Thinkerer's Virtual Outworlding: 2014 OPENSIM: STECH: Community HIV/AIDS Resource Exchange (CHARE) Village

 Although I reside in Second Life, I would like to join my Kitely-based "sister avatar" (Sally Cherry) in thanking our virtual-based colleague and fellow community member, Selby Evans (Thinkerer Melville) for visiting and blogging about our Kitely-based HIV/AIDS awareness, capacity building, and training project, CHARE Village. It is the virtual-based component of the real life Community HIV/AIDS Resource Exchange (CHARE) Project developed and built as an "out-of-the box thinking" platform for information exchange.

Despite what some folks may think, 3D virtual worlds integration is Not a game but it Does open gateways (rather hypergates) to a growing number of global communities of practice (or interest). My colleague, Selby Evans provides an excellent example of "virtual to real" collaboration and community building through his information sharing about community projects and other virtual-related issues. As we prepare for the official Grand Opening of CHARE Village and its STI Training Laboratory, the recognition for our multipurpose project is truly appreciated and encouraging.

 You are invited to read Thinkerer's blog, Virtual Outworlding...
Virtual Outworlding: 2014 OPENSIM: STECH: Community HIV/AIDS Resource Exchange (CHARE) Village: Community HIV/AIDS Resource Exchange  (CHARE) Village  - CHARE  virtual village provides a co-working, training, and networking space for the real life Community HIV/AIDS Resource Exchange (CHARE) Project and its real/virtual life community partners.
 

National Health Blog Post Month: 30 Days; 30 Posts 03 – “Don’t Know but I would like to Know"

Yes, I am still a bit behind schedule but I wanted to share that… “I don’t know a lot about how people with disabilities are using virtual worlds but I would like to know.”

Nonprofit Commons Weekly Meeting

  Although I still have much to learn about the benefits of virtual worlds for people with disabilities, there is one thing that I have learned as a Second Life (SL) community member.  I know that one of the most active, hard-working, and productive residents is Gentle Heron, president and one of the co-founders of Virtual Ability, Inc. 

I believe that it was in 2009 when I met Gentle Heron at a weekly meeting of Nonprofit Commons in Second Life (NPSL), a virtual community of practice for nonprofits.  NPSL is managed by a community of volunteers under the leadership of TechSoup Global. Although NPSL community members are located worldwide, we meet and interact in real-time within a computer-generated 3-D environment known as a virtual world. While working at my computer in the east coast state of Maryland, it was in this “virtual world” where I met and interacted with the leadership of Virtual Ability, Inc. based in Colorado, USA. Technology is so amazing!

Virtual Ability, Inc. (Display by Zinnia)

  Over the years, Gentle Heron and other NPSL community members have graciously shared helpful information and valuable time as I learned about the diverse applications of 3-D virtual worlds. It has become quite evident that virtual worlds serve as alternate platforms for networking, information-sharing, training, and providing support regardless of physical location or physical abilities. 

In Second Life, Virtual Ability, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation is known as the “leading organization dealing with the support of people with real life disabilities”. Virtual Ability’s mission is to enable people with a wide range of disabilities by providing a supporting environment for them to enter and thrive in online virtual worlds. The Virtual Ability team has definitely established a supporting environment for real life people within a virtual world community.

Virtual Ability: In-World Tour

   During a recent visit to Virtual Ability’s HealthInfo Island, I walked the Path of Support which depicts the wide range of peer support groups in Second Life. The Path of Support provides information about the different health/disability peer support organizations and the various types of assistance available to disabled persons in Second Life. According to Gentle Heron, Virtual Ability has identified over 120 different peer support Second Life groups for various disabling conditions and chronic illnesses. Some support groups are big like the ones operated by American Cancer Society for survivors and for caregivers. Some groups are affiliated with real life national organizations such as the Autism Society of America and the AA weekly meeting groups. Others groups are small, mainly friendship support groups around a topic of common interest, and exist only in Second Life.  A few support groups in other languages than English have even identified.

Virtual Ability: Path of Support

Virtual Ability: Path of Support

   








As my learning continues, I applaud the entire Virtual Ability team. From the beginning, the three co-founders… Sodapop Heron, Superquiet Heron, and Gentle Heron focused on setting up a support community for real life people with real life disabilities. As many of our virtual world colleagues, the three visionaries never thought of themselves as “players in a game”. I share the same opinion of many virtual world users… “Virtual worlds such as Second Life are Not games”. 

 Virtual worlds are serious business; even life-changing business! That is why I would like to know about… how people with disabilities are using 3-D virtual worlds.

SarVana is back... Wishing you a Virtual and a Real Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to my virtual and real life friends

SarVana relaxing in Second Life

Greetings, First I must clarify a couple of things... I am an avatar with two last names, "Haalan" and "Cherry". While in Second Life, I travel as SarVana Haalan and in OpenSim (JokaydiaGRID, OSGrid, etc) I travel as Sarvana Cherry. Sometimes you will find Haalan in JokaydiaGRID doing quality control duty as "Inspector 12" or working on other projects. Regardless of my landing site, my virtual-based friends and colleagues just called me SarVana or "Sar". Second point of clarification... the real life writer, Sally Cherry relies on Sarvana Cherry and myself (SarVana Haalan) to help her explore and work virtually. In return, we rely on Sally to verbalize our words and "push the buttons" for a rewarding virtual experience (and project). You must believe me when I say that this little avatar SarVana Haalan virtually known as "The Networking Diva" has her own personality.

 Many apologies for my writing absence in 2011 but virtual explorations and real life can really keep an avatar busy.  No problem, we will bring you up to date. You are invited to freely browse my Flickr photo album where you will find many photos taken over the past years. News flash..  I will sharing more information and photos about my Second Life and OpenSim explorations and projects this year. So much is happening in the virtual world communities and I am just too thrilled Not to write about it.  So be sure to bookmark this blog, SarVana's Virtual Journal and teleport with us into the amazing world of virtual research, education, business,  health, and much more.

If you are a virtual resident, feel free to IM SarVana in-world or follow SarVana on Twitter. If you are not a virtual resident already, you can get started in Second Life here, and in OpenSim here. 

Virtual Traveler's Notes:

When you teleport into SecondLife or OpenSim,  please feel free to join us at: 

SarVana Business Centre @ Second Life

Cherry Network Centre @ Kitely

CherNetiva @ JokaydiaGRID

Nonprofit Commons @ Second Life 

 That's it for now. So, have a nice day and we hope to see you in-world.

SarVana Haalan