Jonathan Torgovnik’s photographs of children born of rape during the Rwandan genocide. By Mia Fineman, Slate Magazine
Powerful article about a photo series, focusing on the children of rape in Rwanda. The mothers photographed had been raped by Hutu militamen during the genocide, and the photographer interviewed them away from their children, then photographed the two together. A powerful reminder of consequences of war that continue a generation after a conflict ends.

I read the article and looked through the photos and testimonies. This part confused me:

(The subjects’ names have been changed to protect their identities. While the women want the world to know what happened to them, they hope to protect themselves and their children from the censure of their own communities.)

What about their faces? These photos are online for everyone to see. The book is on Amazon.com. Doesn’t this assume that Rwandans cannot access this article and these images? Or that they have no friends or relatives in other countries with better access?

I know that there are issues with connectivity Rwanda (starting with unreliable electricity). I know there’s a language barrier. I know that digital literacy is low. But I also know that the number of Internet users and shared access points (telecentres, libraries, internet cafes, etc.) is growing. Since 2000, the number of Internet users in Rwanda has grown from 5,000 to 100,000.

After working with telecentre.org, meeting folks from across the continent, and visiting grassroots telecentres, I see what’s possible and never ever assume that what I post online won’t be seen by all.

We are connected. Ethan and Paul Barera both attended the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis in 2005. Since 2004, Paul’s been running the Nyamata telecentre, in Rwanda’s Bugesera District — one of areas hardest hit by the genocide (out of a population of 62,000, only 2,000 survived, mostly women and children). Paul provides a range of community services, from IT literacy training for adults and kids to computer maintenance and repair. In April 2008 he ran a three-day workshop for women survivors, focusing on how to create and manage a business and access microfinancing.

We are connected. Changing names is not enough to protect these women and their children. When we produce content like this we have to assume that everyone can see it. Including these children, soon young adults, some of whom may read that their mothers love and cherish them, despite the circumstances of their conception. Others whom may read “I never loved this child” — so disturbing.

This is a great opportunity for a designer who wants to build their portfolio and work with a creative team, as well as support urban ecology, the reclamation of the commons, and local history. Main contributors to the project (designer, artist, publisher) will invest time in developing the book and then split the profits from the book and related merchandise. The project will contribute to the commons — all outputs will be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license, allowing subsequent creators to remix and build on it.

Interested? Visit Emily’s site for more details.

I’m (through Artefatica) helping Montreal artist Emily Rose Michaud, the force behind the Mile End’s Roerich Garden, to produce a book that will document community happenings and uses of the lovely and (for the time being) wild field that lies between the east end of St-Viateur street and the Carmelite nun’s residence. The book will be published in the spring of 2009.

To contribute content, contact Emily before the end of November. If you’d like to help produce the book we’re also looking for a designer. See Emily’s blog for more details.