, a project committed to the development of Madagascar which has just , the .
Considering that Madagascar is one of those countries that doesn't make the world's headlines often, and sometimes doesn't even make it to the African map, Lova's articles on GVO and his helping hand with the Lingua project in Malagasy are extremely important to make this unique island better known and heard.
How long have you been blogging? How important is it to you?
As sad as it may sound, I believe that blogging had made my life more complete in many different ways. For example, I have been living abroad since high-school. Blogging allowed me to reconnect with my homeland in ways that I could not have achieved otherwise. Interacting with GVO folks was also enriching in many ways, online but more importantly in real life. The opportunity to exchange ideas in a face to face context is invaluable. Coming from an academic perspective, I believe one can always learn from someone else’s expertise and experience. It has definitely been the case with the many people related to Global Voices Online that I have met so far.
You seem to have quite a few blogs. What are they and what are they about? I particularly liked The World of Ginga and Boo-Boo. Would you introduce them to us?
That's Ginga. He is a tad overweight so this is our effort to get him to lose a bit of weight.
Talking about Foko, what is the idea behind it and its goals? How did it all start? Has it already contributed to a change in Madagascar?
The conversation on the Malagasy blogosphere revolves around how to best tackle the social, economic and environmental issues that plague Madagascar. Since 85% of Malagasy people live with less than $2/day, there is no shortage of issues to tackle. A few of us thought we could get together, apply some of those ideas concretely on the field and illustrate the progress or failure of those ideas on the web. Foko focuses on promoting the use of digital media in Madagascar as a mean to contribute to the protection of the environment and social progress. The starting point had to be the TEDAfrica conference in Arusha, Tanzania that many GVOers attended.
and Joan we have given 5 digital media workshops to date in 2 different provinces with a 3rd province already scheduled, dedicated one session to middle school children, contributed to 2 tree planting events and laid down the groundwork for partnerships with a few rural villages. Citizen media is growing but the social significance of it all probably need more time for an objective assessment.
“This photo was taken on the Stand up Against Poverty day. Foko went to Kelilalina, a village in the South-East region of Madagascar. We are listening to the grievances and concerns of the women council regarding their everyday lives and what could be done to improve their economic welfare”
How long have you been a GVO author for? Which are the main topics from the Malagasy blogosphere to report?
What is your most memorable blogging experience?
How did you end up in the USA?
On the photo is my girlfriend I-mei and me at our graduation commencement. I believe that Purdue U. is strongly considering annulling our degrees after seeing that photo. It was a fun moment in an otherwise quite laborious 5 years of research.
How different would you say the Malagasy community in North-America is from the Malagasy communities based in Europe and other parts of the world?
Therefore, the Malagasies living in North-America tend to seek each other out because getting acclimated with the culture would take more time without the help of someone who went through the same process.
The community in French-speaking Canada is evidently growing faster. Another amusing fact is that the two major cities that are the most further apart in the world are San Francisco and Antananarivo so I assume that geography plays a role in the difference between Malagasy Diaspora in Europe and North-America.
Apart from a GVO author, you are also a supporter of the Malagasy Lingua Project. Could you let us know why such a project is so important for a language spoken by less than 20 million people?
The Malagasy language has a unique place in the history and culture of Madagascar but also in the context of international languages. It is the only official language in Madagascar that was not brought on by former colonial powers. It is spoken by anywhere across the island and almost exclusively on the island.
Therefore the Malagasy language is a very strong symbol of the nation's unity, and independence and is also the prototypical “isolated” type of language. We thought that it would be an interesting experiment to observe how news from all over the world (GVO in Malagasy) would be received by a group that is by definition a secluded, introspective community. The return so far has been surprising, in a good way. We hope the trend continues.
Blogging apart, you are have been developing some important research on HIV/AIDS. Could you tell us what you are working on at the moment?
The issue we are trying to address in our laboratories is the issue of low-cost, point-of care diagnostics for resource-limited regions in the context of HIV/AIDS.
A lot has been accomplished by governments, foundations and volunteers on sites with respect to HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness. Similarly, many governmental agencies and NGOs have made great strides in providing AIDS anti-retroviral therapy to the regions most affected.
The missing part so far has been the ability to dispense treatments efficiently and monitor the efficacy of the treatment in the field. To do so, one needs to test the level of CD4 of patients, a way to evaluate the immune system. We are a non-profit organization that will provide a point of care CD4 testing at low-cost in areas where it is most needed.
This is a photo of my dad's family taken in 1955 probably. My dad has 11 brothers and sisters (not all are on the photo). My dad is the scrawny boy with the funny hair cut behind the baby seating in the rolling chair (he was 8). He was often teased by his much stronger brothers.
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