Network Learning library illustration

Jargon – necessary or nonsense?

New titles for familiar issues is a problem for me. I have to learn the new titles and abbreviations – and often it feels as if someone thought them up to be on the inside and make me feel an outsider. But it is important to keep up and take part in the debate. We must not be overawed by jargon. And we can let each other know when a new term becomes important. I saw “mHealth” in several places and googled it. It means health care and public health programmes supported by mobile electronic gear such as mobile phones. ~ MM

Related Articles

  • Health and disability manuals in Arabic

    Hesperian have informed us that a number of their manuals are now translated into Arabic. They cover both health and disability and include “Where Women Have No Doctor”. “Where there is no Doctor” “Where Women have no Doctor” ”Where there is no Dentist” ”Special Education” ”Disabled Village Children” For the above titles, contact Ghanem Bibi Arab Resource Collective (ARC) Beirut email: arcleb@mawared.org web: www.mawared.org “Helping Health Workers Learn” Contact Abd Ilah Hussein Institute for Arab Research P.O. Box 13-5057 (Chouran) Beirut, LEBANON Tel: 810055/6 “Helping Children Who Are Blind” Contact Ashraf Mahrous, Compubraille, P.O. Box 156 , 76th Street #12 , El Mukattam, Cairo, 11571 EGYPT Tel: 00202 25084152 email: compubraille@link.net

  • Big problems demand small solutions

    Big business, with its pursuit of profit at all costs, creates some huge problems in society. Such as poisoned environments, factories run with slave labour… and the process of globalisation is spreading them everywhere. So what can the little person do? Just this: make a conscious choice not to participate – and actively search out better alternatives. Because while the world is awash with stuff we don’t need, we definitely do need more ethical entrepreneurs. And, at the same time, conscious consumers. A nice example is Sanchi Bags, recently started up in India with the vision to promote the use of eco-friendly products and empower women. The idea is that the fashionable bags – including ones for laptops and tablets – will attract youth into the “go green” movement and become trendsetters across generations. The bags are made from locally-sourced biodegradable material and, most importantly, manufactured in their own households by suburban and rural woman homemakers. You can connect with Sanchi via their facebook page www.facebook.com/sanchibags

  • Two new Arabic localizations

    Networklearning’s Key Information Sheet on Advocacy – what is it, why is it important and the 10 steps to success – is now available in Arabic (3-page PDF). » Download directly from the Library Simple Devices to Assist the Physically Disabled is a manual of drawings of simple aids for the physically handicapped that can be made anywhere. There is now a version with Arabic introduction and notes (59-page PDF). The pictures themselves are self-explanatory. » Download directly from the Library

  • Teenage-friendly Spaces

    Recently we talked in a blog about women-friendly spaces. In UNICEF’s report State of the World’s Children (2012) there are examples of NGOs providing teenage-friendly spaces . The report focuses on the fact that more and more children and teenagers are growing up in cities. Think of the difficulties of being poor, female, (males another time) living in an urban slum.