When I was looking for a volunteer project in Latin America, I wanted to go with a grassroots organization instead of a larger and more institutionalized one. Deciding to concentrate on small organizations meant that it might be harder to find information about them and to find feedback from prior volunteers. This blog entry describes a small organization that deserves your attention if you found this entry by searching for something like "latin america volunteer."

The organization is called Asociación MAPU and most of its activities take place in or near Esquel, Argentina, in the province of Chubut, in northern Patagonia. It offers various volunteer projects on its Patagonia Volunteer Web site.

I found little independent information on the Web about MAPU, other than that it had won a UN award for virtual volunteering. So although I found no reports from prior volunteers, I decided to go for it. And I have no regrets.

Well... change almost everything.

This site has been offline for a while due to technical problems, and I have used the opportunity to make some significant changes. The site is now built on a real Open Source Content Management System (CMS), i.e. Drupal. The domain name has changed, from ".com" to ".org." While this may seem like a superficial change, I as a person will never be "for profit," instead aiming my interests at the non-profit world, therefore the domain name change seemed appropriate. (However it could be argued that a ".name" domain would have been more appropriate still.) With the new CMS comes a new template and therefore a new graphic design. The "excerpts from elsewhere" are also gone for the moment, but something similar will return in its place.

About the only things that haven't changed are the existing blog entries and the picture of Mexican bracelets at the top of the page, which I could not bear to part with.

A recent article in the Swiss Beobachter magazine called The Auto of the Future (in German) reviewed four examples of research in Switzerland to make lighter and more fuel-efficient autos. It's an example of technologists concentrating on one isolated problem (how to propel cars more efficiently) instead of taking the longer view (how does the steadily growing number of automobiles affect our quality of life). I wrote the following Letter to the Editor in response:

The video at www.meat.org uses hidden cameras to show how poultry, pigs and cows are treated on factory farms... and it's not pretty. The video proposes becoming a vegetarian or vegan as the solution to the inhumane treatment of animals and the environmental problems that factory farming cause. While I agree that industrialized countries consume more meat than is healthy, I don't agree with all the statements that are made (such as, "If you drink milk then you are supporting these practices"). I believe one can still eat dairy products and the occasional meat with a clear conscience if one buys from local organic farms.

The AIMS Workshop on Volunteer Computing took place on 16-20 July 2007 at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Muizenberg, South Africa (a suburb of Cape Town). Roughly 35 students from over 200 applicants from across Africa were selected. They came to learn about using BOINC, Open Source software for distributed computing, for projects in Africa. (Although I call the workshop attendees "students," back home they are predominately graduate students, researchers and professors.)

The workshop was funded by the Africa@Home project, whose goal is to promote distributed and Open Source computing in Africa. This was also a good match for the goals of our hosts at the AIMS, which during the academic year offers a nine-month post-graduate program in advanced mathematics, attracting students from the entire continent.

Since 2000, the Berne Declaration and ProNatura have organized the Public Eye on Davos, which takes a critical look at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, every January.

On January 24, 2007, the next installment of the Public Eye Awards will take place, on the opening day of the WEF. Not only will it shine a critical light on the sometimes unsavory activities of the multinational firms that attend the WEF, but it will also spotlight a company that "gets it" regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) and that is setting an example for others.

I was at a conference recently where a speaker, who was talking about global warming and Gaia and the complex interactions of Earth's systems, decided to lighten the mood with the following joke:

Two planets met one day, and the following exchange was overheard:
"My goodness, you look terrible! What's the matter?"
"I have been diagnosed with an advanced case of homo sapiens."
"Well, I hope you get well soon!"

I recently came across a "call for participation" from an author who is writing a book on happiness: what it is, and where it is. The author has a hypothesis based on a "geography of happiness, [...] that place matters, that where we live has an impact on our life's bliss gradation."

According to the World Database of Happiness, Switzerland ties with Denmark and Malta as the happiest countries on Earth. The author plans to visit a number of countries, including the happiest as well as the unhappiest (Moldova) to test his hypothesis. A Swiss friend of his has invited Swiss (or people living in Switzerland) to contribute their own opinions. The original "call" is here. My own response follows.

A friend invited me to go to a demonstration against the WTO in Geneva last week. Negotiators for a small group of countries were holding closed-door sessions, trying to save the Doha Round. Farmers and fishermen and NGOs had come from around the world to protest. Then on Monday, July 24th, the talks collapsed. The demonstration had been scheduled for the following Thursday, and in light of the new circumstances it was converted from a protest into a celebration.

The demonstrators assembled at the edge of Lake Geneva, and then marched along the lake to the WTO building. A small flotilla of boats, with banners flying, accompanied us from just off-shore. As we were approaching the building, a Dutch journalist and cameraman wanted to ask us a question. Actually, they wanted to ask my friend a question, and at first I was secretly envious. The journalist asked her, "The Doha Round of talks is also referred to as the 'development round.' Why are you happy that it failed, if the development round is good for developing countries?" As I watched my friend remain cool and calm I realized that I probably wouldn't have done the same in front of the camera, and I suddenly switched from envious to being secretly thankful that they hadn't chosen me. And it gave me an opportunity, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, to think about what I would have said.

I've been a Newsweek subscriber for a long time now. I first subscribed while going to college in the States. And I came to value it even more when I moved to Europe in 1990, as it kept me in touch with current events in the U.S.

Lately I feel that Newsweek's quality has been suffering. I'm not talking about articles that I find uninteresting or un-newsworthy, because "newsworthiness" is a matter of personal opinion, and those articles still tell me what's topical in the U.S. at the moment. I am referring to news articles that are one-sided and that promote issues or ideas instead of objectively reporting on them.

For example, there used to be a few pages at the back of every issue called "Tip Sheet," with hints for the modern consumer on what to do and buy. This section was re-christened "The Good Life," and it is now clearly aimed at the wealthy. Each week the section proposes items like a pair of deck shoes for over US $3,000. Or how about a personal yacht, ranging from an "entry level" model priced at 3 million euros, up to a more respectable Trinity yacht for around 24 million euros?