Proposed outline for Fasting Chain for Bahrain:
In order to give some unity to the fasting chain, and to keep everyone in touch with each other over time, Nikki and I have written up a schedule that we’re planning to follow for this week. Other participants can use it as a guide if they’re interested, change it as they want, or strictly fast and blog when they have time. If people are not interested in fasting, they might like to remove the fasting component and otherwise follow this schedule. This is just a suggestion, so we’ll see how it goes, but hopefully we’ll be responding to other people’s posts in the coming weeks.
Day 1
Focus: “Why a Fasting Chain for Bahrain”
Blogging Points:
(1) Introduce yourself
(2) Why you’re fasting
(3) Why for Bahrain
Day 2
Focus: Connect with a Bahraini
Blogging Points:
(1) Introduce the person and the way political repression has affected her
(2) Contact that person and let her know you are fasting to draw attention to the situation in Bahrain
(3) With that person’s permission, post her response on the Fasting Chain blog.
Day 3
Focus: Connect with other people in the U.S.
Blogging points:
(1) Contact family and friends who you feel are interested in being involved in this discussion.
(2) Write about your experience fasting and learning about Bahrain and elicit responses from interested readers.
Day 4
Focus: "Bahrain: Shouting in the dark" Video from Al Jazeera (English)
Blogging Points:
(1) Watch the video and suggest it to others.
(2) Highlight quotes and themes from the film on Twitter for those who don't watch the whole thing.
(3) Call for personal reflection.
Day 5
Focus: Universal aspects of political oppression
Blogging points:
(1) List other global political crises that demand attention.
(2) Reflect on themes from these crises.
(3) Reflect on the shared human consequences of these crises.
Day 6
Focus: What does it mean to be politically engaged?
Blogging Points:
(1) Discussion among readers and fasters about the following points:
a. Responsibility: What role has the U.S. government played in Bahrain during the events of 2011? What role have non-governmental organizations played?
b. Education: Where can we find reliable information about Bahrain (and other countries)? How have different media outlets portrayed the events differently? What can we do to keep ourselves educated in a small amount of time?
c. Action: If we feel compelled to act, what do you consider the most effective way to express your opinion? Through voting? Contacting our representatives? Protesting? Fasting? Education?
Day 7
Focus: What's next?
Blogging points:
(1) Discussion from you and others from Bahrain about what you think should happen, how to go about achieving this, and how people in the States could help.
(2) Solicitation of other people to continue the fast.
(3) Final video, podcast or entry before breaking the fast.
