Digital Democracy

Yangon, Myanmar: The last time I was in Myanmar (aka Burma), the country was ruled by a military government. It was fall 2009. Elections were on the horizon, but most people I met were skeptical about what they might yield. Mobile phones and internet access were increasingly popular but relatively hard to come by – [...]

This article was written by Emily Jacobi and first appeared in the Huffington Post on 2/23/12. Read it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/emily-jacobi/burma-myanmar-technology_b_1291110.html Once again, a global record was shattered in Myanmar/Burma. This time, the record wasn’t for the largest number of child soldiers (designated by Human Rights Watch in 2002), the world’s longest-running civil conflict, or the jailing of [...]

Indianapolis, IN: Wednesday, August 10th, the students of Project Einstein Indianapolis will have an audience of hundreds as visitors to the Indianapolis City Market’s weekly farmer’s market will be able to view the work of young photographers, who are primarily refugees from Burma/Myanmar. Tomorrow’s exhibit is the result of a year-long photo training with students [...]

You were born in KweKalu, a place near Mae Sot, Thailand. You live there one year when the Burmese government attacks the poor camp. Your fifty year old grandma carries you to escape, with bombs and fire all around. Thank God, your life is not taken away. When the attack is clear, many people in [...]

In 2008, we formed Digital Democracy based on a simple but powerful idea: Technology should be used to empower even the most marginalized groups to engage in democratic action, whether locally, on a national or international scale. The idea for Digital Democracy was inspired by the courage of Burmese monks, human rights workers and advocates [...]

Working on a photography project with kids in Bangladesh, as their work drew to a close, the Anyat Ullah chose a name for the project “Project Einstein.” All the kids quickly agreed, explaining: “Einstein was a refugee, but he could still do great things.” Since those humble beginnings, our digital literacy program has grown to [...]

26.3 miles. That’s the distance I’ve been driving every day this past week to work with two communities of refugee youth living on opposite sides of town in Indianapolis, Indiana. Many of their experiences – moving to a new country, resettling in the US, adapting to life at an Indianapolis high school – are quite [...]

Allegedly a country with less than 1% Internet & mobile penetration, Digital Democracy traveled to Burma/Myanmar in August 2009 to conduct research on ICT in the country to uncover the realities of how people are communicating. The trip offered a unique opportunity to look at how people and companies are developing unique mobile & internet [...]

In this episode of DdTv venture back with us to January 2008 to see the origins of Project Einstein. Mark and Emily spend several days working with youth in Kutupalong refugee camp in Southern Bangladesh, home to thousands of Rohingya refugees from Burma. Stateless, the Rohingya, a muslim ethnic group from Western Burma have fled [...]

On the border of Thailand and Burma/Myanmar, I met Aung Zaw, who told me about risking his life  to document human rights abuses performed by the government of Myanmar. His hope was that this information could help to defend his people. At the end of our talk, he asked if we could become Facebook friends. [...]