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The Drum Beat 496 - Video for Change

Thu, 06/11/2009 - 12:13

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Issue #

496

Date

Mon, 06/15/2009 - 12:00

The Drum Beat 496 contains:

Video HUMAN RIGHTS communication
Amplifying YOUNG VOICES
Please VOTE: e-Health development
Video: A COMMUNITY TOOL
Video for change TOOLS and TRENDS

This issue of The Drum Beat looks at the varied ways in which video has been used as a communication tool to facilitate social change worldwide. The well-worn adage "seeing is believing", which suggests the important advocacy role that video can play, is only part of the picture; as some of the selections below highlight, it is not just the product but also the process of video production that can have interesting dimensions.

We would love to hear about your experiences with this communication tool, particularly if you have reflections on how and why the particular strategies used worked the way they did. Send your experiences to: info@comminit.com

AMPLIFYING INJUSTICE

1. Common Agenda, Different Methods

by Ruth Ojiambo Ochieng This paper examines how video became a vehicle in Uganda for putting a women's agenda on international negotiating tables. Isis-Women's International Cross-Cultural Exchange (WICCE) started by using a tape recorder into which women who had survived armed conflict told their stories in their own languages and methods, within their own contexts. As this approach grew, it became apparent that the visual component of storytelling could have an even greater impact on their audience. "The expressions on the survivors' face, the tears rolling down their cheeks, the mutilated parts of their bodies - none of these could be part of their stories...The video camera became handy at this point." What emerged was the documentary "A Lingering Pain", which "brought these survivors, their war-torn places of origin, and their refugee camps to TV and radio. Their pains were no longer hidden but became topics of discussion by ordinary Ugandans, human rights activists, as well as the UN [United Nations] Security Council. The unknown conflict became known worldwide. Many actors influenced policy makers at different levels for legal reforms to improve the women's conditions....Telling their stories in front of a camera was in itself empowering for the survivors..."

2. Seeing is Believing - Global

This is a global film- and web-based human rights initiative that explores the political and social consequences of handicams and other new information and communication technologies (ICTs) that are being used by human rights activists, war crimes investigators, right-wing hate groups, and ordinary citizens. At the core of this project is a one-hour documentary film called "Seeing is Believing: Handicams, Human Rights and the News", which is premised on the notion that an important step towards understanding and curing the world's ills is "bearing witness". The film raises questions such as: Does the presence of a video camera help save lives or, rather, increase the danger to those being threatened? What will be the impact of this proliferation of personal video cameras? How will it affect privacy?

Contact: info@necessaryillusions.ca OR Peter Wintonick wintonick@yahoo.com OR Katerina Cizek kcizek@yahoo.com

3. Eradicate Slavery in Brazil Today Campaign

WITNESS is a US-based organisation using video and online technologies in an attempt to open the eyes of the world to human rights violations. On International Workers Day (May 1) 2007, WITNESS sent an email announcing an internet-based campaign called "Bound by Promises" designed to raise awareness and spur action to eradicate slave labour in rural Brazil. Visitors to a dedicated page on the WITNESS website are presented with information about the issue of contemporary slavery in Brazil, and given the tools to communicate to Brazil's President Lula that slave labour must end - and how. In addition, the 17-minute video "Bound by Promises: Contemporary Slavery in Rural Brazil" tells the story of men who are taken to isolated ranches, only to find that they have been lured into debt bondage.

Contact: Tamaryn Nelson Tamaryn_Nelson_of_WITNESS@mail.vresp.com

4. Live from Second Life: Crisis in Darfur

As part of this initiative, a panel of people discussed and answered questions about the worsening situation in Darfur, Sudan, and neighbouring Chad at a live, virtual 3-D event in the online community Second Life. The programme, which was open to the press and the public on January 9 2007, was filmed in front of a virtual replica of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, which includes an exhibit of photographs depicting the genocide emergency; the video from this event is being used for outreach by the museum. This initiative represents what LCMedia calls "the new public media," which allows viewers to "step through the TV/computer screen" and into a computer programme to participate in events, and is an example of how this new medium can be used to educate and create positive social change.

Contact: Bill Lichtenstein contactlcmedia@gmail.com

5. Children's Hope [Criança Esperança] - Brazil

This is an effort to address the rights of street children in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, through video activism. Children's Hope, or Criança Esperança in Portuguese, is a short documentary designed to give these children a voice, and to break through what the filmmaker perceives as a high degree of apathy among the Brazilian population in relation to the challenges they face. The choice of the video medium can be explained in the filmmaker's own words: "The more we see short videos online, the more people will become aware of what is going on. The production doesn't necessarily have to be expensive and doesn't have to be professionally executed to pass [on] messages..." Over several weeks, he met and spoke at length with lawyers and educators, and conducted several interviews with the children. He regularly visited various Sao Martinho branches as well as 2 children's orphanages. What emerged was a 3-part video, available on YouTube.

Contact: Sébastien Haizet sebsixte1@yahoo.com

See also these initiatives and reports, reported in previous issues of The Drum Beat:

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EDUCATING AND ENGAGING YOUTH

6. Video Republic

by Peter Bradwell, Celia Hannon, and Charlie Tims

This document discusses the potential of digital technology and broadband access as a new realm of public information in Europe - as new space for debate and expression dominated by young people. Researchers met with young filmmakers from the United Kingdom, Turkey, Germany, Romania, and Finland taking part in a project on youth video expression; they also carried out a series of expert interviews. They found that "[d]ebates about issues as diverse as identity, climate change, culture and politics are being driven by the production and exchange of video." Using online video as a medium for communication, governments are seeking to connect with their populations; campaigning and charity groups are seeking to reach supporters and change attitudes; major broadcasters are searching for defining relationships with young audiences due to their attraction to it; and the European Commission is promoting intercultural dialogue. The research generated various recommendations, among which are the following: "The formal education system should draw on the expertise of arts-based initiatives to unlock the potential of the video making currently taking place in the informal sphere....A 'virtual video-making academy' would provide a trusted place for experts to share tips on how to communicate messages, start online campaigns and get short films noticed."

7. Video Games: Why Kids Play and What They Learn

by Jill M. Olthouse

This paper provides an overview of the relationship between video games and children's motivation and learning. Author Jill M. Olthouse encourages teachers seeking to understand their paedological value to consider their appeal as play, reinforcement, social interaction, fantasy, and cognitive exercise. Olthouse examines each of these elements; for instance, the social motivations of video games include competition, cooperation, communities, tribes, and teams. She explores the specific paedagogical elements of games, detailing the ways in which video games teach metacognition. There is, Olthouse says, debate about whether video games are teaching children skills and values that will help them. She concludes that "video games and their effects cannot be judged as a whole....Instead of asking, 'Are video games fun and educative?' the questions that should be asked are: 'In what contexts and with which students are video games fun and educative?', 'To what extent do players examine the values in the video games and question them?' and 'In what contexts do skills learned in video games transfer to other areas?' These questions provide a basis for future research into how children relate to video games."

8. Kids Speak Out on Election in iReport Videos

The iReport is an online video posting site that has given children and young people too young to vote in the United States (US) presidential election a chance to express their political opinions and ideas. It is a website for user-generated video content made available by the news service CNN. The experience was extended at one school to participating in mock-campaigning, voter registrations, and precincts and exit polling. Some children used the video as an opportunity to make a plea to US voters. One young person, nearly old enough to vote, filmed himself registering voters. He also used the video log (vlog) opportunity to record aspects of the campaign, including the conventions and the debates, and rallied other young people to speak out through video on the importance of voting.

9. Promoting HIV/AIDS Awareness Among Youth - The UNAIDS Collaboration with Channel V - India

This project was intended to increase awareness of and discussion on HIV/AIDS and related issues among youth in India and to promote their practice of safe sex. It involved a collaboration between the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), through the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the private television company Channel V. The video jockeys (VJs), who underwent sensitisation and training on HIV/AIDS issues, led road shows at colleges, pubs, cafes and other places frequented by young people. In addition, the project collaborated with music promotion company DNA on HIV/AIDS awareness efforts at the sites of their music concerts. Organisers also developed television spots unified under the theme of "Let's Talk", which featured young people talking about their lives, their relationships, and the need to talk about HIV/AIDS openly. Many of the spots carried the national toll-free number for HIV/AIDS counselling initiated by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the phone numbers of HIV/AIDS non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in 6 cities across the country.

Contact: Dr. Charles Gilks india@unaids.org

See also:

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Please VOTE in our current ICT4D POLL:

In what direction should current e-Health research and technical development go?

Direction:

Diagnosing through mobile phones.
Certifying phone services as coming from authentic health providers.
Building a menu of types of health providers (e.g., MD, traditional, clinic, pharmacy) into mobiles.
Linking remote clinics with specialists.
Linking communities in "the last mile" with hospital or clinic diagnosis and care centres.

VOTE and COMMENT click here.

RESULTS thus far (June 12):

56%: Linking communities in "the last mile" with hospital or clinic diagnosis and care centres.

20%: Linking remote clinics with specialists.

18%: Diagnosing through mobile phones.

4%: Building a menu of types of health providers (e.g., MD, traditional, clinic, pharmacy) into mobiles.

2%: Certifying phone services as coming from authentic health providers.

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VIDEO: A COMMUNITY PROCESS

10. Participatory Video: AIDS Support Group - Malawi

In 2005, the United Kingdom-based organisation Insight used participatory video as a tool for working with an HIV-positive community group in M'deka, Malawi. Over a 3-day period, a 10-minute video was developed showing the various activities carried out by the group, their history, and how they support one another and try to change attitudes in the wider community. One person quoted here comments, "I think that participatory methodology is really fantastic and really enhances ownership among the members of the support group as well as the activities they are conducting. The result is a fantastic advocacy tool and addresses the issues of stigma and discrimination, and positive living....I think it will be of great use especially with new groups, showing that being diagnosed HIV positive is not a death sentence or a reason to stay behind a closed door". Since making the film and showing it in their community, the members have developed proposals to send to donors for funding their own advocacy campaigns, for replicating the DVD, and for supporting other income-generating activities. Distribution of the film has led to contact and/or meetings between Tichezerane and other HIV community groups, and the group has sold copies of the film to the Umoyo Network, a national network of NGOs working with HIV/AIDS issues.

Contact: Chris Lunch clunch@insightshare.org

11. Media Matters - India

Media Matters is a registered non-profit trust working in the area of development communication with a rights-based, participatory, and process-oriented approach. "We believe groups and communities have the capacity to bring about and manage change. Communication resources therefore should support such a process through reflection, exchange of knowledge, beliefs and experiences, initiating a dialogue that could lead to action. We strive to design and develop media and communication resources that create space for voices that are unheard, in local language, sharing of concerns and aspirations, critical thinking and negotiation." Media Matters has made documentaries and docu-fiction on a range of issues to capture learnings of community processes and to bring issues to the fore. The issue-based documentaries, participatory video projects, and post-screening discussions and dialogue have explored controversial issues related to children and rights, gender and participation, reproductive health as a right, HIV/AIDS and youth, adolescents and life skills, solid waste management in urban areas, male participation in reproductive health, and so on.

Contact: mmindia.org@gmail.com

12. Malawi Children's Village HIV Awareness - Malawi

Through the use of live performance and video production, Malawi Children's Village (MCV) hopes to equip orphans with artistic skills, while increasing community understanding of the impact of HIV/AIDS. A key programme approach involves building the skills of participating orphans to create and communicate their own stories. In 2003 the childen were involved in their first video production, "Juma's Story", the story of how one loss to HIV/AIDS affects an entire community. "Juma's Story" was shown in the 36 villages served by MCV and was made available in village video shops throughout Malawi. It premiered at the American Embassy in Malawi on World AIDS Day 2004, with the orphans in attendance. It has also had wide distribution in the United States as a fundraiser and as an educational tool. In 2004 70 students participated in a writing of screen plays competition where a single story was selected. The orphans were taught technical aspects of video production. The students then produced "Martha's Story" on their own, including the acting, directing, filming, editing, and musical production/performance. Production equipment is available at MCV; the children are working on their next video projects.

Contact: Chakunja Sibale mcv@malawi.net OR Conor Brady bradyco@gmail.com

13. Case Study of Africa Women Filmmakers Trust [AWFT]

by Chido E.F. Matewa

"AWFT was launched in 1992 by a group of young Zimbabwean women who were moved by a desire for a more inclusive and democratic audio-visual landscape....The founder members were exposed to propaganda mobile films by the then Ministry of Information during the colonial era...[B]ased on their experiences, [AWFT founders] looked at ways the same media could be used for the empowerment of the marginalised rural communities....Survival is a 30 minutes film...[R]ural women who participated in this production did not see themselves as victims of Structural Adjustment Programme but as survivors. The video film highlights not their plight but what they are doing to improve themselves economically....They present themselves in this video as a breed of women who refuse to bow down to adversity....This process had helped communities to first look for solutions within their reach. The process had built a sense of community responsibility among participants. Because AWFT crew lived with the communities, they had been integrated as part of them, they were no longer outsiders....With the collaboration of communities, they had discovered a technique that would enable women to articulate their voice, a process that was believed would empower communities..."

Legacy Partners

The Drum Beat 496 - Video for Change

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