WHO WE ARE


Ryakuga is a not-for-profit grassroots communications company registered in 1992 in Newfoundland, Canada. Our purpose is to promote local/community communications in a global context.

Ryakuga philosophy is equality and the right of all people to control their own lives. Modern media and its technology tends to alienate and silence ordinary people who remain passive observers.

Helping people take control of the media process not only facilitates communications within the community but it also develops confidence and self esteem among the participants. By communicating through control of technology, people become aware they can analyze their situation and develop strategies for positive change. The Ryakuga experience is grassroots community development - respecting local knowledge and helping ordinary people share their experience with others. We don't support development which replaces local knowledge and values with imported educational, economic and cultural systems. We do support the revitalization of rural communities and their ways of life.

Scroll down for navigation tips.

WHAT WE DO



We participate in projects with rural communities; indigenous peoples; environmental organizations; women's groups; youth, and senior citizens. Our main focus is alternative media - participant controlled community television, newsletter/photography, community radio and grassroots computer communications. Ryakuga helps groups with training (technical skills); collaborative participation (working alongside groups as they make their own communications), or production of resources (we have resource material available for newsletter\photography; video skills; community radio, and community television - public forums and popular video). Promoting cultural retrieval as a way of strengthening local pride and confidence in the future is a primary focus of the work of Ryakuga. We are interested in working with grassroots micro-communications technology to assist cultural projects. Videotaping music, dance and storytellers is our pleasure.

Recent Projects




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TIPS ON NAVIGATING THIS SITE

These tips are basically for people who have little or no experience with browswers. The Ryakuga site sprawls (no apologies) and pages are added during workshops and community events, and at the request of community groups. Use your browser's back control if you get stuck. The site is tested on a Mac and Wintel International Business Machine Pentium with Safari, Netscape Navigator and Explorer only.

You know you are over a link to another page or site if the cursor turns into a hand. You can then click to follow the link. Words on the Ryakuga site which appear in a red color are usually links.

Note: In November 2005 we are working to rebuild the video and audio functionality of the site.Ryakuga is a streaming audio and video site. This means that there are audio and video files on the site which will play (within a few seconds) without being downloaded. You need to download free QuickTime and Real players however. A few Ryakuga pages have music embedded. This may cause problems for the Explorer browser which will often crash if you leave the page before the audio file is fully open. We are trying to balance between innovative use of the medium and avoiding lengthy downloads. If you have any problems, email us.