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Chronology of a new transit camp on the Tunisian border (Part 2 of 2): Going live
Part 1: Like clockwork | Part 2: Going Live 10:45 – The distribution of relief items starts At the far end of the camp, four volunteers led by Arturo, a logistics specialist from the French Red Cross, get basic relief items ready for distribution. The items are NFIs, as we call them, or non-food items.…
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Chronology of a new transit camp on the Tunisian border (Part 1 of 2)
Part 1: Like clockwork | Part 2: Going Live 06:00 – Base camp wakes up Base camp wakes up. A cool breeze has risen along with the bright sun, whipping up sand and dust. The first crews of volunteers move out to the transit camp at Ras Jedir. Some of the volunteers, like 32-year-old Moaz, have…
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Ras Jedir: feverish early days and freezing nights
ZERZES, 4 April 2011 — “We stopped everything we were doing”, exclaims Mahfoud Bessah, the 39-year-old community-based programme coordinator at IFRC’s regional delegation in Tunis. On 21 February, he headed over to the eastern border immediately upon hearing the first reports of people crossing over. The Tunisian Red Crescent and UNHCR were already discussing how…
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TOC Frankfurt Ignite! Presentation: Of Emergencies, E-Books, and Literacy
In this session, Reda Sadki, will examine his own organisation’s non-profit publishing activities. With 750 publications given away each year in print and on the web, he has initiated an effort to rewire a traditional publishing workflow into a digital one, including the use of XML for layout automation, print-on-demand (POD) and e-books. Reda Sadki is…
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What is a system?
Donella H. Meadows wrote the following simple, eloquent description of what is a system: “A system isn’t just any old collection of things. A system must consist of three kinds of things: elements, interconnections, and a function or purpose. A system is an interconnected set of elements that is coherently organized in a way that…
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Survivre au sida: Celebrating life to fight racism, poverty, and disease in the poor suburbs of Paris
Click on the audio player’s right arrow to listen to the radio show. Arab and African families were hit hard by the AIDS epidemic in France. They were amongst the first to be diagnosed in the early 1980s. The conjunction of poverty and racism then resulted in thousands of infections that were preventable and deaths…
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A few of my favorite excerpts from George Siemens’s Knowing Knowledge (2006)
My own practice (and no doubt yours) has been shaped by many different learning theorists. George Siemens, for me, stands out articulating what I felt but did not know how to express about the changing nature of knowledge in the Digital Age. Below I’ve compiled a few of my favorite excerpts from his book Knowing Knowledge, published in 2006,…
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Colonialism and disease: tuberculosis in Algeria
Tuberculosis in Algeria as part of colonization: high death rates and false explanations During French colonial rule in Algeria (1830-1962), tuberculosis became a major killer disease. The French brought this deadly sickness with them when they invaded Algeria. Before the French came, tuberculosis was not a big problem for Algerian people. The disease spread quickly…
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How to Solve It
Understanding the problem First. You have to understand the problem. Devising a plan Second. Find the connection between the data and the unknown. You may be obliged to consider auxiliary problems if an immediate connection cannot be found. You should obtain eventually a plan of the solution. Carrying out the plan Third. Carry out your…
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