Back...and hard at work!

How about a quick recap of the month's events for those still linked to my RSS feed (oh you loyal followers)?!

It's been a busy month. While others may have been celebrating dead presidents, or enjoying the Oscars, I was in the midst of a month of meetings. The project I've been working on with my neighbor took more tangible shape in February, as members of The Hub in London came to Oaxaca for several weeks to conduct an analysis of the city as a site for a future Hub. The study was sponsored by Halloran Philanthropies, for which Mark (the neighbor in question) works. My role as node began.

Apparently, I got on a kick introducing people to one another, as in addition to connecting the London "Hubbers" to those I know in town (media people, NGO's, government henchmen), I also started formally setting up meetings between my government contacts in Oaxaca with some pretty stellar private companies that have social missions (like this one). If I can't offer something concrete myself to shape the betterment of Oaxaca--the least I can do is get the right people in the room together to see if they can! There's an exciting convergence of events taking place in Oaxaca right now. Here's a quick two for the list:

1. A small groups that works closely with the government have grand ideas about instilling proper urban planning to the city and state, fomenting sustainable markets in the greater Oaxacan valley, offering dignified employment and education to citizens. They are calling it Plan 2032--in honor of the year Oaxaca will turn 500. It's almost unheard of in México (especially southern México) for there to be any kind of long-term planning, let alone thoughts to sustainability.

2. There's private interest in encouraging social entreprenuers and innovators here in México. Halloran Philanthropies is just one of several organizations that have their eyes towards the emerging markets of Latin America. So the question is can those who are here get connected to those reserves and support?

So it's hard to explain my role in this--and how that fills my day. I guess "meetings & research" is what seems the most concise. You see, media will play a big part in getting people connected, communicating ideas, and trasnmitting and measuring progress. That's where I come in! I'm trying to prepare myself to expand my expertise and experience beyond merely radio. There's a real move in the world now to use narrative in interesting ways to educate, fund raise and inform. That can manifest itself in a number of ways--multi-media slideshows, regular podcasts, media mapping. The sky's the limit!

A têt-a-têt amongst friends.
Can you pick out my feet?

On that note, let me briefly explain a few of the personal projects I'm working on. The first is a youth radio course. It feels like I've had my head buried in this project for years. I was working with a colleague in Tlaxiaco on developing a youth radio course for kids in her village in the Mixteca. But when things got a little challenging, and we had some negative feedback from a local authority, my cohort lost interest. The project stalled--and I was feeling like I was back at zero again. So lots of February has been spent jumpstarting the project again by looking for other potential collaborators. I've met with Unitierra (an alternative education "university"), with the Red de Radios Comunitarios, with people from Casa Chapulin, with Radio Plantón, with volunteers through Amigos de las Américas, with Ojo de Agua (an indigenous media org), with media grad students...the list goes on. I've adapted a radio course curriculum that I wrote last year to fit with various incarnations of the project. I've applied for grants to support the ideas. And I've stared at my computer screen for more hours than I'd like to admit.

The second project is a media mapping idea I've been floating around in my head. Have you guys seen Google Earth? Perhaps you've gone and plugged in your own address so that you can zoom in from space, all the way down to a bird's eye view of your house? Well, Google Earth also offers some pretty amazing software that allows you to plot pinpoints on a map, and attach those pinpoints to media of any kind. I've thought for a while that I'd like to make some audio about the people who live in my own neighborhood--a pretext to knock on their doors with wild abandon, if you will. And then I became aware of some NGO's that are using Google Earth's mapping function to the tell the stories of the work they do. Here are a few I've taken a look at recently: charity:water, open sound new orleans and saving the sierra. The first stage of the work will be simple: map my neighborhood. I'll use Xochimilco as the ground for a pilot of the mapping project. I'm currently looking for a few photographers with whom to collaborate, perhaps a web/animator person, as well. Then we'll be begin telling the stories of my hood using photo essays, audio, mixing them both in slide shows, essays. What we learn from the pilot will serve us to launch a broader project in Oaxaca. One idea is to develop a class in different neighborhoods and communities in Oaxaca. Teach youth and adults alike to do the same in their areas. Another idea is to use the same mapping tools for the future Hub here in Oaxaca. It would be like an interactive database of Hub members. You could do a search under theme/topic and then watch 1-minute audio slide shows of said member. Or once the data was laid out geographically on a map of the city and state, you could hover over pinpoints to "get to know" the groups working in your area. The members themselves could use the media capsules (if they are audio or visual) to repurpose for their own internal use. Make sense? So first do the pilot; then pitch it to the Hub!

In other news, I've been keeping busy creatively. I painted my living room at the close of January, which was a true test in upper body strength. I've taken to playing my ukelele again. A composer friend of mine has been giving me some "lessons" over the last weeks. I can already say that I play with much more facility than when I took up the ukelele 6 years ago and attempted to teach myself over the summer. Now I can pluck and strum with a bit more agility. I have no idea of the chords still--so I can't actually place you a veritable song. But oh boy, could I wow you with some scales and finger picking! And of course, I've continued marking the days with delicious food and good company. I leave you with three recent culinary delights!

A Hub dinner "meeting" Colorful and delicious!

A nostalgic meal: peanut butter, honey and banana sandwich, with bread from the local Italian baker.

And my first crack at making the traditional dish of Entomatadas.