PEOPLink Press Coverage (including CatGen and OpenEntry):
"The cloth is almost 30 centimeters wide. On a red background there's a circle with mythical figures."this is a "Thanka", a buddhist painting style from Kathmandu in Nepal" says Daniel Salcedo. Until 1 1/2 years ago, the painters sold their work for $5 to $10 in the Nepalese capital to local traders. Nowadays they sell their pieces of art through the Internet. Salcedo's organization PEOPLink made the website. "Now the paintings are sometimes sold for $800 a piece" he says." Dutch Article - 12/11/2003
"Forget the frustrations of free trade. Forget, at least for the moment, the lofty goal of linking producers and consumers in every corner of the Americas through hemisphere-wide negotiations. Instead, just go shopping - online.Tis the season of giving, and a chance for all to explore the full positive potential of globalization from an often overlooked perspective" Washington Post - 11/29/03
"One of the
advantages of the Internet is that it allows people to buy goods and services
from merchants anywhere in the world. This makes the impossible possible,
resolving the issues of channels (how remote merchants sell their goods to the
buyer) and distribution (getting the goods to the buyer from remote
destinations)." CommerceNet,
June 23,
1999
 "On
November 24 Vice President Gore's Office called because the staff had seen the
PEOPLink site. They wanted to know if our Partner in Uganda, Helen Mutono (who
was featured in our previous issue of our Electronic magazine, "Linkages") was
available to accompany the Vice President during an announcement of a Clinton
Administration initiative on global e-commerce" Remarks by President
and Vice-President at Electronic Commerce Event, November 30,
1998
 "In Chinocavi, just a few kilometers from the Peruvian
border, residents still hoe their fields as their ancestors have for centuries
and most transportation is by mule or foot. However, artisans of towns like
Chinocavi soon will be able to use the newest technology to market their works
across the globe."Bolivian Times,
August
1998
 "Daniel Salcedo, who holds a doctorate in operations research, claims he "was a geek before it was cool." But he also has long been passionate about the developing world, serving as a Peace Corps director in the Dominican Republic and doing other nonprofit work throughout Latin America." Computer World, August 20,1998
 "USTUPO, Panama, March 17 (The Guardian) - If Balbina
Dennis had a computer she could visit a web site belonging to an organization
called PEOPLink and see her picture on the screen." The Guardian,
17 March
1997
 "SAN BLAS ISLANDS, Panama, March 10 (St Petersburg Times) - When darkness
falls on the tiny island of Ustupo, silence quickly follows. Undisturbed
by modern technology, most of the island's 8,000 inhabitants retire
to thatched, dirt-floor huts for the night. No televisions, cars or
telephones. Just the sound of waves lapping against the shore."
St. Petersburg Times,
10 March
1997
|
"It doesn't matter if your business is small or
large, whether you're in a developed or developing country, the message is go
global! Worldwide, e-commerce is currently bringing in about 300 billion dollars
a year and it's growing faster than anyone ever expected. The easiest and
cheapest way to go global is on the Net." 
"Mayan women in rural Guatemala
speaking little Spanish and having almost no formal education rarely come to
mind when the subject turns to trendy E-commerce. Tejidos Guadalupe would like
to set the record straight. "
"PEOPLink offers a stroll through the
traditional crafts market for the global village. Based on the principles of
fair trade, PEOPLink introduces Western consumers almost directly to artisans in
Haiti and Bangladesh among others." 
"The period from Thanksgiving to New Year's is a time
when volunteerism is at its peak. If Turkey Day around your house is about more
than feasting, you can begin to give thanks (and do good) even when you're
spending time on the Internet." 
"PEOPLink, a non-profit organization,
is setting up a global network allowing producers to sell their products
directly over the Internet. Thanks to loan granting institutions such as the
World Bank Group, PEOPLink equips its partner organizations with computers,
digital cameras, and trains them to produce digital images and then send to
PEOPLink via e-mail." 
"Daniel Salcedo has circled the world twice in
the past year (despite three recent days stranded in Haiti by hurricane
Georges). Next week, he's off to Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan, all to test
a question that cuts to the essence of the globe-spanning potential of
the Internet: Can a Web site assist the world's poor, by helping them to
sell products to the developed world?"
"A group of women in Uganda who make baskets
to raise money for children orphaned by AIDS. A community development
organization in the Philippines that sells handicrafts to help the poor. Noble
causes, certainly. But not the type of merchants you'd expect to find touting
their wares on the Internet." 
"Panama's Kuna Indians are taking their art to the World
Wide Web and gaining attention for their creative use of images. Molas are the
colorful and ornate applique blouses traditionally worn and made by Kuna Indian
women. For years, their rich and intricate designs have made them popular among
tourists and art collectors." 
"Olivia Solano Chutz sits in
her courtyard in San Jose Poaquil, Guatemala day after day weaving cloth which
she then stitches into coin purses and cosmetic pouches widely admired in North
American homes." 
"Weaving has been part of Olivia Solano Chutz's life from the
time she was a little girl. Like many of the women in the village of San José
Poaqu'l, Guatemala, she patiently weaves the intricate patterns which transform
thread into change purses, zippered pouches and other products, carrying on the
traditional skills learned from her mother, aunts and neighbors."
"A tip
to imported rug dealers: Roll up your inventory and look for another line of
work - you're about to be undersold." 
"While some debate the relevance of the internet to social
development and human rights work, PEOPLink, an international, non-profit
development agency, forges ahead." 
"ACHUTUPU, PANAMA -- As
night falls on this small island off Panama's Atlantic coast and three women sew
traditional molas by the light of candles and kerosene lamps, the Internet is
the last thing that comes to mind." 
"PANAMA CITY, March 25 (Reuters) - Panama's
traditional Kuna Indians have entered cyberspace and the Central American
nation's trademark handicraft can now be purchased on the Internet"
"The Tarabuco villagers in the mountains of
Bolivia have been trading in alpaca clothes for centuries. This year, however,
they will be marketing their weavings with the help of a new tool: a digital
camera. Along with groups in India and seven Latin American countries, the
Tarabuco weavers are working with PEOPlink, a nonprofit looking to create a
global network of digitally capable grassroots organizations."
| published with OpenEntry |