[Imc-africa] draft: "need $$ help for IMC-AFRICA at World Social Forum"

[Jay]

IMC-Africa,

I have some time today to send fundraising appeals to various IMC 
throughout the network.  I'll paste the text I plan to send below.  Is 
there anyone who could translate it into Spanish or French?  We already 
have a couple translations of the general call for participation, right?

Thank you to everyone who offered to help with this part of the 
fundraising!  When I asked for help I didn't figure there would be so many 
different fundraising initiatives going on at once, which is 
great.  Sending out e-mails to the different IMC will be tedious and may 
not yield so many results, so I thought about it some more and figure I'm 
willing do this part myself, leaving the rest of you more time to be 
involved with more important parts of the fundraising and other 
organizing.  I may need help responding to non-English-speaking IMCs if 
they want to participate.

Jay
***

Hi XXXXXX,

This is Jay from the Philadelphia IMC, the new-imc working group and other 
various Indymedia adventures.  I'm writing to ask if your IMC would 
participate in some small way in a really inspiring project that's being 
organized on the imc-africa at indymedia.org working group list.

At the end of January, 2007, the international World Social Forum 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Social_Forum) will take place in 
Nairobi, Kenya.  This is a great opportunity for Indymedia activists from 
Africa to meet with each other and with international activists to share 
skills and learn how to make indymedia work in their local areas.

In order to take advantage of this opportunity, the IMC-Africa working 
group, working with international supporters, has decided to host an 
Independent Media Center in Nairobi during the WSF.  The plan is to host a 
series of media-making working skill shares and many workshops (for 
example, formal consensus trainings by C.T. Butler of Food Not Bombs), as 
well as to provide coverage of the WSF online.  IMC-Africa is also working 
with the Prometheus Radio Project (http://www.prometheusradioproject.org) 
to build an on-air low power radio station for use during the WSF.  After 
the WSF, the radio equipment will move permanently to Kenya's Maseno 
Unversity where students will manage it -- it will become one of Kenya's 
only community radio voices.

To make this IMC project happen, IMC-Africa needs to raise at least $5000 
from the Indymedia network -- about $3000 for the radio equipment and at 
least $2000 for other logistics, like renting a space in Nairobi for the 
WSF and arranging internet and phone lines.

I'm writing to see if your IMC would be able to help make tthis 
possible.  Yes, we're asking you!  You can help substantially by having a 
fundraising party, band show, film screening or other kind of event some 
time in November to raise money for the project.  There are over 100 IMCs 
out there -- if each IMC rasises just a little money, IMC-Africa should be 
able to at least buy parts for the radio station and rent a space for two 
weeks in Nairobi.  Raising money this way -- a little from each IMC, with 
many local IMCs working together to make something happen -- is part of the 
promise of having a vast and powerful international network.

So, what do you think?  Could you put together an event in November and 
raise some money for imc-africa?  Any event would help, large or small.

Please feel free to e-mail me (jay at fundamentalchange.net) or call 
(215-386-8835) to ask any questions.  I'lll be happy to share relevant 
orgainzing and budget details with you.  Also, feel free to check out the 
imc-africa list archives directly through "http://lists.indymedia.org".

Thank you in advance for your help!  Again, any small amount will help.  Be 
creative, get involved!

Onward to Nairobi,
Jay
P.S. I'll paste the general WSF-Nairobi IMC call for participation below.

***

PROPOSAL for the creation of an Independent Media Center in Nairobi, Kenya, 
to provide communication within and about the World Social Forum (January 
20 to 25, 2007, with the IMC convergence starting on January 13)

VISION:
Organizers in Kenya, throughout Africa and around the world are working 
together, both on-line and in face-to-face meetings, to build a temporary 
independent media center in Nairobi, Kenya, to provide communication during 
the January '07 World Social Forum.  This "convergence-based" IMC will 
provide text-based, audio, and (potentially) video coverage of the World 
Social Forum, both on-line and through a local low-power radio station, 
enabling independent media coverage of the WSF during the forum itself as 
well as access through the world wide web to the WSF by an international 
audience.  Thousands of organizers will be coming to the World Social Forum 
from around the globe, especially from Africa; this IMC will empower 
activists (especially those in Africa) to create effective independent 
media institutions in their countries.  Also, all the equipment purchased 
for this IMC will remain in Kenya for use by other Kenyan independent media 
projects.

FINANCIAL NEEDS:
We are trying to raise $5000 to pay for all the necessary equipment and 
infrastructure.  All equipment bought will continue to be available to the 
Kenya IMC and independent media projects throughout the country after the 
WSF.  We will provide an itemized budget below.

KEY ORGANIZERS/SUPPORTERS:
-- the Kenya-IMC has been in existance since 2004 after sending several 
representatives to the African Indymedia conference in Dakar, Senegal.

-- the IMC-Africa working group, an Indymedia working group composed of 
African Indymedia activists and supporters from around the 
world.  (imc-africa at lists.indymedia.org)

-- Prometheus Radio Project (http://www.prometheusradio.org), an 
organization that supports and builds low-power-radio stations around the 
world, will provide technical advice and assistance for a low power radio 
station to be built in Nairobi for the duration of the WSF (with equipment 
to remain in Kenya for use by future low power radio initiatives)

-- students and faculty from Kenya's Maseno University, who will 
participate in ongoing independent media projects after the WSF is over.

TIMELINE:
We would like to have raised $5000 by the end of November, 2006.

CONTACT:
For more information about this proposal, please contact Sphinx 
(sphinx at indymedia.org) or Jay (jay at fundamentalchange.net).