. two days before the moratorium ended, groups such as North Side Rising, Citizen Action of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Green Muslims and Faith in Place urged residents to “fight for our lights” to a continual chorus of horns from passing cars.
Earlier in the day, the groups circulated an open letter to the We Energies Board of Directors that called for a commitment “to dramatically decreasing the number of electric shutoffs” and for measures to reduce rates, weatherize old homes and provide energy efficient alternatives such as solar to Milwaukee homes.
The end of the moratorium marks the first time We Energies and other utilities in Wisconsin can lawfully disconnect utilities for nonpayment since an 11% residential rate increase went into effect in January.
In Milwaukee, the rate increase was unpopular. A majority of speakers at community listening sessions spoke against it, while primarily shareholders or nonprofit groups that receive funding from We Energies spoke in favor. The City of Milwaukee also formally filed a statement against the rate increases.
Brendan Conway, a spokesman for We Energies, said the utility company has helped customers behind on their bills by sending $4 million to the Keep Wisconsin Warm/Cool Fund, and that there is energy assistance available through the state.
Conway also noted that customers can enter a payment plan if they are worried about paying their energy bill.
“Any customer concerned about their bill should contact us right away. Customers who enter into a payment plan are not at risk of disconnection,” he said.
Keviea Guiden, energy burden organizer at Citizen Action Wisconsin, led the protest outside of We Energies’ Metcalfe Park location and is one of those who signed the letter. She noted that utilities are not the only bills increasing, pointing to rising costs of rent, food, car insurance and recent cuts to FoodShare that have increased traffic at food pantries.
This results in an often unmanageable burden on low-income residents, seniors and those on a fixed income, she said.
“These prices are outrageous, and how are we to pay these prices when there’s no change in income?” Guiden asked.
Geneva Jones said that a recent utility bill for her Lindsay Heights home was $499. Because of their age, many homes in the Lindsay Heights neighborhood aren’t efficiently weatherized, leading to expensive utility bills like this one.
For Jones, a bill this large makes it difficult to also pay her bills for other necessities. This leads to her juggling bills month to month to keep the lights on, a roof over her head and food in the pantry.
“In the energy-burdened community, we juggle bills to make sure everyone gets paid,” she said.
Maria Beltran, who also lives in Lindsay Heights, said disconnections also affect a person’s health.
Beltran sleeps with a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machine. This machine relies on electricity, and without it, Beltran fears what might happen after she goes to sleep.
“I don’t want to die in the middle of night,” she said.
Tips on what to do if faced with an energy shut-off.


President Buhari Task ECOWAS Leaders To Forge Stronger Solidarity - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
December 13, 2021
He made the call at the 60th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS in Abuja.
Buhari also noted that the sub-region had continued to face socioeconomic, political, security, and environmental realities linked to Coronavirus pandemic.
He also observed that democracy was being challenged in Mali and Guinea, adding that threats were looming around environmental degradation and climate change on farming system in the sub-region.
Buhari however pay tribute to President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana and Chair of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government for the purposeful leadership, commitment and energy he continues to exert on our behalf to resolve the challenges confronting our organization.
In his remarks, Akufo-Addo noted that the 60th ordinary session was convened within the confines of a ravaging pandemic, and increased threats from terrorist groups. He added that the bloc must take decisions on political, socio economic insecurity issue, the threshold terrorisms, violent extremists, and the military interventions in Mali and Guinea Bissau.


Defund the police? Milwaukee eyes future amid Black Lives Matter protests, coronavirus budget crunch | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Allison Dikanovic, Wisconsin Watch
July 29, 2020
Calls to shift funds from policing to programs that improve quality of life for people of color aren’t new. But this time, more people are listening.
“Defund the police” is seen painted across a block of North Water Street in Milwaukee on July 2, 2020. The Milwaukee Department of Public Works removed the paint a week later, saying it presented “serious traffic safety concerns” because it covered traffic markings and was slick when wet. “The message painted on Water Street has been heard loud and clear by policy makers in city government, and the Department of Public Works has no intention to diminish the voices calling for change,” Commissioner of Public Works Jeff Polenske said in a July 9 statement. “Our concern for unauthorized street art including the current mural on Water Street is solely about safety.” (Photo by Will Cioci, Wisconsin Watch)
Milwaukee activist Annia Leonard wants a safe community without police, and she draws from her own experience when thinking about what that could be: like the time a conflict at her grandmother’s house ended peacefully in a garden — without anyone in handcuffs.
When an argument escalated earlier this summer, one person in the house called Milwaukee police, Leonard said, and someone else called 414LIFE — a team of community “violence interrupters” who are trained to intervene.
Annia Leonard is seen outside of her grandmother’s house in the Sherman Park neighborhood of Milwaukee, on July 2, 2020. That was where 414LIFE, a local group of violence interrupters, deescalated a family dispute earlier in the summer. Leonard says 414LIFE more effectively resolved the situation than police officers who also responded to the home. (Photo by Will Cioci, Wisconsin Watch)
With her adrenaline pumping, Leonard said she was already in “fight mode” when the officers arrived, and their response only antagonized those involved in the dispute, adding to the stress.
“We didn’t need someone to come say that we could all be arrested,” she said.
The violence interrupters, on the other hand, quickly dissolved that tension once they arrived, Leonard said.
“They talked to everyone individually. They were just making sure that everyone in the space was good,” Leonard said, and it helped that some people in the house knew one team member.
“It was just a completely different approach to domestic violence that a lot of people aren’t usually privileged to see,” said Leonard, who aims to uplift Milwaukee’s Black residents in her own organizing work — holding healing events and calling for the abolition of police. “It just made it clear, this is why we don’t need police officers in our communities.”
Calls to “defund the police” have grown louder in Milwaukee and other cities after the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis fueled nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism.
Floyd’s death came as Milwaukee grieved the loss of Joel Acevedo, who died days after Michael Mattioli, an off-duty Milwaukee police officer, acknowledged putting him in a 10-minute chokehold during an April fight, according to media reports. Mattioli was charged with first-degree reckless homicide, and the department suspended him with pay.
Some say the goal of “defunding the police” is to shift funds away from police and towards public health, housing and other programs to alleviate conditions that lead to crime. But many local and national advocates eye a more ambitious goal: to abolish police over time. Abolitionists see reallocation as the first step toward dismantling policing and prison institutions, replacing them with neighborhood-based public safety models.
Milwaukee’s defunding movement comes as city officials set next year’s budget, and the police department wants to grow its slice of the pie. Meanwhile, a coronavirus pandemic is wreaking havoc on the economy, promising to slash city revenue and leave less money for a host of government services.
“Even if the tragic death of George Floyd and nationwide protests had not occurred, there was very good reason for citizens and policymakers to take a look at the Milwaukee Police Department budget, and that has nothing to do with any kind of opinion or bias with putting municipal budgets into police departments,” said Rob Henken, president of the Wisconsin Policy Forum, who noted that Milwaukee faced “tremendous economic stress” even before the pandemic.
The conditions and debate transcend Milwaukee. During calls to divest from police, the Madison School Board in June voted to terminate its Madison Police Department contract for resource officers at high schools. Critics of the officers’ presence highlighted disproportionate arrest rates for Black students and said the school should handle discipline outside of the criminal justice system.
Law enforcement in 2018 accounted for nearly 22% of Milwaukee’s $1.4 billion in total expenditures — the largest category in the budget, according to Wisconsin Department of Revenue data. That hovers above law enforcement’s 20% share of municipal spending statewide, according to a Wisconsin Policy Forum analysis of state data.
The Milwaukee Police Department consumes an even bigger share of the city’s general purpose budget  — the portion controlled by the mayor and Common Council. MPD accounted for about 47% of that spending in 2020, up from 40% in 2012, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum. The police budget in each of the last five years has eclipsed the city’s entire property tax levy, one of three main revenue sources. Nearly 95% of the police budget funds salaries, wages and benefits.
MPD is requesting nearly $316 million for next year as Milwaukee wades into the country’s worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. That proposed $18.5 million increase from last year is 20 times the Milwaukee Health Department’s $15.7 million request.
The health department houses the $2.1 million Office of Violence Prevention, which encompasses the 414LIFE team, a small-scale example of policing alternatives.
Claire DeRosa, Wisconsin Watch
The team is trusted in the neighborhoods it engages, said Derrick Rogers, program director for 414LIFE. It is among groups globally that practice an evidence-based “Cure Violence” model that sees violence as a treatable epidemic. The 414LIFE team aims to stabilize people deemed at high risk of committing violence, helping them secure housing, jobs, therapy and relationship support. The interrupters check in with people involved in disputes — even months after they defuse them.
When Rogers responded to the dispute at Leonard’s grandmother’s house, he helped one person pull weeds in a garden while talking through the frustrations that fueled the conflict. They constructed a plan to avoid future conflict and discussed how to file a restraining order. Rogers later called the person’s friends and offered connections to mental health providers.
But Milwaukee is spending roughly $504 per resident on policing compared to less than $4 per resident on such direct violence prevention.
“We didn’t get here overnight,” Reggie Moore, director of the Office of Violence Prevention, said this month during an online Wisconsin Police Forum event. “These were generations of decisions and policymaking and investment where unfortunately a lot of cities and counties responded to situations of community crisis with greater investment in law enforcement, versus looking at public health and taking more innovative approaches.”
Moore added: “How do we address the root causes of the trauma and pain that we’re seeing as opposed to trying to manage it with punishment and the criminal justice industry?”
Grassroots organizers have spent years helping Milwaukee residents envision such an approach in a city that last year declared racism a public health crisis and saw annual eviction rates of up to 15% of households in some neighborhoods —  even before the pandemic left thousands jobless and waiting on rent assistance.
Common Council members last month reported a flood of constituent requests to “defund the police.” The council on June 16 approved a resolution to study a 10% cut to the MPD budget — about $30 million. The Milwaukee School Board two days later unanimously resolved to remove police officers from public school grounds.
That’s not enough for advocates such as Markasa Tucker, director of the African-American Roundtable, a coalition serving Milwaukee’s Black residents. The coalition and other groups are calling for a $75 million cut to MPD’s budget that would shift $50 million to public health and $25 million to housing cooperatives in a campaign called LiberateMKE.
“These are our tax dollars. This is our money, and we get to say where we want it to go,” Tucker said at a June Facebook event.
The campaign is one step toward a longer-term goal of upending the city’s approach to public safety, said Devin Anderson, lead organizer for the LiberateMKE campaign.
“We believe a world without police is possible,” he said. “Defund is the goal, and divestment is the process.”
Protesters participated in the BLACK WMNZ Emancipation March to celebrate Juneteenth in Milwaukee on June 19, 2020. Calls to “defund the police” and shift resources to other health and safety efforts have grown louder in Milwaukee and cities across the country following the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Photo by Will Cioci, Wisconsin Watch)
MPD spokeswoman Sgt. Sheronda Grant directed Wisconsin Watch to Chief Alfonso Morales’ op-ed in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which warned that a $30 million budget cut could eliminate about 375 officers, increasing response times and narrowing the types of calls officers could handle.
“We must have real discussions of what ‘defunding the police’ means,” Morales wrote in July. “I understand budget cuts, and I understand investing in our community. However, I do not understand how defunding improves the underlying issues of social injustices and police brutality or increases diversity in MPD.”
MPD wants more funds after leaving 60 officer positions unfilled this year following retirements —  trimming officer ranks to 1,804. That move prompted the department to cut the third shift of its Sensitive Crimes Division, which investigates sexual assault and child abuse cases, Morales told Wisconsin Public Radio in June.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett will begin holding budget hearings in August and plans to present his budget to the Common Council in September.
“The funding of our police department is one aspect of the review, but a funding cut, alone, does not address a multitude of other issues we must consider,” Barrett said in a June statement. “Our upcoming budget process is an opportunity to take a comprehensive look at how city government views public safety.”
The conversation unfolds as homicides in Milwaukee are surging to levels not seen since the 1990s following a four-year decline — a trend playing out nationwide during the pandemic. Violent crime does not necessarily correlate with a need for police officers, the Wisconsin Policy Forum noted in a 2019 report showing how Milwaukee and some other Wisconsin cities are boosting police spending even as they lose officers.
“Defund” advocates say many factors outside of law enforcement affect crime rates and create safety, and Milwaukee has never invested to scale in community-based strategies to keep people safe without police.
Monique Liston, chief strategist at Ubuntu Research and Evaluation, a Black women-led consulting firm for education, policy and advocacy, underscored that societies haven’t always relied on police, and that many of America’s police systems were created to control Black people and protect the interests of the wealthy.
“Policing was built around protecting stolen property and protecting stolen people,” she said. “One of the big disservices we’ve done in history is to act like police are a natural part of organizations. It’s so ingrained in people that police have to be there.”
Claire DeRosa, Wisconsin Watch
Distrust of police runs deep in some of Milwaukee’s Black and brown-majority neighborhoods, and some residents are tired of waiting on piecemeal reforms to change policing tactics that have disproportionately harmed people of color.
“Reforms like banning chokeholds, adding body cameras and that we need more trainings — in many ways those are not enough,” said Anderson of LiberateMKE. “By investing so much in a system that was never meant to keep us safe, that’s leaving no space and no room for the other investments, and it’s hurting us. In some cases, it’s literally killing us.”
Milwaukee police officers have for years been the subject of reform debates and criminal and civil proceedings, including after the police killings of Dontre Hamilton in 2014, Sylville Smith in 2016 and Acevedo.
Recommendations have followed — from the U.S. Department of Justice in 2017 and the city-convened Collaborative Community Committee in 2019. But the city has yet to implement many such proposals. Barrett in June announced yet another reform commission, which some activists viewed as déjà vu.
Milwaukee’s Fire and Police Commission, a civilian oversight board with the power to change policy and investigate complaints, this week issued a set of directives to Morales demanding changes. The commission itself faces allegations that it acts slowly and lacks transparency.
“We’re constantly being put where we’re in the position for these tough conversations needing to hold cops accountable,” Leonard said. “I’m not trying to demand reform from them anymore. The whole system needs to be abolished.”
In 2018, Milwaukee’s Common Council approved a $3.4 million settlement of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The group alleged Milwaukee’s stop-and-frisk program led to unjustified stops, racial profiling and harassment of residents without cause for suspicion.
In a June report monitoring the department’s progress on the settlement, the Boston-based Crime and Justice Institute found that officers undercounted frisks and failed to properly justify 81% of documented frisks during the second half of 2019, showing no improvement on those measures from earlier in the year.
The report also showed that officers stopped and searched Black people at disproportionately high rates. Black residents make up roughly 39% of Milwaukee’s population but faced nearly 60% of police encounters and 80% of frisks.
“They’re not really living up to their end of the bargain,” said Molly Collins, associate director of the ACLU of Wisconsin. “It can be the police firing tear gas or rubber bullets at protesters, but also it just looks like continued patterns of police interactions with Black and brown folks that continue to break the relationship between the police department and the community.”
Said Grant, the MPD spokeswoman: “Our members continue to receive training, and MPD continues to make progress in our compliance efforts.”
Fueled by frustration with Milwaukee’s status quo, neighborhood leaders have long brainstormed ways to reinvest funds flowing to police. One tiny example: When Anderson would wrap up LiberateMKE’s meetings last year at city public libraries, he noticed the buildings would stay full until closing time, with staff asking people to leave.
“What if we took money from the police for that?” he said, suggesting staffing the libraries for longer hours.
LiberateMKE encourages residents to envision new uses for their tax dollars. The coalition surveyed more than 1,100 residents in that process, Anderson said.
Last year’s participants recommended rerouting $25 million from MPD to community-based violence prevention programs such as 414LIFE. They also called for bigger investments in employment opportunities for young people and affordable, quality housing.
Many of those recommendations referenced the Office of Violence Prevention’s 2017 Blueprint for Peace, a set of community-driven goals and recommendations.
That involved hundreds of community members who sought to identify the root causes of Milwaukee’s violence. Among those flagged: lack of quality, affordable housing, neighborhood disinvestment, limited economic opportunities and persistent trauma. Participants determined what Milwaukee should leverage to make neighborhoods more resilient, including already strong community-building groups, schools, arts and cultural expression and welcoming public spaces.
The blueprint spurred the creation of 414LIFE and other investments in youth programming, mental health and domestic violence prevention.
A mural painted near the corner of North 14th Street and West Vliet Street in Milwaukee depicts Monique Liston (right), a local activist and chief strategist at Ubuntu Research and Evaluation, a Black women-led consulting firm for education, policy and advocacy, on July 2, 2020. Liston underscores that societies haven’t always relied on police, and that many of America’s police systems were created to control Black people and protect the interests of the wealthy. (Photo by Will Cioci, Wisconsin Watch)
“We understand that when we look at the production of public safety in our city, it really takes beyond policing and the criminal justice industry, and I think that’s really what this movement and moment is challenging us to think about,” said Moore, the Office of Violence Prevention director. “When we look at neighborhoods throughout the city and throughout the country where large police presences aren’t required, those communities tend to have thriving businesses. They have thriving families who are gainfully employed.”
Moore said Wisconsin leaders should help Milwaukee and other cash-strapped cities invest in violence prevention.
Rep. David Bowen and Sen. Lena Taylor, both of Milwaukee, and other Democratic lawmakers in March proposed funneling tax revenue from vaping products into a statewide violence prevention fund. The bill failed to draw a hearing.
Other Milwaukee groups have helped lay the groundwork for this moment.
Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, which aims to invest in and empower Milwaukee’s Black residents, released a 2019 Platform for Prosperity. It incorporates voices from thousands of who responded to the question: “What would it look like for your community to thrive?”
The group is now surveying residents  — online and via text — about their vision for policing. Rick Banks, the group’s political director, said support is growing to defund MPD.
“Police brutality and things have been an issue for generations, but right now the energy around it, coupled with the budget cycle, is a huge opportunity for people to explore that idea,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like a far-fetched idea.”
The pandemic has added momentum to the push for change, said Liston of Ubuntu Research and Evaluation.
“I don’t think a lot of people knew how badly these systems were failing people, and it took a pandemic for people to realize how bad things are,” she said.
The virus is disproportionately infecting and killing Milwaukee’s people of color, and it is worsening economic hardship and flooding courts with eviction cases. Even before the pandemic, about half of Milwaukee renters paid more than 30% of their income in rent, according to a 2018 report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum. The same report showed 42% of the city’s renter households earned less than $25,000 a year, while only 9% of rental units charged rents considered affordable to those households.
The pandemic is also spurring more grassroots efforts to provide food, financial help, child care and other services  —  proving that residents can take care of each other, Anderson said.
“Mutual aid, that is community care. That is community safety,” he said. “Those are people on the ground making sure that people’s needs are met by offering support to their neighbors. The community knows what keeps them safe.”
Allison Dikanovic is an engagement reporting fellow for Wisconsin Watch, which is partnering with Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and Outlier Media on News414, a news-by-text project. Dikanovic’s fellowship is funded in part by the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York. Wisconsin Watch (wisconsinwatch.org) collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by Wisconsin Watch do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.


In Nigeria, You Risk Arrest If Your Dog Has the Same Name as the President · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

A Nigerian citizen named his dog after the Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari. Creative Commons photo by Erfan Kouchari in Tasnim News Agency.
A trader named Joe Fortemose Chinakwe has been arrested by the Nigerian police for naming his pet dog “Buhari,” which happens to be the surname of the country's president, in a case that touches on Nigeria's long history of ethnic tensions.
The canine was named after a man called Alhaji Buhari, who is Chinakwe's neighbour. However, a different neighbour reported him over the matter, and many have since misconstrued the name as coming from President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB).
The dog was named after a different Buhari.
Not Pmb.
Case has nothing to do with PMB https://t.co/TgoapGJ0vm
— ZahrahMusa (@Zahrahmusa) August 21, 2016
Authorities said Chinakwe would be charged with “conduct likely to cause a breach of peace,” according to the Vanguard newspaper in an August 17 report.
You know an average Northerner will feel bad over such a thing. It can cause serious ethnic crisis or religious confrontation because when you are relegating such a name to a certain person, you are indirectly insulting him.
Nigeria is an ethnic fault-line state with over 250 ethnic groups and a history of violent tensions. The three major ethnic groups are the Hausas and Fulani in the north, the Yorubas in the west and the Igbos in the east. The country still bears the scars of years of distrust, bickering and pervasive cleavages that have been further exacerbated by religious fundamentalism.
The Nigerian Civil War, which lasted from 1967 to 1970, the numerous and unresolved root causes of ethno-religious crisis have dominated the country's socio-political space since independence in 1960 have not helped matters. As though these were not enough, the perpetrators of these crimes targeting certain ethnicities go unpunished and a culture of impunity prevails.
It is based on this murky history of ethnic context, that the naming a dog — which in other climes would have been a non-issue — has morphed into headline news in Nigeria.
According to media reports, Chinakwe had inscribed the name on both sides of the dog's body and walked the animal through his Hausa-dominated neighbourhood. Hausas are a minority in the southwestern state of Ogun, where Chinakwe resides.
President Muhammadu Buhari, for his part, is ethnic Fulani.
Naturally, the news of Chinakwe's arrest and the reason given by the police did not go down well with Nigerians. Abimbola Adedokun, a newspaper columnist, warned of the danger in allowing divisions along ethnic or religious lines to exist:
History has taught us that whenever the “average northerner” says he “feels bad over a thing”, the rest of us are supposed to hurriedly rearrange our manners. We are told to take heed of invisible limits that “infidels” are not permitted to cross. Alarmingly, a number of us have restricted ourselves to this emasculating avoidance of wrath. We have mapped out “no-go areas” of public discussion that we trespass at grievous risks to ourselves. We have seen the repercussions of trespassing these bounds and they are not pleasant. From Gideon Akaluka’s killings to the Reinhard Bonnke crusade violence, the Miss World riots, the Danish cartoons saga, and many other instances of unwarranted violence that have occurred, we have long realised we are dealing with a short-tempered evil spirit who demands a sacrifice of our collective dignity so he can let us live.
Gideon Akaluka was a Christian Igbo trader in Nigeria who was beheaded by a mob in 1994 for allegedly desecrating the Koran. A 1991 visit by German evangelist Christian Reinhard Bonnke sparked deadly riots in the northern city of Kano after he reportedly converted some Muslims to Christianity.
In 2002, more than 200 people were killed and dozens of churches attacked during three days of rioting in the north over Nigeria's hosting of the Miss World beauty pageant. And in 2005, a Danish newspaper's publication of several editorial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad led to protests in various countries, including Nigeria.
Adedokun continued:
The trouble is that this evil spirit of violence who has a chokehold on our society is implacable. He has tasted vats of blood of the innocent and assumed a proprietary right over our lives. Violence in Nigeria happens, not because of intrepid and insensitive people who say things that make others feel bad. Rather, they stem from a cultivated attitude of those who think others’ lives are theirs to take, and they have no regard for any law that attempts to restrain their execution of mindless violence.
There is no legal basis for a trial of Chinakwe, according to Monday Ubani, the incoming second national vice president of the Nigeria Bar Association:
In the eye of the law, it is not criminal for somebody to name his or her dog after another person. It may be offensive by examining the circumstances under which the incident happened.
Nigerian Twitter users have condemned Chinakwe's incarceration. Nigerian musician Seun Anikulapo Kuti, the son of the legendary Fela Kuti, said:
Wer all our human right lawyers dey, dis Na serious injustice, why govt no arrest obj wey name chimpanzee Patience? https://t.co/99nGwYonZA
— Seun Anikulapo Kuti (@RealSeunKuti) 24 de agosto de 2016
Where are our human right lawyers? This is serious injustice, why did the government not arrest OBJ who named his chimpanzee Patience?
OBJ stands for former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who once owned a pet chimpanzee named Patience, supposedly after Patience Jonathan, the wife of another former president, Goodluck Jonathan. Obasanjo campaigned against Jonathan in Nigeria's 2015 presidential election, which current President Muhammadu Buhari won.
Reno Omokiri, new media spokesman of former President Jonathan, argued in a tweet that more should have heeded his words:
Remember when I said this? I was insulted and ridiculed but time has vindicated me. Expect more like this. pic.twitter.com/JGvjpwej7m
— Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) August 22, 2016
Omokiri was referring to his August 11 tweet: “If you want to know whether there is change in Nigeria, insult PMB [Muhammadu Buhari] the way you insulted GEJ [Goodluck Jonathan] and you will know the true meaning of ‘change'!” Buhari ran on a platform of “change” against Jonathan in last year's vote.
Twitter user MaziNze chided the police for double standards:
Fulani herdsmen not in jail
those who killed for blasphemy roaming free
it is the buhari dog owner that is in jail
good morning Nigeria
— maziNze™ (@hand2ome) August 24, 2016
The ethnic Fulani cattle herders have been accused of invading farming communities in Nigeria, leaving death on their trail.
And in June, a woman was killed by a mob in Kano for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Mohammed. A similar fate was visited on another lady in July, who was hacked to death in the nations capital, Abuja by suspected Muslim fanatics.
Kemi shared this photographs of Ali Baba, a Nigerian comedian, and his dogs which were named after world celebrities and leaders:
Meet Ali Baba &his dogs, OBJ, IBB, Obama, Abacha, Thatcher&Chaka
He shared memorable experience with his DOGS
Enjoy👇pic.twitter.com/Qfdw1PCmbZ
— Kemi Ariyo (@d_problemsolver) August 24, 2016
Chinakwe has reportedly been released on bail, according to human rights activist Inibehe Effiong. He wrote on Facebook that two people — one from the north and another from the south — donated the necessary money for his legal feels. He explained:
Anyone that is still in doubt about the political nature of this case should search his inner conscience closely. Those using ethnicity, religion and political sentiments to obfuscate this case should know that Nigeria is a country of laws.
The human rights community will never sit back and watch innocent citizens being traumatised and dehumanized.
The fact that the two persons who donated this money are from the North and the South West, respectively, shows that the bonds of brotherhood and egalitarianism among patriotic Nigerians are superior to the whimsical and repulsive commentaries of the ethnic and religious bigots.


Fake Certificates: NUT Supports Sacking Of State Teachers In Kaduna - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (F.BA)
December 3, 2021
Chairman of the Union Ibrahim Dalhatu told journalists in Kaduna that the union would not defend any teacher with fake certificates.
Dalhatu, while commenting on the competency test for public primary school teachers, said the union’s decision not to participate in the test had not changed. According to him, only the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN has the mandate to test and certify a professional teacher and not any state government agency. He explained that Union will participate in any test if the Kaduna SUBEB wants to assess the performance of members and should follow them to the class and assess them while they are teaching pupils.
The NUT National Executive Council had on November 18 ordered its members in Kaduna State not to participate in the competency test organised by the state government.
Deputy National President of the union Kelvin Nwankwo, who gave the order, insisted that teachers’ competence had been proved by various accredited universities and colleges of education. According to him, the NUT affirms and relies on the provisions of Section 1 of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN Act 2004, which made provisions for the regulation and control of the teaching profession.


Sri Lanka: Why The Students Protest · Global Voices
Rezwan

“Sri Lankan University students regularly protest and the police regularly beat them up,” opines Indi.ca and discusses the reasons behind their protests.


Seychelles: Monitoring Seychelles Turtles · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Learn about Seychelles turtles in Seychelles from volunteers and researchers at Marine Conservation Society Seychelles


10 dogs owned by Anambra school proprietor devour two-year-old prospective pupil | EduCeleb
18th September 2021
Ten dogs belonging to the proprietor of Global Growth Academy, Amokpo, Umuanunwa, Nteje, in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State have reportedly devoured a two-year-old prospective pupil.
The school owner was identified as Chinedu Oka, a UK returnee fondly called Chinedu Okaa London.
A resident said, “A parent took the child to the school for enrollment on Monday when the incident happened. The owner of the school rears dogs in the school premises, despite the community’s warning against it.
“While the parent of the child was perfecting the documentation and registration of the child, the child wandered off.
“On sighting the baby, the dogs rushed at him and dragged him into their pen where about 10 of them devoured the two-year-old boy without any school official on hand to rescue him.
“The Nteje community, where the incident happened, culturally prohibits rearing of dogs. It’s a taboo to rear dogs here. The UK returnee was warned, but he refused to adhere to the community’s instructions.”
Continuing, the source told Punch Newspaper that, irked by the incident, the vigilante youths in the community invaded the school compound and shot the dogs dead.
The traditional ruler of Nteje, Igwe Rowland Odegbo, confirmed the incident.
He said that Chinedu Okaa London knew that dogs were prohibited in Nteje community but still went ahead to rear them.
“The young man knows that we don’t accommodate dogs in our community and he went ahead to surround himself with dogs despite warning from the community.
“To us, the young man committed murder and it is an abomination in our community to kill someone.
“We have handed him over to the appropriate authorities and we will make sure that justice is served because we don’t condone evil.
“The youths have killed and burnt the dogs and we are in support of their action,” the traditional ruler stated.
Meanwhile, the school has been deserted as parents hurriedly withdrew their children and wards on hearing about the tragic incident.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Ikenga Tochukwu, confirmed the incident, adding that the situation had been put under control.


Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela: Chance meeting in Second Life · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Trinidad blogger Taran Rampersad is delighted to meet a Venezuelan in Second Life: “Perhaps this is the start of a bridge across a geographic divide. So far I've met people from around the world, but there's something magical about meeting someone from right next door.”


Trinidad & Tobago placed under a ‘weather emergency’ alert · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Overcast skies in Trinidad and Tobago on the afternoon of November 26, 2022, as the country experienced a weather system that produced high levels of rainfall and consequent flooding. Photo used with permission.
Following a yellow level Adverse Weather Alert from the country's Meterological Office, Trinidad and Tobago was put under a national emergency weather warning on November 26. In the context of “further incoming heavy rainfall over the next two days,” the Office of the Prime Minister posted the announcement on its Facebook page, citing “excessively heavy rains” and water courses “at or […] close to capacity”:
Already there is significant damage to our road infrastructure in very many parts of the country. We are anticipating increased flooding and landslides in susceptible areas.
Prime Minister Keith Rowley encouraged citizens to stay indoors if possible, and reassured the public that the relevant state agencies were mobilised to assist in what he termed “very threatening circumstances.”
The wet season, which typically runs from June to December, has been a particularly active one this year. By mid-morning on November 26, several rivers across the country were at dangerously high levels:
Reported River Levels based on eye-witness reports across Trinidad.
Multiple rivers are at capacity with flooding ongoing. While there are no Riverine Flood Alerts/Watches/Warnings from the TTMS, don’t wait on one to prepare! https://t.co/3U4GeqbIBm pic.twitter.com/hy9CdnUXKF
— TTWeatherCenter (@TTWeatherCenter) November 26, 2022
Images and videos of widespread flooding, as well as warnings about potentially dangerous areas, were soon being shared on social media channels like WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter:
Mayaro /Guayaguayare is officially blocked off from the rest of Trinidad
Manzan road closed.
Pool River, Rio Claro,.impassable
Biche(impassable )and Navet Flooded.
Landslide in Guayaguayare
— Zakiya Griot Gill (@iZaki_IV) November 26, 2022
Just the day before, the Manzanilla Stretch, which runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean on the eastern coast of Trinidad, was blocked off to vehicular traffic following flooding that caused parts of the road to cave in. Video of the scene was shared widely on WhatsApp:
On Twitter, @TTWeatherCenter reported:
10 AM – Over the last 10 hours, persisting rainfall has triggered significant flooding and landslides mainly across Trinidad.
Rains are forecast to continue today and tomorrow, with additional flooding likely.
Full weather update: https://t.co/3U4GeqbaLO pic.twitter.com/JNUH8yzsLt
— TTWeatherCenter (@TTWeatherCenter) November 26, 2022
Low-lying Central Trinidad seemed particularly hard hit:
Significant flooding at Mamoral, interior Central Trinidad as the Caparo River and its tributaries overtop.https://t.co/3U4GeqbIBm pic.twitter.com/iKm2AoGAbk
— TTWeatherCenter (@TTWeatherCenter) November 26, 2022
Officers from the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service conduct high-water rescues at Perseverance, Couva on Saturday afternoon following significant flooding.https://t.co/3U4GeqbaLO pic.twitter.com/OktvxEY35k
— TTWeatherCenter (@TTWeatherCenter) November 26, 2022
In addition to flooding, other areas were experiencing landslips and felled trees:
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has given assurances that all relevant authorities have been mobilised and are working to deal with the flooding and landslides fallout of the current cycle of adverse weather affecting Trinidad and Tobago.
Learn more… https://t.co/b73klaYsoS pic.twitter.com/WEWlSP2k1S
— T&T Guardian (@GuardianTT) November 26, 2022
Just after midday, the Meterological Office had added a yellow-level Riverine Flood Alert to its existing yellow-level weather alert; by early afternoon, it was being reported that key routes were under water:
The last available North-South route along Eastern Trinidad, the Cunapo Southern Main Road, is being flooded.
Once this route becomes impassable as floodwaters rise, all North-South routes in eastern Trinidad would become inaccessible. https://t.co/3U4GeqbIBm pic.twitter.com/M13BXEUeBd
— TTWeatherCenter (@TTWeatherCenter) November 26, 2022
Many roadways across the country had already been rendered impassable earlier in the day.
Shortly before 3:00 p.m. local time (UTC-4), the Met Office explained:
A low-level trough is passing Trinidad and Tobago […] and, at this time, we continue to have the low-level moisture convergence associated with it. There is also some support in the mid to upper levels of the atmosphere for the development of deep convective activity, which can produce heavy showers and thunderstorms over some areas.
It also noted that any run-off would be slow, given that high tide is estimated to happen at approximately 5:30 p.m. on November 26, 2022, and again at 6:55 a.m. and 6:24 p.m. on November 27.
Aerial footage of some of the flooding gave some idea of its scope. One video of the St. Joseph river overtopping showed a lot of garbage — much of it discarded plastic bottles — trapped against a bridge as the water rushed on. Littering is a phenomenon that is a major contributor to the country's flooding problems. The fact that so much of the trash consists of single-use plastics also raises concerns about public awareness of the climate crisis, especially since Trinidad and Tobago is a signatory to several Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) on climate change.
The Adverse Weather Alert will stay in effect until 8:00 p.m. on November 26, even though rain is expected to continue for a few days.


Singapore: Confucian Democracy · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

From a Singapore Angle explains that, when Singapore policy makers say that the country's path follows a “Confucian” way or reflects Asian values, it's really talking not to Singaporeans or to other Asians but to world opinion leaders, particularly that of the Liberal West.


Enough With the ‘Us Versus Them Mentality’—We Are All Trinidadian · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Chinese-Trinidadian Lily Kwok's photo, which she posted publicly on Facebook, in an effort to counteract racial stereotyping.
The online retaliation by Trinidad and Tobago citizens of Chinese descent over the latest surge of racial stereotyping against them is attracting a lot of attention. The anti-Chinese sentiments were ignited by a video of a couple — allegedly at a local Chinese restaurant — skinning a dog. It went viral on social media and was exacerbated by inflammatory comments by the country's health minister.
One “Chinee girl” (as they are sometimes referred to in Trinidad), Lily Kwok, couldn't take it anymore and posted a photo of herself on Facebook holding a placard that said, “I will not ‘Go back to China’. I am Trinidadian.” She was immediately supported by a slew of like-minded citizens, some of Chinese descent, some not.
Her spunk and outspokenness so affected blogger Rhoda Bharath that she interviewed Kwok about the experience of living in her Chinese skin in Trinidad and Tobago. Bharath introduced the post by summarising that Kwok “has Chinese parents, a lovely mind and a bruised spirit. She feels under represented, unempowered and overwhelmed”. As it turned out, the dog-skinning incident was not the first one that precipitated online anti-Chinese sentiment. Kwok recalled:
This first began with the incident of the 4 Chinese nationals who were involved in the stealing of the turtle eggs in June, 2015. I was absolutely flabbergasted […] As someone who loves animals and enjoys turtle-watching, I was very upset at the situation. But you know what else also upset me? The racialized comments that followed after on social media. There is no doubt in my mind that what those men did was criminal and they should be dealt with by the law accordingly. However, instead of purely focusing on the criminality of the action […] many comments diverged into racial stereotyping; assumptions that ‘Chinee people does eat anything’. Moreover, some comments went so far as to request that ‘all dem Chinee need to be sent back.’ I found this amusing considering that when pictures of people standing on leatherback turtles surface on social media, people rarely (if ever) involve ‘race’ in admonishing the acts.
Of the dog-skinning incident, she said:
No one denies that a dog is being skinned in the video. That is indeed a fact. And yes, Chinese nationals were once again involved in such an act. That is indeed a fact. But you know what are not facts? That the preparation of the dog to be eaten is any way connected to a Chinese restaurant, that dog meat is being used as a substitute for other meat in Chinese restaurants, and that ALL Chinese people and people of Chinese ancestry eat dog. Yet, even though these are not hard, substantiated facts, many people have made extremely racist and xenophobic comments surrounding them […]
Instead of focusing on the real issue at hand, which is having a meaningful discussion on animal rights and protection in Trinidad and Tobago, we have devolved into using the situation as a platform to unearth deep-seated racism towards Chinese people and people of Chinese ancestry.
Noting that complacency about these kinds of issues is dangerous, Kwok said that she deals with this kind of ethnic stereotyping “through education”:
Sometimes you have to remind someone of your own humanity and individuality. […] To cultivate unity, harmony and love within our society we must first begin to show love ourselves.
Three years ago, in time for Trinidad and Tobago's 50th anniversary of independence from Great Britain, Joshua Lue Chee Kong posted a photography project online that demonstrated just how deep-seated Trinidad and Tobago's racial perceptions were. He streamed the project into four “series” — Brown, White, Yellow and Black — and posed, as a Chinese person, in various stereotypical scenarios that made it evident, without saying a word, just how ridiculous these impressions are. The Brown Series was a play on the history of Indian indentured labourers who arrived in Trinidad and Tobago to work in the sugar cane fields post-Emancipation:
Photo by Keevan Chang On. Used with permission
The White Series took on the idea of light-skinned Trinidadians being entitled and carefree:
Photo by Keevan Chang On. Used with permission
The Yellow Series was almost prophetic, as it featured several images of Lue Chee Kong in a kitchen with packs of “dog meat”:
Photo by Keevan Chang On. Used with permission
Finally, the Black Series featured Lue Chee Kong at an intersection, poised to clean car windshields:
Photo by Keevan Chang On. Used with permission
It is astounding that these two posts are years apart; Lily Kwok could have been commenting on Joshua Lue Chee Kong's images when she said:
You, as a person in a ‘callaloo country […] have no right to humiliate or dehumanize another human being on the basis of their ‘status’ within the country. This ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality, perpetuated since the dawn of colonialism, is a little too old for 2015.


Malaysia: Fun Look at Sibu · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Kempua Talk takes a fun look at her hometown Sibu.