International Day Against Female Genital Mutilation (9)
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Dear Wyva:
I don't believe that anything I wrote implied that the issue
is too complicated to discuss by e-mail.
Correct:-)
I also did not "advertise" any solution for FGM.
Correct:-)
At first, I just deleted Christian's message because
it seemed so unnecessarily rude, and seemed to attack
opinions rather than discuss opinions.
Sorry if it seemed rude, I was indeed saying that the discussion is
possible by e-mail (whereas another author than you meant that FGM
can not be discussed by e-mail).
What I was further saying is that there is a need to expand the audi-
ence of those e-mails and online discussions using radio satellite
technologies combined with second-hand PCs equipped with Linux (the
free operating system and desktop). This would allow anyone on the
African continent to tune to such conference by receiving e-mails
through a PC-link between the digital radio (AfriStar) and a second-
hand PC running Linux.
I gather that the cost of Internet and phone bills even in countries
like Botswana are high and that not everyone can afford a state-of-
the-art computer + software. A digital radio system would allow per-
sons to receive e-mails without having to pay phone bills. In that
respect I "jumped" - if you wish - on the occasion, to show that is-
sues like FGM can perfectly be discussed by e-mail and that e-mails
could even become a medium of choice to discuss them.
In the case of satellite diffusion of e-mails, the question of the
feedback (the possibility of an audience to respond and to contribute
to e-mail conferences) may be slightly more complicated because re-
mote areas do not have access to phone lines (to send their answers
back to a server). But using open-source solutions such as Linux, it
is possible to combine simple PC-technologies to circumvent lack of
phone lines infrastructures.
Unfortunately I realise that except some IT-experts not many people
are aware of the existence of those technologies, even of the name
Linux. I did not find any distribution of Linux in Southern African
magazines and scientists I met who were using GNU tools on expensive
research instruments did not know themselves what GNU or GPL meant.
We need to inform African communities about those free tools and how
they can help expanding communication and opening businesses.
The emotional, medical and cultural dimension of issues like FGM show
that such debates are important and should not be limited to a small
group but should include the persons directly involved. South Africa
is facing a similar debate regarding the rights of women within the
tradition of polygamy and with regards to its constitution. The need
to include the population concerned is fundamental, and often the
cost of technology (cost of air-plane flights, cost of television,
cost of phone lines, cost of newspapers) is an obstacle to this com-
munication.
Low cost communications such as e-mails and combined with satellite
technologies may help to reach a much wider audience. Thus we need to
learn how to use them.
It is time for us to stress the need to use those technologies and to
undergo end-to-end e-mail tests with satellites.
... outsiders involved can be seen as attacking people's beliefs
Correct:-)
Your two messages have helped realising that.
Yet this is another aspect of e-mails that is difficult. If e-mail
conferences are widely broadcasted at no cost for the recipients,
they may be perceived as a "propaganda" tool. But the nature of asyn-
chronous communication such as e-mails allows more interaction to
counterbalance this propaganda effect.
For example, I was not siding neither with you nor with Rana, but was
suggesting a set of questions that Rana's proposal could logically
raise. The Gorgias of Plato (395BC) is full of examples of such ques-
tions and may serve as a standard to explore dialectically difficult
issues. It may seem rude at first sight, but it helps to reflect and
to promote a better understanding. This is why I stressed the fact
that e-mail conferences are more dialectical than the standard ones.
An e-mail conference is not a set of information but also an opportu-
nity to discuss them and to place them into prospective.
Further a multi-threaded conference allows to understand the complex-
ity on an *array* of issues and at a very low cost.
Thus I believe that we were more in agreement than it seemed:-)
Christian Labadie
mailto:CLabadie@t-online.de
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