Informatics without borders is a great project started out in Padova, Italy in 2005 which aims at bridging the digital divide.

The primary goal of this Non Profit Organization is to use technologies and IT knowledge  to effectively and directly help people in difficult and neglected situations, given the fact that Information Technology is an essential pre-requisite to the economic and social development.

Informatics Without Borders is carrying projects in emerging countries as well as in Italy (hospitals, prisons, and schools) which provide basic IT courses for children and adults, small Information Systems for some peculiar reality such as the Brescia’s long hospitalization department for children, or some hospitals in Africa’s rural zones, (Open Hospital), which helps manage the day-to-day operations in small hospitals.

Informatics Without Borders has seven regional department to date and more than 200 affiliates , both from the IT world and not, who are actively helping the organization.

To learn more about Informatics Without Borders we invite you to visit their site at:

www.informaticisenzafrontiere.org

This is a post to suggest Tanzania to all our traveller friends  as a possible trip destinations in the near or far away future. That’s because January and February are amongst the best months to visit this country together with June to October

Why Tanzania? For a lot of reasons. Extraordinary people, many different cultures and ethnic group to understand more about this immense continent – Africa, some of the most stunning parks and natural reserve of the world (Serengeti, Ngoro Ngoro), the chance of going easily off the beaten track to some remote destinations (Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganica), and, if you’re physically fit, the opportunity of climbing Kilimanjaro, being at 5,895 metres (19,341 feet) the tallest mountain of the whole African continent.

And then there’s Zanzibar Island, wich is gorgeous, but don’t fly straight there. this would be an offence to the magical African Skies, to the bright red dusty tracks, to the Bantu, Maasai, Sukuma, Nyamwezi, Chagga, Gogo, Kutu, Mwera…

If you want to travel helping the local economy avoiding the ugly western tour operators take a look at our page Suggestions – Responsible Travel. You will find detailed description of the local agency (our friends in Arusha) – www.ilmaasai.com – they could help you. Don’t forget to read info on the Mto Wa Mbu local association. It’s a beautiful project that we have personally experienced.

This is a post to make you dream, in these rainy February days (at least in our town – Turin).

Suggestions

Images – Pictures

Maps and Itineraries

Machu Picchu, one of the most beautiful places on Earth that we have visited in 2002, suffered severe floods that caused casualties and isolation. The newspapers reported nothing about the people who live there in the nearby villages and their difficulties, instead all the reports are about the 1500 tourists who were evacuated by helicopters. Even the name of the village at the foot of Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes, which is the base from where all the tours to the Inca’s Lost City is omitted.

These are probably mere coincidences, but it looks like that these climate change related disasters occur more often than in the past.

The Earth shakes and moves its surface like in the terrible catastrophe of Haiti, and sadly the news about this tragedy are disappearing rapidly from the headlines all over the world much faster than it did for the Tsunami in Indonesia in 2004.

News sucks. Life sucks.

In all these years of travelling we’ve seen a lot and there’s a hundred times more to see. There is so much to see that a whole life isn’t enough. We had the impression of having been across remote borders and in some cases maybe we did, but outside any border there is still another land, another sky and space which is new, unique and irreplaceable. To see things, to travel, find out, leave and come back to start over… until where it is possible, at least. And then feeling a bit of envy  for those who will be able (a thousand years from now) to go toward the end of the universe.

From the Italian news magazine “Internazionale” (The International”) :

“This video shows a mock-up of a trip across the whole known universe. The animation begins from the heights of the Himalayas toward the moon orbit, the solar system, our galaxy (the milky way) on to nearest and then the far distant galaxies ever reach by our telescopes, some of them are at a staggering distance of over one billion light years away”.

From BBC News:

“Peru’s Supreme Court has upheld a 25-year jail sentence imposed on former President Alberto Fujimori.
The term was handed down last April for ordering the security forces to carry out killings and kidnappings.
Fujimori, who led Peru from 1990 to 2000, returned from exile in late 2007 to face his accusers.
It was the first time a democratically elected Latin American leader was found guilty of human rights abuses in his own country.
Fujimori had denied overseeing a death squad as part of a “dirty war” against suspected Maoist Shining Path guerrillas in the early 1990s.
But he was convicted of directing the killings of 25 people, following a 15-month trial.
Fujimori is serving three other concurrent prison sentences.
In September last year, he was found guilty of illegally tapping phones and bribing journalists, businessmen and opposition politicians.
Last July, he was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years for giving $15m (£9.3m) in state funds to his spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos.
And in 2007, he was sentenced to a six-year term on separate charges of abuse of power.
After his government was brought down in 2000, Fujimori escaped to Japan, where his parents were born, and lived in exile for seven years”.

During our trip to Central America in 2008 we’ve been lucky to encounter while snrorkeling along the coast of Belize these gentle and shy creatures who were slowly swimming in the deep blue. It’s not that easy to see them, so it’s been a moving experience.
A group of scientist has recently published a research wich reveals many peculiarities of this strage mammal and also explains why they have to migrate along dangerous routes undersea in some seasons. If you wish to learn more about Manatees and their habits, go to this link from the BBC

In the meantime enjoy the show……

From BBC

“President Evo Morales seems set to push ahead with the implementation of a new constitution to place indigenous peoples at the heart of Bolivia’s government and society after his victory in Sunday’s presidential election.

A poor result for the opposition suggests an easier passage for social reforms and a lessening of demands for secession by departments traditionally opposed to Mr Morales, according to analysts.

Preliminary results say that Mr Morales, an Aymara Indian and Bolivia’s first indigenous president, won at least 61% of the vote, easily defeating his conservative opponents.

That is a higher percentage than he won in 2005 when he was elected for his first mandate”.

From BBC News

Nepal is to hold a cabinet meeting on Mount Everest to highlight the threat global warming poses to glaciers.
On 4 December prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and those politicians physically fit enough will ascend 17,192ft (5,250m) to base camp.
In October the Maldives held a cabinet meeting underwater to warn of the effect of rising sea levels.
This meeting, to be held before the Copenhagen climate conference, aims to highlight Himalayan glacier melt.
With ice in the region melting at a rapid rate, lakes have been formed which could flood nearby villages.
Melted ice and snow also makes mountaineering routes more hazardous.

Many years ago…

From BBC: “At least 124 people have been killed in El Salvador by flooding and landslides following days of heavy… President Mauricio Funes has declared a national emergency, describing the damages as “incalculable”. The capital San Salvador and central San Vicente province were the hardest-hit regions…Large parts of El Salvador are without electricity or clean water and remain cut off from government aid…”

We hope that all our friends there are safe.

For more news: www.laprensagrafica.com