Territorial Domination in the West Bank

In July 2009 I visited Israel and Palestine, interviewing Palestinians and Israelis in an attempt to better understand the conflict.
I toured Illegal settlements and outposts in the West Bank with Dror Etkes. He heads the Land Advocacy Project for Yesh Din, a group opposing the continuing violation of Palestinian human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Dror is an Israeli citizen who has, for the past 7.5 years, made it his mission to be a local expert on settlement expansion and Palestinian land grabbing. He seems to know every road in the West Bank. He is exact about how many homes are in each settlement and knows which are slated for evacuation.
In Tel Aviv I interviewed Human Rights Attorney Michael Sfard. He represents Israeli Human Rights organizations, Peace groups, Palestinian communities and individuals. Many of his legal cases deal with Palestinian land grabbing by settlers.

Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied territories of Palestine is about more than constructing houses for Jewish settlers. Palestinian farmland is being turned into industrial space and illegal outposts on Palestinian land are protected by Israeli military. Roads, if Palestinians are allowed to drive on them, are often
blocked without warning.



Thank you to Anouar Brahem and Meiron Egger for their musical contributions!

Bethlehem is a prison for its citizens
A message from Bethlehem Mayor, Victor Bartarseh.
On a recent visit to Bethlehem, Palestine I interviewed Mayor Victor Bartarseh to get a perspective on what life is like for the citizens of this West Bank city


Bethlehem has the highest rate of unemployment in the West Bank. The city is entirely surrounded by the separation wall. The city receives less than 5% profit from tourism due to Israel's control over tours thus keeping money generated from hotels, restaurants, souvenirs and the like in Israel.

Since the mid 1990's. Burlington, Vermont and Bethlehem, Palestine have shared a sister relationship.

The Mayor speaks candidly about the physical and psychological affects of living with the wall. He is hopeful that we can break down psychological barriers with cultural exchanges between the two cities.

Today we visited Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, Palestine. I'm filming Munjed, he grew up in the refugee camp. He is telling me what the wall is doing to Palestinians, you can see the separation wall behind us.
Edited videos will come later after we get home.
The wall is a monster.

History of the Eelam Tamil struggle

A brief history of Sri Lanka and the Ealam struggle according to Thozhar Thiagu, activist and General Secretary of the Tamil National Liberation Movement in Tamil Nadu, India.

I met with Thiagu at his office and at his home in Chennai, Tamil Nadu in February 2009.

The struggle for Tamils in Sri Lanka continues despite the alleged end of the war in May 2009. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the final weeks of war. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are displaced without food, shelter or medical supplies. Seeking refuge from government bombardment of their homeland in the north and eastern provinces, thousands of Tamils have fled from Sri Lanka since the mid 1980's.

Here is a brief history of the struggle.

Message in chalk in front of Urban Outfitters at their new location on top of Church Street in Burlington, Vermont. The message is pointing to a tee-shirt that has the writing "People before profit" on it

Displaced Dalits in Tamil Nadu, India


In the Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu, India there are 350,000 Dalit people who are under threat of being displaced by a government approved iron ore company. The people of the area have spoken out against the presence of this facility but at present the government is not backing down. The iron ore facility will not only displace people but also their livestock, temples, homes, educational and health facilities as well as break apart communities that have been existing here for years.

Impunity in Sri Lanka

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Suresh Premachandran, Parliament member from Sri Lanka talks about impunity and violation of inalienable rights of Tamil people in Sri Lanka.
I met with Suresh at his home in Tamil Nadu, India.

Journalists are being killed, arrested and banned from entering and reporting from combat zone areas. Civilians are being held in refugee camps within their own country while the government bombards its own citizens.
Suresh is from the northern district of Jaffna in Sri Lanka, currently this area is the most adversely affected by the war.
Facing threats to his life for speaking out against government aggression he has moved his family several times in recent years from Sri Lanka, to India, Canada and finally back to India.

Suresh talks about the welfare camps, ceasefire agreement, the Sri Lankan government's want for continuing the war in the name of creating a single ethno country and the need for the global community to speak up.
Suresh can be reached at kandiah57@hotmail.com

Where do your spices come from?
A snapshot of the work involved to give our food flavor. Cochin, Kerala, India.

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Chai on the street.

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The chai stand was on my way to yoga class. We chatted it up in the mornings. They like Obama.

Walking down the street in Fort Cochin, Kerala.

Stop Bombing Gaza - Dec. 30 2008

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Stop bombing Gaza demonstration in New York City, December 30th 2008 in front of the Israel consulate. Held in solidarity with demonstrations all over the world.

Proposition 8 demonstration in Burlington, Vermont. Nov. 15, 2008

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McCain Campaign headquarters - Video Footage includes:
Angry McCain staff person threatens to arrest me
Interviews with paid volunteers
Central Florida McCain Chairman talks about the McCain campaign's ability to trump the Democrats because they do not have to rely on paid volunteers.

Obama campaign volunteer and community member talks about voter mobilization and the Acorn issue. Video, Sam Mayfield

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Obama communications director talks about voter turn out tactics and addresses what the Obama campaign is doing with all that money they are pumping into Florida. Video, Sam Mayfield

Early voting began October 20th in Florida.
I went to a few polling stations in Central Florida to see the turnout. Video, Sam Mayfield

As of October 1, 2008 the U.S. has a new division of military assigned to keep the country safe and maintain crowd control when necessary. The Army assigned the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team to duty within the continental United States.

"The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping restore essential services and escorting supply convoys.

Now they’re training for the same mission — with a twist — at home."
More news from the Army Times

After 35 months of training in Iraq, this military branch is now deployed to fight threats in the U.S. such as civil disobedience and massive protests.
This marks the first time an active military unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.

The tricky part is that this initiative is in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act which is often cited as a major constraint on the use of the military services to participate in homeland security, counter terrorism, civil disturbances, and similar domestic duties. This law was created to prohibit the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps from performing any kind of police work or assisting law enforcement agencies to enforce the law.

The 2008 RNC in St. Paul exemplifies that an excessively forceful police presence leads to more violence. The blunt use of force and covert surveillance at the RNC is evidence that the government will take many measures, even preemptive ones, to silence the voices of dissent.

Can someone say Police State? The Government must be planning on huge numbers of people rising up against, take your pick; thousands of homes being foreclosed on while millionaires stay fat and rich, another illegal election process, poor plans to insure a clean energy future, a war with no end in sight, increased media consolidation that allows corporate media to pollute our airwaves and dull our brains, poor health care initiatives, a global political presence that embarrasses us while bullying other countries, further investments in military while a peace economy makes more sense.
You can add to the list of things to be outraged about in the comments section below.

No doubt, we have bigger issues in October 2008 to take on than snowboards with naked women on them.
This line of Burton boards though, is made in our backyard.

Do naked women need to be on snowboards for the ride down the mountain to be fun?
Do young men need to have snowboards with graphics on them that perpetuate the objectification and marginalization of women on them in order to really enjoy their day on the mountain?

Burton is hiding behind the disclaimer that "two professional riders requested these boards" and they are just honoring their requests. Does this mean that if two professional snowboarders requested a line of boards with bloddied women's faces on them that they would honor those requests as well?

Burton Love Series Snowboard Description:
Hi. My name is Love™ and I’m on the market for someone who’s looking to score serious action, no matter where they like to stick it. I enjoy laps through the park; long, hard grinds on my meaty Park Edges followed by a good, hot waxing. Whether you’re hitting it from the front or the back, my mid wide shape, supple flex, and twin tips like it kinky. Keegan and Mikkel love riding me, I hope you will too"

We can enjoy alpine recreation without graphic photos and violent language.

Call or email Burton at info@burton.com, 1-877-313-1977, to say this product line should be pulled, that it is offensive and is totally unnecessary.

October is DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH. We can send a message to Burton that their boards and their entire Love line perpetuates violence against women and is not tolerated.
The world Health Organizations report on violence against women at
http://www.who.int/gender/violence/en/ . These statistics are real and have direct connections to media, marketing and advertising. To exempt oneself under the cover of creative freedom is lazy and dangerous. When young men are encouraged to be "hitting it from the front or the back," by a company they respect, they can't help but translate that image to the real women and girls in their lives. Bodies of data prove this, our media saturated culture helps build our image of the world around us.

Call or email Burton at info@burton.com, 1-877-313-1977, to say this product line should be pulled, that it is offensive and is unnecessary.

The Machine Gun and The Meeting Table: Bolivian Crisis in a New South America

By Benjamin Dangl
On Monday, September 15, Bolivian President Evo Morales arrived in Santiago, Chile for an emergency meeting of Latin American leaders that convened to seek a resolution to the recent conflict in Bolivia. Upon his arrival, Morales said, "I have come here to explain to the presidents of South America the civic coup d'etat by Governors in some Bolivian states in recent days. This is a coup in the past few days by the leaders of some provinces, with the takeover of some institutions, the sacking and robbery of some government institutions and attempts to assault the national police and the armed forces."

Morales was arriving from his country where the smoke was still rising from a week of right-wing government opposition violence that left the nation paralyzed, at least 30 people dead, and businesses, government and human rights buildings destroyed. During the same week, Morales declared US ambassador in Bolivia Philip Goldberg a "persona non grata" for "conspiring against democracy" and for his alleged ties to the Bolivian opposition. The recent conflict in Bolivia and the subsequent meeting of the heads of state raise the questions: What led to this meltdown? Whose side is the Bolivian military on? And what does the Bolivian crisis and regional reaction tell us about the new power bloc of South American nations?
Full article, photos here: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1478/1/

Benjamin Dangl is the author of The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia (AK Press), and is the editor of TowardFreedom.com, a progressive perspective on world events, and UpsideDownWorld.org, a website covering activism and politics in Latin America.
Email: BenDangl(at)gmail.com

Republican National Convention 2008

Media workers and activists are being scooped off the streets of in St.Paul, Minneapolis. More than 300 people have been arrested and detained.

8 organizers from the RNC Welcoming Committee, a group of activists facilitating actions around the RNC, have been arrested and face felony charges of "Conspiracy to Riot and Furtherance Terrorism". If found guilty they will face up to 7 1/2 years in prison. The 8 activists were among others arrested when Ramsey county police surrounded a house with M16 rifles and riot gear and proceeded to search and arrest the citizens. The search warrant indicated that they were looking for "bomb making material" such as card board, plastic bottles and twine. Police took laptops, cameras, notepads and other personal belongings.
This is the first such charge ever to be made in Minnesota. Police learned about activities by admittedly spying and infiltrating the group over the past year with an undercover cop and informants posing as a member of the group.


Here is a Copy of Affidavit Used in RNC-WC Raids

The New York City based media group I-Witness has been under watch and harassment of Ramsey county riot cops. Their rented house has been searched twice, their workers have been detained. Police also surrounded their workspace on a bogus claim that hostages were barricaded inside their building. I-Witness acts as a media watchdog for police misconduct towards citizens.

You can watch video of the first preemptive raid here


Philadelphia based Associated Press photographer, Matt Rourke, and three Democracy Now! producers, Nicole Salazar, Sharif Abdel Kouddous, and Amy Goodman are among the many media workers taken off the streets while peacefully doing their job.

You can contact the following offices and demand the immediate release of media workers. Demand that the county attorney's office not press charges against media workers.
Demand that felony charges be dropped for members of the RNC Welcoming Committee.

Chris Coleman, St. Paul Mayor: 651.266.8510
or Chris Rider from Mayor Coleman's office at 651-266-8535
Ramsey County Jail at 651-266-9350 (press extension 0)
Ramsey County Sheriff: 651.487.5149
Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner 651-266-3222

Sign the petition below to make August 6 National Nuclear Disarmament Day and please encourage others to do the same.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nucleardisarmamentday

Burlington WILPF, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, made history on August 6, 2008 in Burlington, Vermont by initiating and observing the first Nuclear Disarmament Day in The US.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

We are circulating a petition to Congress to make August 6th a national day of remembrance as Nuclear Disarmament Day

We will be going to Washington, DC on September 15 to lobby and bring the signed petitions to Congress.

Please sign the petition online by clicking on the address below and please encourage others to do the same.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nucleardisarmamentday/

The anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, August 6 and Nagasaki, August 9 are remembered this year in Burlington Vermont in a city wide declaration. Burlington City Declares August 6 - Nuclear Disarmament Day.
This is the first such day to exist in the United States.
With awareness and energy perhaps citizens around the country will compel their local leaders to do the same.
The bombs were dropped 63 years ago. The world needs to learn from history. Nuclear weapons do not lead to world peace.
Today, now more than ever, we need to pressure the Department of Energy, the Administration, our local officials and spur dialog in our communities to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons and to honor the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

In an interview with YES! Magazine, former Secretary of State, member of the Reagan cabinet, George Shultz explains why he believes nuclear abolition is possible, and what can be done to make a nuclear-free world a reality.
http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?id=2692

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Burlington Telecom (BT), A local municipal cable provider started carrying the station a little over a year and a half ago.
In late May of this year BT said they would take AJE off the air due to an "inundation of phone calls" - the exact number of calls is unknow.
They have since said that the reasons for wanting to pull AJE off the air are due to "contractual issues".

BT advisory committees held a public forum in response to volumes of community input on June 10, 2008.
Over 50 people attended the meeting, 6 people spoke out in favor of removing AJE and over 35 spoke in favor of keeping it on the air.

In the interest of maintaining their space on the BT line up, AJE Managing Editor, Tony Burman and Military and Current Affairs Correspondent, Josh Rushing, visited Burlington to inform the community about AJE.

Governent Access Television Station CCTV, Channel 17 hosted them on June 11, 2008.

Here are excepts from the live show and public forum -

To watch the Full live program you can go to cctv.org

Burlington Telecom will come to a decision on whether to pull AJE or keep it on the air by June 17th.

Bill Moyers questioned by O'Reilly Factor Fox News Producer at the National Conference for Media Reform. June 7, 2008.
Taped by Sam Mayfield, CCTV.

Al Jazeera English on Burlington Telecom

The proposed pulling of Al Jazeera English Network from the Burlington Telecom lineup has created fanfare in recent weeks in the Burlington, Vermont Community.

It is revolutionary that we have a local municipal outlet for cable in our small city. At this hour in telecommunication history it is more important than ever to have diversity in our cable providers and in the content we view, listen to and read.

Such diversity exists with Burlington Telecom (BT) and indeed this diversity is exactly why it stands to do so well in our community. BT is one of two cable providers in the United States that airs Al Jazeera English Network (AJE). At a time when our news is delivered to us through corporate filters providing us with less and less information we are obligated to seek alternative sources for news. While AJE surely pushes its own agenda, it indeed gives us world news that is entirely unavailable on other platforms. A media without diversity does not strengthen our democracy or our community.

Burlington residents support BT because we support local businesses, we can see programming that it absolutely not available on satellite or corporate cable outlets, we can request programming and, by investing in this municipality, we get to invest in our own community.

The municipality is accountable to its committees, made up of community members. The decision to pull the network was made by one man without consulting the Cable Advisory Committee or the Telecommunications Advisory Committee. There is a glitch in their system if they have these committees intact and still one person was able to make this decision unilaterally.

Per Mayor Kiss’ request, both committees met May 27th to hear one minute testimonials from citizens. They will hold a public forum Wed. June 10th to hear all public comments.

BT television carriage policy clearly states: “All decisions of channel carriage are ultimately conditioned by cost, demand, and value”.

Al Jazeera English (AJE) network does not cost Burlington Telecom money, thus it does not cost subscribers money. When AJE first approached BT with the prospect of airing their station, BT looked at the vitals to determine feasibility – does it cost money, are channels available so it does not take the place of other programming, and they considered the content of the station. They found that it is free and that the content of the station is entirely within the framework of what is deemed appropriate programming. And since there are more than a 1,000 channels available on BT, it is not taking the place of say MTV, The History Channel or a local access station.
The venue existing here for alternative media is gorgeous and rare. Now more than ever we need to let Burlington Telecom know how invested we are in local businesses and diversity in our media. We need to let them know that pulling AJE from their lineup perpetuates the bias and lack of diversity rampant in corporate media. We can have something better in Burlington.

You can send an email to www.burlingtontelecom.net. Click on Contact BT. Or, send in a letter in care of Burlington Telecom to 200 Church Street, Burlington, VT 05401 to

For more news on the story - http://tinyurl.com/6avvbv
http://muckraker-gg.blogspot.com/2008/05/burlington-debates-dropping-al-jazeera.html

Interview with Amy Goodman

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Occupying General Dynamics, May 1, 2008. Burlington, Vt.

Eddie Mims in New Orleans

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Driving to the airport with Eddie Mims in New Orleans.

He talks about the storm, his children and life.

Protesting 5th year of the occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan

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Citizens protest the occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan at General Dynamics in Burlington, Vermont on the 5th year anniversary.

Shutting Down Military Offices in Vermont

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Counter recruitment demonstration at National Guard Office and Armed Services Career Center in Williston Vermont. November 30, 2007.

In 1971 Soldiers from the Vietnam War gathered to give testimonies of what they encountered, this event was called the Winter Soldier.

Today and tomorrow, March 14 and 15, in Silver Springs, Maryland, hundreds of vets and active duty soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq gather tell give testimonies of the occupation, this is the 2nd Winter Soldier hearing event in history.

They will be giving testimonies of what they did and what they saw while in Iraq and Afghanistan. These testimonies will be aired live on TV, web, and radio - links to follow. The testimonies will be given all day March 14 and 15.
You can watch the testimonies live on the web at the Iraq Veterans against the War website - http://ivaw.org/
If you have Dish Network You can watch the event live on Free Speech Television http://www.freespeech.org/fscm2/genx.php?name=home
You can listen on the radio at KPFA, or listen to their audio stream - http://kpfa.org/

I hope that you find time to listen to just five minutes of this hearing. History is being made, the soldiers are speaking out.
You can support them by listening to thier stories.

We visited a village called Mesamago. It is 25 km, or one hour by car on a very rustic road, from any town or market. There is no electricity or running water in the village. They have two wells for water. One is a pump well, the other has just a bucket. We stayed at a guesthouse run by a lovely woman Grace and her husband Bismark.
There is a Bamboo Orchestra that has single handedly put Mesamago on the map. Indeed, it is the only reason that this village has a road leading to it.
Before the orchestra was discovered, there was only a small foot path leading to the village. No travelers ever visited before the road was made.
No one here owns an automobile. There are a few shared bikes. Along the road to the village we passed dozens of electrical posts with no wiring. They are hopeful that someday soon they will get electricity.

I made friends with a 15 year old girl named Conference. I asked her where her school is. She point and tossed her hand, far away, it is 25 kilometers, one way, to her school. I asked if she walked there. She proudly put her hand on her chest, and said, “I run”. Conference said that I had a very beautiful head. Nat was told that his legs were very beautiful.

We arrived at Mesamago just past sunset. After a quick tour of the village we settled into our rooms. I had a bed frame with a thin pad for a mattress and a pillow stuffed with leaves of some kind. The bed is enveloped with mosquito netting. There is one kerosene lantern for light.

We had rice for dinner and ate in the dark under the stars and moon. It was Linda’s birthday so Nat, Selete and I sang her a Happy Birthday song. We gave her a fig to eat and a card signed by all of the friends we have made at Agoro Fie, the house where we stay in Cape Coast.

The Bamboo Orchestra performed for us in the dark with one kerosene lantern to light the scene. Many people from the village came to listen and watch. The Orchestra sang, and performers played music and danced. It was incredibly moving. I wept through the first two pieces.
The music is beautiful and the sense of community is overwhelming.
After the performance Linda sang songs with the kids and I showed them a picture album. They were captivated.
We talked with a young man Alex, maybe 28 years old, his wife gave birth three days before. He was elated and shining telling us about his son, Joshua.

It was late and time for bed. I put out the light and fell to sleep.

The first three hours of slumber were great then I was awakened by the sound of loud singing coming through the village. I was dazed and sort of fell back to sleep. Then, the singing turned to chanting and chanting turned to shrieks and indecipherable words loudly approaching our space. It was unnerving since there was no light to see by and no reference to understand what was happening.
Nat went out with his camera and captured sound. Linda and I woke Selete, we stood outside to try and see and hear what was happening. Our hands clutched.
We learned that it was a gathering of the Pentecostals.
They were in a circle rapidly dancing around a kerosene lantern. Evidently they gather on certain nights to worship and release demons. Their worshipping space is on the same batch of land as our guesthouse. The shrieking and undecipherable words I heard were people speaking in tongue. There was an explosive sound in the distance, far louder than a gunshot. We later learned that it was dynamite set off to push pack elephants from the village crops.
Speculation can be very unproductive in the middle of the night, in the dark, in the jungle, in Africa, in a village with no cars and one road.

I woke in the morning at first light to the sound of roosters crowing and to Grace singing a morning song and doing chores on the porch, she sang: “Yesterday is gone, another day has come, do something new in my life”. (You can hear her sing if you check out the 5th video posting down the page)
When I walked out from my room onto the porch she greeted me with a hug and sweet hello, then offered me water for my face and a pail of water for a bath. I took the pail to the bath house; a concrete structure with a short wood door and a drain in the floor. I scrubbed with a loofah and soap. It was the best bathing experience thus far in Africa.
After my bath Grace took me around the village. She introduced me to her parents; we fetched water and completed her morning chores.
She took me to the goat pen and both water wells. She took me to the woman who sells breakfast - mashed maize wrapped in plantain leaves. Our last stop was to buy a snack for her son - a bag of cooked rice with tomato sauce,. Along the way I was greeted and made to feel very welcome. Kids followed us and laughed, they made faces at me and my cameras.

On the road to the Mesamago we passed corn fields, orange groves and palm fields that seemed to go on forever. We passed two dozen people loading oranges from the ground into a truck. My hand was out the window and someone gave me a juicy wet orange. The oranges taste amazing.

A Side note- The multi national corporation Unilever that makes everything from toothpaste to butter to dish soap has interest in this area. They exploit Palm fields close to the village for Palm oil. We did not see their truck but heard that they are here often.

Grace took me to fetch water at the two wells in the village. The kids linger around the pump well, play, and help each other load water on their heads.

These little guys had fun posing for the camera. They laughed hard and seemed to really enjoy making faces.

This is a quick view of Meamago.

Pounding and selling Maize for breakfast in Mesomago. I met this woman on my walk through the village with Grace. There are about 600 people living in Mesomago.

This is Grace, caretaker of the guesthouse in Mesomago. Here is she is singing a wake up song, it is the first thing that I heard in the morning when I woke up.
Her son is in the video too, he was pretty excited about the camera.

Making a Boat and Beena Sings! Click the play button to watch

This is my friend Beena Magis. Here she is singing a song with little shells we just found on the beach. She is singing about women and their strengths.
Beena is a producer, presenter, programmer, and scheduler for Coastal Television. She Rocks!!

We passed these guys making a boat. They sell about 60 boats a year, for approximately $150.00

Pulling the net and Kids soccer game in the Elmina harbour.
This is Elmina Fishing village. It is about 30 minutes away from where we are staying in Cape Coast.
On Friday the boats went out to sea and the men put in a net to catch fish. In this short video clip you’ll see men pulling the net and you’ll see a little bit of a soccer game.
Nat filmed the soccer I filmed the net dragging.
Linda snaps still pictures like no one I have seen before. She has a great eye!

This is some of the Coastal Television staff -
Our friends love the “Supporting Community Television” T-shirts!!! They are psyched and it is really fun to see them wearing them and putting them to use!

We are very grateful to Rose Marie in New Hampshire for her generous donations to Coast al Television!!!
You can check out the video to see her contribution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HKYgJpgD1w

In the spirit of getting excited about going to Africa I have to include this Toto video.
Blast from the past! Enjoy.

We've purchased euqipment for the folks at Coastal Television.
We will leave this camera with them to use at their community access station along with other donated equipment and equipment purchased with money that you contributed!
Thanks for making it possible!
We Leave Sunday. Nov. 4

You can get a T-Shirt too, make a donation by clicking "chip in" on the right.
Your donation will help support the first and only independent television station in Ghana!

Jen Berger rocking the"Going to Ghana T-shirt", Thanks Jen!!
NOTE: She wanted her shirt signed, not all shirts have "sam" splashed on them.
She punk rocked her shirt by cutting it up and making it fancy.
Jen Supports community media!!!

Thanks to our friends at Amalgamated Culture Works we have these great fun shirts to offer folks who make a donation!!!

We are really thankful for this contribution and hope that it can help raise the money needed for our trip.

If you would like a shirt, please make a note of it in the text box when you make a donation. I'll need your address for shipping, please add that in the text box as well as your desired size.
If you live in Burlington and want a shirt let me know and we can arrange a pick up.
We have a limited number of shirts (40) so when they are gone - they're gone!!!
They are pretty slick - the text reads "Supporting Community Television from Vermont to Ghana"

Thanks for your Donation and thanks for supporting community media!

First pieces of donated equipment!!!

Coastal Television in the news!

Coastal TV hits Cape Coast
Thursday, 4 Oct 2007
Mr. Nyomi

The first community-based TV station in Ghana, Coastal TV is hitting the screens in Cape Coast and its environs. The TV station is a project of Center for Intellectual Learning and Talents Development (CILTAD). CILTAD has been in existence for the past 14 years conducting cultural exchange programmes with Denmark.....

Ghana Update -
I met with the guys over at Amalgamated Culture Works yesterday - They are going to make t-shirts to support the trip!!!! We'll sell shirts and give them to people who donate.

In other fun Ghana news.... I got my Visa today!!!!

We are going to Africa in November to support the first and only community access television station in Ghana. We support community access television in this country and around the globe!!!!!!
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CHANNEL 17 CENTER FOR MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY DELEGATION IS GOING TO GHANA!!!

We are going to Ghana!
Nat and Linda Ayer and myself are going to Ghana in November. We were invited by Coastal Television in Cape Coast Ghana. We will represent Ch.17 Center for Media and Democracy. Coastal Television is the first Community Access television station in Ghana. The advent of this station has revolutionary value for their country. This community resource will build job skills, increase awareness about issues in Southern Ghana, and will build esteem for community members. They are psyched to be on the air! They have been broadcasting since May of 2007.

They have the minimal equipment required to run a television station and would not be bummed to have donations. We hope to raise money and bring new equipment when we visit! Any dollar that you contribute will go DIRECTLY to the purchase of headphones, microphones, tapes and if possible a camera. You can donate by clicking on the ChipIn link on the right side.



Posted by sam mayfield at 1:53 PM 0 comments

A small delegation from Channel 17- Center for Media and Democracy is traveling to Cape Coast, Ghana in November to work with the first Community Access Television Station in the country, Coastal Television. They have been in operation for 9 months and are welcoming the opportunity for volunteers to come work with their staff and assist.

Coastal Television is operated by Gifty Nyomi, Selete Nyomi, and one volunteer technical advisor. Together they provide their community an invaluable resource. Access to community produced programming, and an educational facility to learn new skills that will increase job possibilities. A lack of jobs and employability is a major social issue in Cape Coast. The creators of Coastal Television wish to offer their community access to higher paying jobs and new skills through their community access station.

Coastal Television was created out of need. Currently the major television networks in the larger city of Accra, provide little to no coverage of events happening in Cape Coast. There are few opportunities for community members to learn production skills or to create programming that is representative of life in Cape Coast. Now, with Coastal Television, The greater Cape Coast area can view events, public meetings, and community produced programming that is relevant to life in Cape Coast.


Currently Coastal Television broadcasts to over 10,000 homes in southern Ghana. They have 3 digital cameras (one fully functional and two in need of repair), two donated computers with adequate editing software, one omni-directional microphone, and two sets of headphones to make their operation work. When covering an event that requires two cameras or if more than one event is taking place at a give time Coastal Television will often rent a camera for $100.00 a day.

With just a little help we can raise money needed to help stabilize Coastal Television and give them a foundation that will support the community of Cape Coast and promote independent media in Ghana. $5,000 will cover travel expenses, educational material for community members, two sets of head phones, three microphones and one quality digital camera for use in the field or in their studio.
This visit will directly impact Cape Coast and it’s surrounding region positively. Supporting the educational efforts of Coastal Television will not only help build job skills and promote community minded programming, it will build esteem in the community that will last a lifetime.

We have our shots. We have our sleeping arrangements. Now we need to raise some money to get equipment for our friends in Cape Coast!

It would be great to show up with a small camera, some headphones, and microphones for the Coastal Television Station!


With your help this is completely possible!