Xenophobia - finding a solution!

by Tim Shier

The past two weeks represent a significant blot on the landscape of South Africa’s recent past; not since 1994 has the nation been shaken by such an upsurge of senseless violence. Attributed to xenophobia, these attacks, which have escalated in the past few days, have heightened concern at the QuirkStation and although it’s a hot topic, it seemed more appropriate to stop talking and see if there was anything we could do about it .

Over the past 24 hours, there have been some incredible developments in our attempt to use our skills where they will have the most impact. With this in mind, I am thrilled to say that we will be launching a “Web2.0” portal that will serve as a platform for all Africans to share information about the attacks, get information about the NGOs involved in mitigating the violence and provide an opportunity to cultivate a culture of tolerance while working together to affect change. This mash-up represents a collaboration between 9 different individuals, including the TEDsters who developed Ushahidi.com. All of them are African, and span upwards of 5 countries. This system is based on the Ushahidi.com infrastructure and uses the versatility of social media and the utility of the Geo-web (Google Maps) to disseminate information.

A more detailed post will be coming up as soon as this is live. Watch this space.

The site should go live this weekend on www.unitedforafrica.co.za , if you have any particular resources which you can offer the portal or if you have any recommendations please email me directly on tim [-at-] quirk.biz .

2008/05/23 | permalink | comments (4) | trackbacks (0)

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good one guys. *thumbsupx2*

Posted by enzo on 2008/05/23

Long time enzo : )

I have to agree ... awesome job guys!

Posted by Janine on 2008/05/23

I really believe that most of the anti-xenophobic South Africans are mostly those who are educated and/or those who are currently at a tertiary level of lerning, so I see no significance in having to just discuss the situation amongst ourselves and not come to a conclusion. If I were to come with a solution I will clearly make our South African brothers and/or sister to understand the situation of which our neighbours are attached to. These people attaching the imigrants should be informed about the imigrants because I believe they lack knowledge which is why they are angry, they need people who will inform them clearly so that they can calm themselves down. I truly believe we have all the powers to send that message even via the media and keep all the South Africans in one possition which is to be anti-xenophobic.

Posted by Nqobzah on 2008/05/23

Nqobzah, I completely agree - unitedforafrica is collaborating with various NGO's to find ways of getting this information through to effect ground level change.

Currently international media coverage is something we need (thus opening the gates for aid etc) and this site provides them with the resources to understand the extent to this situation.

Its 'a solution' and if there are enough solutions then we can implement substantial change.

Posted by Tim Shier on 2008/05/24

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Xenophobia - finding a solution!

by Tim Shier

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