Vista
On-Line
October 2003 edition
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VISTA ON-LINE
Vol.2, Issue 6
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Dear RFPI friends and supporters,
After all the gloom and crisis we have been dealing with here at RFPI,
we felt the need to update you all with the focus firmly fixed on our normal, ongoing activities here at the station!!
We want to take the opportunity first of all to thank you all for your
ongoing support at this crucial time, whether that is through donations
for our legal defense fund or through your continuing efforts to keep awareness levels high about the crisis here at RFPI within the United
Nations and in your local media. We also want to thank you all for your
patience in this long wait for a public statement from us about the talks we are engaged in with the University for Peace regarding how
and when we are to move from our premises on the campus. As you are all aware by now, we agreed to the University request not to make any
public statements until the talks were over on 31st October in order to
demonstrate good faith. We expect to be able to make a statement soon regarding the current situation, at which time, we may need to call on
you again for your invaluable help in awareness raising.
We should never forget that Radio For Peace International has continued
on throughout this crisis with its normal activities, broadcasting 24 hours a day across all time zones, delivering the Peace Journalism
course and planning new projects and events. RFPI is so much more than
the current crisis.
We enjoyed a very busy 16th birthday celebration last month, appropriately
coinciding with International World Peace Day, with a packed station full
of supporters. James Latham and the rest of the staff gave a speech and
the day was extremely positive, with a clear focus on the future of the
radio station, despite all the recent and ongoing difficulties.
PEACE JOURNALISM TRAINING
Located at the RFPI studios, the Institute for Progressive Communications
(IPC) continues to break new ground in training journalists from around
the world in Peace Journalism. Students completed a Peace Journalism and Progressive Media Through Radio course on September 21, and another
began on September 29.
During the September course, students produced two independent radio documentaries. One program explored the life of children living in the
streets in Costa Rica and the non-profit agencies who work on their behalf, and the other looked at the impact of Western food products and
fast food lifestyle on the Costa Rican diet. Both programs have been aired on RFPI.
The next IPC course begins on January 5, 2003. Courses continue throughout
2004. For more information on IPC and to register for courses, visit our newly launched web site on
www.ipccr.org
NEW PROGRAMMING
RFPI continues to rebuild our Spanish language department, delivering a unique service of independently produced programs from Latin American
to the world community. The first of our Spanish language programming is
People Without Borders or Pueblos Sin Fronteras. People Without Borders
is a daily bi-lingual news program, bringing listeners progressive world
news in Spanish with a special focus on Latin America. Listen for People
Without Borders Tuesday through Friday, 18.30 UTC.
Continue to tune in to our diverse and dynamic 24 hour programming that
includes Democracy Now!, Free Speech Radio News, Counterspin, and
Making Contact, as well as original programming produced by RFPI. A complete
schedule of our programming is available at www.rfpi.org
.
VOLUNTEERS
RFPI welcomed two new volunteers last month to the team, Ankie Kampmeyer
and Jennifer Liss. With a background in communications, Ankie will be volunteering with RFPI for three months. Ankie joins RFPI from Hamburg,
Germany. Jennifer Liss, from San Francisco, California, brings her experience in non-profit administration and print and electronic
media to RFPI for the coming two months. Edy, from Brazil, has also been volunteering for the last few months at RFPI providing computer
support. His excellent computer skills rescued our computer network from
an almost total collapse back to health.
SUPPORT
Never before has there been a time when RFPI's unique voice on short wave
was so needed, yet funding so scarce. Your contributions have kept RFPI
on the air for 16 years. Opposition to organizations such as RFPI and attempts to silence them have often relied on scarcity of funding to do
the job for them. We cannot stress to you enough what a crucial difference
your donations make to RFPI's survival. The dispute with the University
has affected RFPI's grant-worthiness due to the uncertainty that has been
generated. For this reason, we need your contributions more than ever.
Your contributions since July have allowed us to contract the lawyers with the specialist knowledge that we needed that we could not have
otherwise have afforded. They have been vital in the whole process and
it is you who made it possible.
Consider how great an impact even a small donation can make to keeping
RFPI alive:
$100 can fund one month of Internet access
$200 can fund 24 hours of global broadcasting of independent programs
$500 can fund new professional portable recording equipment for the Peace Journalism course
$1,000 can fund a new workstation for an IPC student, or pay the electricity bill
$5,000 can fund one month of RFPI's minimal operations
Every contribution counts!
Radio For Peace International
P.O. Box 3165
Newberg, OR 97132-5165
Or donate via PayPal with most major credit or debit cards by clicking
on the button below.
Our vital work at RFPI continues!! We thank you all once again for your
support and we will update you on the situation as soon as we are able
to do so. You will be the first to know the latest happenings at RFPI!
In peace,
From all the staff, volunteers and students here at Radio For Peace
International in Costa Rica.
We thank you for your continuing support, both financial and moral. We need
your contributions to keep an independent voice like ours on the air. RFPI is
the ONLY progressive independent voice on shortwave in the world, we have a
unique schedule of programming and important visions for future projects and
work at the station. Fundraising at RFPI is on a continual basis. If you can
offer financial, material or equipment support in any way, please contact us.
You may do so via:
Radio For Peace International
PO Box 75
Cuidad Colón
Costa Rica
Central America
Tel. +506 - 249 1821
Fax. +506 - 249 1095
info@rfpi.org
http://www.rfpi.org/
http://www.ipccr.org/
http://www.saverfpi.org/
Or donate via PayPal with a Visa Credit, Visa Debit or MasterCard. Please click
here:
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