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Rising Voices is one the most fabulous aspects of the work we do at Global Voices. Citizen media activists in remote corners of the world are awarded micro-grants of up to $5000 to get members of their community to start blogging. I never imagined indigenous communities in Bolivia, or prison inmates in Jamaica would respond with such gusto. The whole project is so fun, and life-affirming. Enabling people to speak for themselves in a public space is so simple and yet so meaningful.

We have just announced 6 new Rising Voices projects that are all centered on public health (thanks to OSI funding). There were over 100 applications. What really struck me reading through the them, was how many people who had never worked with computers or citizen media, simply assumed they would be able to pick up blogging, podcasting, or online video with only little assistance. Attitudes to citizen media are changing rapidly, even where there are power shortages, or long distances to the nearest internet café.

Check out the Rising Voices trailer by David Sasaki. Keep in mind, it documents only one year of activity!