Barcelona Online | NGOs, Solidarity...

Top 10 Barcelona site
AIDS awareness campaign
A collaborative effort between Médicos Sin Fronteras, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and the Fundació "la Caixa" as part of a solidarity campaign raising awareness on the situation in Africa and hoping to raise funds for a project to reduce the incidence of AIDs in western Kenya.

The site has three real stories on the lives of people affected, a brief glossary and information on the disease, as well as links, and an interesting "virtual mosaic", which you can add to. We were not sure at first whether or not it should have been easier to spot the "contribute" link: to get there you have to read the stories, but as a result you might be more inclined to make a contribution. All in all we were hugely impressed by this site and, because of its superb design and its purposes, have included it in top ten Barcelona sites.

•We liked: The total appropriateness of the design to the site's purposes
•Not so hot: 28.5 m people suffering from the HIV-AIDs virus in sub-Saharan Africa
•Languages: Spanish and Catalan only

Portal for Immigrants
Integratexxi.es
The Caixa Foundation is responsible for things like the CaixaForum and CosmaCaixa (see below), and it's latest initiative is this "portal de ayuda al imigrante" (that's "help portal for immigrants", if your Spanish is non-existent, in which case don't bother visiting the site).

We really like the well-designed, attractive site, which has lots of interesting stuff on it, but can't help thinking that having some of the content in English (or French, given the number of recent immigrants from North Africa) would have been a good (and very obvious, surely) idea.

Content includes region-by-region information on the whole of Spain, a guided tour (which didn't work last time we visited), and lots of useful links - including one to the official bcn.es site that looks of particular interest to immigrants, and is in a number of languages (though you'll pardon our cynicism in wondering whether what mayor Joan Clos says in Urdu is anything more than the usual hype he pumps about Barcelona).

.We liked: Great idea, but...
.Not so hot: Er... Por favor...? Er, yo no entender...?
.Languages: Spanish only

The way the Internet ought to be...?
Pangea.org
Pangea describes itself as existing to "help people and organizations working for change and social justice". As such, among other things, it is a non-commercial Internet provider, offering services like web hosting.

Among other things to be found on the site, information on campaigns of various kinds, links to organization and events, an online magazine that is something of a strain to read, design-wise.

•We liked: The directory of Spanish NGOs ("ONGs" in Spanish)
•Not so hot: We think an "About Pangea" section would be in order… Who are these guys?
•Languages: Spanish, Catalan

All things bright and beautiful
Terra.org
Terra.org, which aims to promote greater responsibility on environmental issues, has an interesting site covering a wide range of topics. It's not always as easy as it might be to navigate the site (we recommend use of the site map) but surfing it will probably repay you for your trouble.

You're just getting into this sustainable development lark then this could be your site. Also, as there's a shop, if you happen to be looking for a 1,050 litre compost bin to go on your balcony (virtually no one in Barcelona having a garden)... Or you're interested in knowing how to turn your bike into a plough - for your window boxes, that is (we exaggerate only a little)...

•We liked: The use of colour on the site
•Not so hot: Sorry to trouble you, but I'm your downstairs neighbour... It's about the smell..
•Languages: English (in fact very little), Spanish, Catalan

Working with the untouchables in India
Vicente Ferrer Foundation
Vicente Ferrer is a Jesuit missionary who set up a trust fund in 1969 in one of the poorest regions of southern India, Anantapur, and has been there since, working principally with the dalits or untouchables, to enable them "to become the masters of their own destiny and recover their dignity."

The Vicente Ferrer Foundation has had its head office in Barcelona since 1996 to provide support for its work in India.

•We liked: The neat site design
•Languages: English, Spanish

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