“Free Software is a means to stimulate local development; you can make it serve your own needs in your native language. It unites small communities with similar problems around the world, and Free Software helps them to work together, exchange contacts and experiece, and build networks”, explained Michele Dessenne, co-founder of Les Penelopes and general secretary of ATTACK-France, during the New Communication Technologies and Solidarity Economy Workshop at the WSF 2005.

New technologies, and Free Software in particular, are new challanges to confront, but in the long run, these are useful in obtaining more knowledge, visibility, contacts, and connections. These were the conclusions from this workshop.

“Free Software, and programs like SPIP (Software for Publishing and Sharing information online), are useful because they are simple, free of charge and they are a direct response to our needs”, said Maria Angelina, a staff-member of CEDAC in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “We have been active since 1985, but just recently we realised how powerful the new technologies can be.”

While in Brazil, where children were dying of hunger and where there are more than 20 million people who cannot buy shoes in their lifetime, women involved in solidarity economy from all over the country formed cooperatives to alleviate the increasing poverty. 21 groups of local producers joined these cooperatives. Iara da Rosa manages the Casa de Convivencia in Porto Alegre. In this shelter for street people, she organises computer training. She attests that it helps them to discover the power of communication and information technologies, and that such discovery became the turning point in their fight against poverty. They documented their efforts through a film and they provided copies to solidarity economy groups around the country. This was their way of sharing this “methodology” that is aimed at a more beneficial solidarity economy.

Be the media, become the media!

New technologies are not just computers – they also include radio, television and telephones. The purpose of using the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) implemented in the solidarity economy organisation is to help women to better sell their products, to organise themselves into movements, to exchange ideas and to learn new ideas. With this aim, Les Penelopes (France) set up six websites and produced four films about women involved in solidarity economy. These materials created a great impact when shown as examples to local communities.

According to Maria Angelina who took part in the training organised by Les Penelopes in Porto Alegre in November 2004, the strongest impact for them was to see the direct links on how ICTs are used in practice. “The result was obvious: women without any knowledge in computers still succeeded to make it with technologies, only after a couple of days of training.”

Les Penelopes use the Internet to exchange information among the different social movements. They use various forms of ICTs: one of the most powerful is the Womens’ voices – audio project for feminist internet radio (accessible on their website). Without Internet used as meida, it was impossible for women from Africa, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe and Asia to get together and exchange ideas. Les Penelopes are building networks which they coordinate through the Internet. “Our weapon is the Free Software, and SPIP in particular. SPIP serves our needs because it is very simple to use, and it is translated in local languages and adapted to our work”, stated Perline, the technical assistant and ICT trainer of Les Penelopes.

Social inclusion and digital access for all

“Women in the past did not have access to technologies by cultural barriers. Now things have changed, but still, there are very few girls in the IT departments of the university”, Iara da Rosa described the situation in Brazil. “Today, there are many women who manage very well with Free Software: it is not true that women cannot make it as well as men in the ICT field”.

“Solidarity economy provides social inclusion, while Free Software encourages digital and social inclusion. Free Software is offering us a new way of doing our work, where women, involved in solidarity economy network online, while in past they could network only locally, withing the community” , said Loimar Vianna, the leader of the Free Software Women Project in Brazil. The project started in 2002, with an online discussion list on women and Free Software. The breakthrough happened when together with Luna Nova, a Brazilian NGO, working with women on solidarity economy issues, they organised an ICT workshop.

“The trainers and all the staff were all volunteers. All we wanted was to promote the inclusion of these women into the Free Software Movement and to help them exchange information”, said Vianna. With a group of about 100 women from the solidarity economy in Porto Alegre, they established a Free Software centre for women with free internet access.

The solidarity economy groups are constrained by their physical distance and the different field of their work. Some women are working in regions, far from commercial centres, and the Internet is their only way to connecting to other groups, to sell their goods and to keep themselves updated with the latest news. This opportunity to empower networks should be taken advantage of!