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<P>Dear all,</P>
<P>In commemoration of <A href="http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/">World
AIDS Day</A>, Rising Voices (<A
href="http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/">http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org</A>)
will be hosting a live chat on Wednesday, December 3rd at the 3 p.m. Nairobi
time:</P>
<P>7am (New York, EST)<BR>10am (Buenos Aires)<BR>12pm (London, GMT)<BR>2 pm
(Cape Town, Beirut)<BR>3pm (Nairobi, Moscow)<BR>5.30pm (New Delhi)<BR>8pm
(Beijing, Manila)<BR>9pm (Tokyo)<BR>11pm (Sydney)</P>
<DIV>To participate please go to: <A
href="http://www.worknets.org/chat">http://www.worknets.org/chat</A>. </DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Login instructions: Login using your name and then select the room you want
to join by clicking enter. Once in the room, select a font color on the left
side of the screen, then join the chat.</DIV>
<P>The chat will be facilitated by Serina Kalande and Daudi Were and the
discussion will build on a similar chat that Serina and Daudi organized back in
April of this year which asked the following question: "how can citizen media be
used to supplement and improve the mainstream media's coverage of the AIDS
epidemic?</P>
<P>This chat will start out focusing on two Rising Voices grantee
projects, <A
href="http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/repacted-kenya/">REPACTED</A> in
Nakuru, Kenya and <A
href="http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/aids-rights-congo/">AIDS
Rights Congo</A> based in Brazzaville. We will learn how both organizations
have implemented blogging and video outreach programs to spread awareness about
their initiatives in AIDS prevention and advocating for the rights of
HIV-positive individuals.</P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/repacted-kenya">http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/repacted-kenya</A>
and </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/aids-rights-congo/">http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/aids-rights-congo/</A></FONT></P>
<P>Other discussion topics include: What are the factors to weigh when
HIV-positive bloggers go public about their status? How can blogging support
networks form online? What about online forums? What are other new media tools,
such as mapping mashups, that can be used effectively?</P>
<P>If there are other topics that you would like to discuss during the chat,
please respond with your ideas. I hope that as many of you as possible can make
it.</P>
<P>As a primer to the conversation I encourage you all to take a look at a
recent post written by Juliana Rincón on Global Voices about <A
href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/11/27/aids-awareness-through-video/">AIDS
awareness through video</A>. Especially fascinating is a video podcast produced
by QAFBeijing, which interviews South African grand justice Edwin Cameron, the
country's only government official who has gone public about his HIV status.
</P>
<P><A
href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/11/27/aids-awareness-through-video/">http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/11/27/aids-awareness-through-video/</A></P>
<P>And here is a video of a fascinating conversation among the members of
the <A
href="http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/breaking-the-silence-in-kwa-mashu/">Breaking
the Silence in Kwa Mashu</A> project about the fear of discussing HIV
status in their community.</P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/breaking-the-silence-in-kwa-mashu/">http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/projects/breaking-the-silence-in-kwa-mashu/</A></FONT></P>
<DIV>All the best, </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>David Sasaki</DIV>
<DIV>Rising Voices</DIV>
<DIV><A
href="mailto:osopecoso@gmail.com">osopecoso@gmail.com</A><BR></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>