Excerpt from this post I wrote for Global Voices about French speaking francophone blogs in 2006:
Much of the exciting news in Haitian blogs has been in English: 3rdworldgirl, for example or even AyitiToma who unfortunately posted just once. But what a post that "Open Letter To Haiti" was! Roody Edme, however spotty, started a very promising blog Ailleurs Vu d'Ici on which he bombarded us with well written and well informed posts on New Year's Eve. It seems the blogger was saving his best goodies for last. And best yet his commentary is not just limited to Haitian affairs but spans the planet! Call this blogger anything but ill-informed.
By far the most consistent current affairs blog was Collectif Haiti de Provence, the France-based blog of a collective of Haiti and France-based organizations.Though the blog started the year by posting news stories, two individual voices, Deky Lakyel and JoJo began commenting each story, firing daily at the current president, his interim predecessor and the UN Mission (MINUSTAH). Their main preoccupation: "Insecurity" a literal translation of the French "Insecurite" which has taken the form of kidnappings first aimed at political figures and now at random civilians, increasingly children. But the bloggers also balked at poor governance and incompetence on the part of elected or appointed officials, one issue most agree is a major weakness of Haitian government.
Yon Ayisyen rarely made it online to grace us with his smart take on things once Preval got elected, probably because, as he explained to GlobalVoices in an interview, he did not have an internet connection at home. That is too bad because until the election, he made sure to dissect and demystify many a newsworthy phenomenon, including authorities' many claims leading up to the election that they had actually done something about the many kidnappings that were plaguing the capital. Yon Ayisyen also watched the elections closely and uncovered shameful irregularities that took place under international observers' noses.
Towards the end of the year, India-based Natif Natal started a blog on musings about Indian society from the perspective of an outsider.
Some dialogue started among certain English speaking Haitian diaspora bloggers (Reveiled, Karlito's Blog, kiskeyAcity) who attempted A Skypecast for Haiti which had to be postponed but whose later incarnation might discuss an aggregator. Those same bloggers all networked with each other on MyBlogLog, along with Haiti-based Marcel Salnave Jr. who started a blog this year, Parlons Peu, of his father's journalistic works from the 40s and 50s.
For a fuller list of Haitian and Haitian diaspora blogs, please consult the blogroll to the lower right of the home page.
Full post on GV about French speaking blogs of Africa, the Caribbean and Oceania in 2006.
(Photo taken in Haiti by Vanberto.)
Technorati Tags: 2006
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