Blog: Peru

Peru chooses its new president today for the next five years. I was in Ayacucho, Peru when the United States voted in 2004, and I'm here still in 2006. Most Peruvians can access the Internet, mostly through internet cabinas that rent out computers for about $.30 an hour, but the election didn’t spur creative internet uses and advances like it did in the United States during the last election.

The nonprofit Practical Action is teaching farmers in northern Peru ways to better grow crops and raise livestock - all through podcasts broadcasted on local radio  stations.

What a great outreach idea. Radio is by far the most used communication  mechanism in rural Peru, as it is in much of the developing world. And  using podcasts to broadcast on the radio is cost effective - organizations don't have to travel to remote, local stations. Ready to
play podcasts are also more likley to get air time than written statements that the announcer must read.

El primer foro sobre el Proyecto del Gas de Camisea y los Derechos de las Comunidades Impactadas se ocurió en Ayacucho el viernes y sabado pasado. No hube tiempo atender. Intenté sentarme y conectar una linea del internet por la cabina en el lugar mismo pero la linea hubo cortado recién a causa de fallando pagar la cuenta. La cabina mas cerca despues esta una quedaba 25 metros mas alla por la calle y decidí que mi punto de acceso de WiFi por falta poco no llegaría desde la cabina hasta el teatro del lugar.

Mañana intentaré conseguir una copia del video para los dos días en formato CD. Pasé por el lugar del foro en Sabado y una persona me dió un mosquito de tomaño entiro de una papel impremido en colores con fotos del proyecto y lo que dice "Luchemos por mayores recursos. El Gobierno debe distribuir en forma equitativa los beneficios del Gas de Camisea a las regiones impactadas." No hubo una direción en el papel diciendo de quien es el mensaje ni una direción pagina web, numero de teléfono tampoco...solo este mensaje. Escanearélo cuando encuentro un rato.

The first forum on the Camisea Gas [see Amazon Alliance's Camisea Resources] Project and the Rights of the Impacted Communities took place in Ayacucho this past friday and saturday. No time to attend. I tried to sit in and hook up a line from the internet cafe at the place, but their line was recently cut due to lack of payment. The next closest cafe was about 25 meters down the road and figured my wifi access point would not quite reach from there to the theater in the basement.

Tomorrow I will try to get a copy of the video of the two-day event on some CDs. I walked by on Saturday and a block away was handed a full page flyer, in color with pictures of the project which read "We struggle for better means...the government must distribute in an equal manner the benefits of the gas line to the impacted communities." There is no address on the flyer saying who it is being distributed by, or website, or phone number...just this message. I'll scan it in when I get a moment.

I am working out of an internet cafe (cabina) right now that runs all dual boot machines - both XP Windows and Debian Linux package. The cabina has 10 machines. Right now it looks like there is only one other person running linux, w 6 out of 10 machines occupied and Country Road playing over the speakers via mp3. A friend who works for Telefonica selling Internet connection contracts informed me there are now 1200 connections, commercial and private home, and about 800 of these connections are to run internet cafes. He told me this works out to about two cabinas on every block in Ayacucho. I took a cab to get to this one with my friend Carlos who is studying Informaticas at the University - UNSCH - this cabina is on the way out of Ayacucho, in a neighborhood about an 8 minute drive away from the center. 8 more minutes out and you would be well on your way to Huanta.

Has anyone gone to a website recently to find an answer to a heath related question? What were you looking, other than the answer? Why did you like or not like your experience on the site?

We are looking for examples of sites that people enjoy so we can duplicate what made it a positive experience for a website that we are designing in Peru. In the coming days Ian will be meeting with the Director of Public Health for the Department of Ayacucho to present Development Seed’s ideas on how to launch a public health information campaign targeted at young Ayacuchans.

Making the website for young Ayacuchans really work is going to take months of site design. Maybe not to get it off the ground right away but to make it look “really cool”, to make people not realize they are learning something technical but rather enjoying what they are learning. Yes of course someone that chooses to go to a public health site will want to learn but the trick with this site is to make learning as easy and stimulating so that users get the most out of it, without getting bored.