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<font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Hi to everybody,<br>
<br>
I was reading some of the postings regarding what is a telecentre.
While I do agree in some issues that Don expressed. I want to highlight
based on my experience of working directly with impoverished groups and
grassroots organizations that the use of a telecentres to attend
their
demands and needs. In my experience it does not exist a model. It
depends on the dynamics of a community to community. Not on the
dynamics of the telecentre because the telecentre is just a tool to
full fill the needs and demands of a community.<br>
<br>
In some telecentres specially if you read the state of the art of
telecentres in Latin america and the Caribe you will find that it exist
telecentres with no tele. Connectivity is still and issue to sort out
problems specially in urban marginalize areas and rural areas. The high
costs of communication in Ecuador are the biggest challenge. But it did
not stop
the use of digital technologies in the community to attend their
demands as an instrument linked to their own ways of communciation. So
you find telecentres with no tele (no connectivity) and
they are doing a good use of it and a strong impact in the community. <br>
<br>
I want to highlight in the list of a telecentre the social use of it to
attend their demands. How do they use a telecentre as an instrument to
access to medicaments, food, reduce violence, work with people who are
disable and give them real opportunities of job and raise their
standards of
living, access to education, health services among others if the
communities highlighted as a need. You also
can find stories and examples in how a community use a telecentre when
they are going through a problem <br>
As I learn more of the failures than from the success, one of the
biggest mistakes that we did is to give importance to the instrument
and not the dynamics of the community and their needs, that is why we
confuse what is a telecentre and a cybercafe :-). The other mistake si
that we talk the same works but the meaning is aboslutelly different.
We are advocating inside somos@telecentros to call somos@comunity using
telecentres. Because the telecentre is just the instrument and nothing
more.<br>
I also want to highlight that some of the countries specially the
northern ones has money to support community base telecentres and the
money came form the government. In our cases are the community who are
finding tools to attend the demands and NGO's are doing the work of the
government. The biggest agenda of connectivity have failed in most of
the countries because they are still searching for a model that is
profitable and they are not looking for the sustainability model that
works in the communities based on their human capital. Sustainability
for us is social, political, technological and financial based on the
mission of the telecentre to attend the needs of the community. More
information and examples you can find in the following url.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.tele-centros.org/tcparaque">www.tele-centros.org/tcparaque</a> click english version<br>
We gathered stories and experiences of community base telecentres in
the region as well. Hope this illustrates better.<br>
<br>
karin<br>
Board member of somos@telecentros<br>
Latin American and the Caribbean<br>
Community base telecenters network<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.tele-centros.org">www.tele-centros.org</a> <br>
<br>
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<br>
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