The
Power of Perspective Juanita
Zaldívar has been excited about what’s happening in her native Yorito,
Honduras, ever since a Community Knowledge and Communications Center was set up
there early in 2004 through a government program. She administers the center on
behalf of CLODEST, a local NGO dedicated to fomenting local efforts to combat
poverty and protect natural resources.
One of Juanita’s main tasks
is to motivate members of her community to learn to use the new information and
communications technologies (ICTs), such as the Internet, now available to them
for individual and collective development. Fortunately, she’s not alone
in this task but is accompanied by representatives of the various local, national,
and international organizations, including CIAT, that are working in the community.
“We’ve started building our Web site,” says Juanita, with
an air of confidence. “And we’ve started making valuable contacts
by e-mail.” Like her, other inhabitants of Yorito see the telecenter as
a bridge that helps them overcome their community’s isolation, build useful
knowledge on diverse topics, and find new pathways out of poverty.
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