Editorial

Nobody is capable of following everything going on within the Kidlink community. After all, there are now 76 public mailing lists, 15 language areas, a real-time interactions network, and tons of projects. There's simply too much going on.
This diary does not pretend to cover all. It quickly lists some of the action, and provides links and pointers to more information. Enjoy!

Odd de Presno

Some new participants

Beirut. The exciting capital of Lebanon. The home of Rudy Anthony Hosri, a 10 year old boy living in Jal-El-Dib, student at Central College. This is his answers to Kidlink's four questions:

Who am I ?

I'm Australian-Lebanese. I was born in Australia, but my parents wanted me to learn in strong schools, so I came to Lebanon and by then I started to learn Lebanese language (arabic) and sooner french. I want others to know one more thing. It is that I'm a basket ball fan.

What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?

I'm interrested in being a writer. Actually I always dream of being a writer and my hobbies are reading and wrinting and also learning science.

How Do I Want The World To Be Better When I Grow Up?

Well, I like everybody, poor and rich, to be equally treated like all other human beings on earth.

What Can I Do Now To Make This Happen?

My goals are to fight for the human rights, such as the freedom of the Lebanese people in the south. And to keep my country clean as the snow of Lebanon.

Then there's Aung Thu of Yangon, Myanmar. He is 13 years of age, and go to the State Middle School, Dagon Township. Here's his response:

(1) I am happy to get connected to the Internet and have the chance to meet online with many people around the world. I swim and play tennis. My hobby is to travel around with my parents and read books. I like to do reseach projects and computing.

(2) I want to study computer science and become a programmer to develop softwares for research projects in medical and technical fields.

(3) I want to see and live in a peaceful world where everyone can give free comments, go anywhere in the world without any restrictions. Especially, I want to change my country - the way we are living at this moment.

(4) I will study hard but to become a peaceful world I don't know yet.

Finally, there's Poojie Loyd (10). She lives in Ottawa on the British Virgin Islands, and attends the Manity school. Here's her contribution:

(1) reading, writing, speaking, horse riding and recorder

(2) doctor

(3) peace, enviroment

(4) Join charity

The Kidlink Community

Brazil in July. Mid-winter, but still 30C degrees in Recife. Odd de Presno went there for the  formal opening of KHouse Trindade. Here are some of his pictures from the event.

KHouse Trindade, Recife, Brazil.

Sonia Sette (left), Sílvio Amorim (head of the Recife Secretaría of Education), Odd de Presno

Young girl of the Fulni-ô tribe.

A young user of KHouse Trindade.
Click here for more information about the Kidlink Houses.
(slides used for an Odd de Presno presentation)

Miriam Lerner (left) and Clarisse in Kidlink's busy Rio de Janeiro office.

Afterwards, Odd de Presno went to Rio de Janeiro to meet Brazilian Kidlinkers, and present the Who-Am-I? program at the mammoth WIE/SBC '99 conference. The slides of his presentation is available online. (There's also an English language version of the slides, prepared for a conference in Cluj, Romania this august.)

Several Kidlinkers met - as usual - for a Birds of a Feather session at NECC in Atlantic City.
Kidlink's language area management will meet in Puerto Rico this October.

Programs

A new northern hemisphere cycle of Who-Am-I? is due to start on September 20. For a snapshot of the global schedule of the program (both northern and southern hemisphere), see  http://www.kidlink.org/kie/waila/current.html. Our database of student contributions is increasing by the day.
The "Canciones de Cuna" project is active in KIDPROJ-SPANISH. If you have students proficient in Spanish, check http://www.kidlink.org/spanish/kidproj-spanish/cuna/ for information about how to join. In Samuel Escobar's words:

Envíanos esa nana que te cantaba tu mama o tu abuelita. Queremos rescatar esas cosas lindas que con el tiempo y la tecnología se van perdiendo.

Organisation

Last month, we reported that Lára Stefansdottir, Iceland, has stepped down from her position in the Kidlink top management team to focus on less demanding Kidlink management tasks.
Did we say less demanding? Well, well, missis Blom, as they say in Norway. Lára is now our "Kidlink-Multi" language area manager. Kidlink-multi is a new area, supposed to gather the activities in the following existing areas, across languages and cultures... It includes the following public services:

So, what this mean? In Lára's own words:

"The new Multi area has the main purpose of sharing, not focusing on any particular language. It has just the same role in Kidlink as each and any language area. Some people have asked me if it has some "above" role, so I think it is important to make it clear that it does not. The only difference between the Multi area and other areas is that it doesn't have any language in particular to serve. The main purpose is to focus on sharing and building bridges."

Less demanding? My foot!

Kidlink's Annual Meeting

The 1999 annual meeting of the Kidlink Society is almost over. All important decisions have been made. Closing the meeting, the members are now discussing the future of Kidlink.
Look up http://www.kidlink.org/english/general/dues.html for details about how to become  member, and support Kidlink's work. All it takes is a modest US$25 fee.
Your support will be very much appreciated!

Volunteers wanted

If you want to help produce this "newsletter," please drop Odd de Presno a line (opresno@kidlink.org).