Amit Topno was born and raised in Nichitpur, Jharkhand, where he now works as a Community Correspondent with Video Volunteers. “Documentation of the tribal area in which I live is limited,” he says, “and so through photography I hope to add something to the historical records that we already have.” By doing this Amit aims to give a realistic impression of life in tribal areas of India. To see Amit’s photo series on his father’s drinking, click here.

“I was not initially invited to participate in the Magnum project. I only got a call at the last minute when one of the other correspondents pulled out.

At the first session in Ranchi, we were set an assignment to follow someone for a whole day. For my subject, I chose two women and a child who ran a small roadside tea stall. I entered the place and ordered tea from one of the women. Normally I don’t smoke in public, but since I was unsure how to start a dialogue, I also asked for a cigarette. This gave me the excuse I needed to build a rapport, something Olivia and Sohrab had talked about during the morning training.

After I had finished my tea and cigarette, I explained why I was there. Despite some initial reluctance to being photographed by a man they did not know, the women agreed to help me. I myself was a bit uncomfortable though. I could see other customers in the shack watching me photograph and wondering what I was doing. I didn’t want any trouble, and I avoided extreme close-ups as it felt too awkward. Nonetheless, I ended up staying there for three hours and I did get some nice shots. On the whole, the experience was a positive one. It taught me to think on my feet and build trust quickly with a subject.

Through that preliminary workshop I learnt that to do any work with respect and integrity, it is vital to first establish contact and gain consent. Photography is an intimate art. From looking at an image, one can gauge the relationship between photographer and model. When people take photographs from a distance, it always seems to me that they were not really connected with their subject. Working as a Community Correspondent with Video Volunteers, I am used to making videos about issues, but the challenge I have often faced is getting close to the people I film. I feel that photography facilitates a much deeper bond.

In the three months between the first and second workshop, my father had an accident while drunk. I had not initially planned a story around him, but now found myself housebound as his nurse. I could not go out in search of new material, and my series for the Goa session grew from there. I soon realised that he should become the focus of my work, and that this was a chance to photograph a subject I was already close to. My father’s alcoholism has affected our whole family, and so I felt the topic was one I wanted to explore.

The equipment we were working with was basic. My camera had no zoom, and the flash would stop functioning when the battery was low. It was also a manual device, something I had no prior experience with. This meant that I had to learn the intricacies of lighting, positioning and framing. I think I gained considerable technical insight through the whole process. It was also a great experience working with Olivia and Sohrab. Their style of teaching was simple and, as I speak some English, I was able to share ideas and contribute to group discussions.

In the future, I would like to do a photo series on tribal communities where I live. Information on adivasis in the Indian media is patchy and inaccurate, and nobody really knows anything about us. I want to show something of our reality, something that is true, through stories that outsiders do not normally see.”

This project is a partnership between Video Volunteers and the Magnum Foundation. funded by The Fledgling Fund. Magnum Nominee, Olivia Arthur, and Delhi based photographer, Sohrab Hura, delivered the workshops.

To read more about the workshop series, click here. To read about CC, Reena Ramteke’s experience at the workshop, follow this link.

Reena Ranteke was born in Gariaband, Chhattisgarh. Recognising that not many women were working as photographers in her area, Reena wanted to change this trend. “I see photography as a way to tell the truth about what is really happening in society” she says. To view Reena’s work on the life of an Anganwadi worker running a nursery school in rural Chhattisgarh, click here.

“Before coming to the Magnum Workshops, I was not very confident about my photography. I would take pictures now and then, but there was little variety or experimentation in my work. I knew nothing about the medium and I did not put much thought into it. When I got invited to be a participant, I felt it might be because my visuals were weak! I was very keen to attend the workshop though. To me learning is a life-long process, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to better myself.

In video people can be made to speak, this is of course not an option with photography. It is necessary, therefore, to find other ways in which to communicate what the subject is thinking, saying or doing. So much can be conveyed through good framing. But I learnt that this process takes persistence, time and effort. While a video report can be completed within a week, a photo series can take months.

Between the two sessions, I worked on a story about the Anganwadi scheme, established by the government to help combat malnutrition in rural corners of India. (These centres provide basic health care to people living in India’s villages, including contraceptive counselling and supply, nutrition education and supplementation, as well as pre-school activities.) Initially, I wanted to expose what I perceived as the ineffectiveness of such programs at the ground level, but this altered when I met an Anganwadi worker who seemed to be bringing about real change in her village. I thought why always show the negative side of an issue when there’s also some good there.

At the second workshop, we focused a lot on editing and there were times when I felt a bit lost. Establishing an easy group dynamic is not always straightforward, and we often struggled to agree on which shots to include. In between editing, we were also given a photo exercise. The task was to capture the different ways people make money in Goa. For me, Goa brings about an image of beaches, and so I wanted to photograph a profession related to the sea. Accordingly, I chose to concentrate on the tourist boats that take people on sightseeing trips. I took some pictures of boatmen working and would have liked to delve further into the story by joining one of the boating parties, but I’m actually afraid of water!

I enjoyed the experience of working with Olivia and Sohrab, in both Ranchi and Goa. Despite the language barrier, I felt we communicated well. I learnt a lot through the whole workshop, and it has inspired me to explore photography as a medium in my future ventures.

At present, I am working on a story about a pregnant lady in my neighbourhood, documenting the experiences and challenges she is faced with. I have 122 photographs so far, which I am in the process of sending to the Video Volunteers office in Goa. In addition, I would like to do a project on a tribal woman who runs a small-scale business in my village, selling breakfast from a cart. A mother of three, she has to wake up at 5am each morning in order to finish her duties as a maid in two separate houses, before setting up her food stall. The woman is a pillar of strength, and it is stories like hers that I would like to tell.”

This project is a partnership between Video Volunteers and the Magnum Foundation, funded by The Fledgling Fund. Magnum Nominee, Olivia Arthur, and Delhi based photographer, Sohrab Hura, delivered the workshops.

To read more about the workshop series, click here. To read about CC, Amit Topno’s experience at the workshop, follow this link.

The Beginnings of the project:

In November 2012 Video Volunteers and the Magnum Foundation joined forces to set up a participatory photography project for Community Correspondents at Video Volunteers. To view all of the photo essays created by the CC’s, click here.

The genesis of the project was a meeting in 2011 between VV co-founder, Jessica Mayberry, and world-renowned Magnum photographer, and President of the Magnum Foundation, Susan Meiselas. Magnum is one the most well recognised photo agencies in operation, started in 1947 by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, David Seymour and George Roger. For its part, Video Volunteers is excited at how collaborations between professionals and citizens can shape journalism and the arts in the future.

VV selected 20 Community Correspondents, nearly all women, and Magnum picked photographers interested to work with them, which included Magnum Nominee, Olivia Arthur, and Magnum Foundation Fellow, Sohrab Hura. There were two workshops of four days each, one in November 2012 in Ranchi, Jharkhand, and one in March 2013 in Goa. Follow the links to read more from CC’s, Amit Topno and Reena Ramteke on their experiences from the workshop. 

Workshop 1: Ranchi

A Photo taken during the first assignment in Jharkhand

The first workshop, titled ‘Storytelling through Photography’, focused on creating visually strong, contextualised images and building a narrative into picture stories. Our CCs are strong at activism but sometimes less skilled at visuals, and we knew photography was a great way for them to develop a better eye. Furthermore, this workshop was a chance for them to explore visual media through a new lens.

“I like taking photographs. I usually take photos at weddings and family functions, but this workshop has brought a new dimension to my work. I’ve learnt concepts like framing a shot, which will not only help me take better photographs, but also improve the quality of my videos”, said Reena Ramteke, one of the participants.

In between the first and second workshop, correspondents took photographs on pre-decided assignments, receiving feedback as they went along from the Olivia and Sohrab.

Workshop 2: Goa

At the start of the second workshop participants presented their work from the past three months and received further comments from the trainers. In some instances individuals had taken over 7,000 photos. Olivia and Sohrab had their work cut out as they tried to get the CCs to begin thinking about how an edited series of photographs might appear.

Olivia and Sohrab (Standing) going through photos with Saroj (Corner Left)

We sat with Olivia as she went through Saroj Paraste’s photographs of a disabled girl.“I chose to photograph a girl who doesn’t have hands,” said Saroj. “She had come to my village and I was touched when I heard about her. I wanted to tell her story so that it would be an inspiration to other people who have disabilities. Since the girl was at first not keen to be photographed, I spent a lot of time making her feel comfortable. In the end she grew very fond of me and was happy to be a part of the project”.

Despite being a skilled video maker, the process of spending such a long time with one subject and getting to know them was an entirely new experience for Saroj. But she excelled in the task, as noted by Olivia: “There were some portraits that were very intimate and showed the strong relationship she’d built with her subject. What was special about the story was the trust that this girl evidently had in Saroj.”

On the third day, correspondents began editing their work in small groups, focusing on trying to assemble a tight series of ten photographs. Olivia and Sohrab assisted them with this, before uploading the images to a blogging space. The final photo-stories cover a range of topics from alcohol abuse to superstition in India to the encroachment of the Dal Lake in Kashmir. All of these images as well as photographs of the workshop can be seen here.  

L to R: Sunita, Xavier, Priyasheela & Reena during an edit

The second workshop closed with a presentation to a group of journalists in Goa at the VV head office. This was a chance for our correspondents to present their work and answer questions put to them by the audience.

Impressions of the Workshop:

Amit Topno whose project was on alcohol abuse in rural Jharkhand spoke about his subject, his father: “In my community, the men like a good dose of mahua (local liquor made from the mahua flower) and I often see the ill effects of this on their lives and those of their families. While looking for a subject I didn’t have to go far. A few days before I started taking photos, my father broke his leg in a drunken spell.”

Asked about his experience of working with the group, Sohrab Hura said: “To work with such a diverse group has been a pleasure. We’ve seen real progress in their photography between the first and second workshop. My hope is that one day these people will have their images published and exhibited alongside international photographers.” To this end, correspondents will continue adding to their body of work to further develop their stories in the coming weeks and months.

The project is a partnership between Video Volunteers and the Magnum Foundation. funded by The Fledgling Fund. Magnum Nominee, Olivia Arthur, and Delhi based photographer, Sohrab Hura, presented the workshops.

Our Community Video Units are a model of hyper local, community-owned media. Our IndiaUnheard model is a model of a national community newswire. VV considers this an opportunity to create our third significant model of community media in India. In Jharkhand, we will be creating a replicable model for state-wide community media. Such a model will be both broad enough that a large diversity of stories will come out, but small enough that many of the advocacy issues will overlap and deal with the same government agencies, and that the community correspondents are close in geography and can support each other.

The Oak Foundation grant is also a chance to invest in innovations and best practices – such as new methods of community screenings and of pursuing state-wide campaigns – that we can then scale up through our national IndiaUnheard network.

More than 30 years ago, Ashoka’s founder coined the term ‘social entrepreneur.’ The award VV’s Jessica has won is one of the most distinguished awards someone in the social sector can receive. Ashoka describes its work and what it aims to catalyze with these words ‘Ashoka is leading a profound transformation in society. In the past three decades, the global citizen sector, led by social entrepreneurs, has grown exponentially. Just as the business sector experienced a tremendous spurt in productivity over the last century, the citizen sector is experiencing a similar revolution, with the number and sophistication of citizen organizations increasing dramatically. Rather than leaving societal needs for the government or business sectors to address, social entrepreneurs are creating innovative solutions, delivering extraordinary results, and improving the lives of millions of people. It is this insight into the power of social entrepreneurs that led Bill Drayton to found Ashoka in 1980 and that continues to guide Ashoka today.’

Video Volunteers is honored to receive this award. Jessica says the award reflects the innovation that is at the heart of VV’s work and the “creative and community-centered approach we take to problem solving.”

As the director of an organization working on media reform at the intersection of online and offline activism, people often ask me to speak about what’s working and what’s not working when it comes to media and technology in rural areas. What impact is technology having on grassroots social change initiatives?

I find that technology has created a new kind of blinded elite.  There’s a disconnect between the way global internet gurus boast about ‘universal access’ and  ‘the technology revolution’ and how rural communities in developing countries access and produce it on the ground. There is a lot more focus on the ‘next billion’ coming online and a lot less on the ‘bottom billion’ coming online. Because the low-hanging fruit is so profitable to technology businesses, the telecom and Internet companies that could do so much to bring the poorest online are not really doing their part. So a lot of innovation geared at connecting the poor is coming from smaller technology start-ups (either for- or non-profit.) In the cases where the tech groups are able to actually access rural communities to implement their projects, these NGO/technology company partnerships offer a lot of hope. (I outline below some of the collaborations VV is part of below, by way of illustration.)

Some promising government initiatives: the Indian government is making efforts to connect villages to the Internet through platforms like e-Panchayat. There are schemes for rolling out inexpensive tablets (approximately $60) called Aakash to students. But all of these initiatives are about ‘pushing’ information to communities and are rarely two-way. This needs to change. Because India still has high levels of illiteracy we need to invest in technologies – radio and video – that allow non-literates to produce knowledge.  As the founding director of Video Volunteers I constantly ask myself — how will our poorest and marginalised communities share their own, fully articulated thoughts and stories online? VV and other organizations are trying to enable this in rural India even before the Internet is really there. Wouldn’t it be nice if, when people finally come online, they find a media environment that is inclusive of their needs and interests instead of one that is alienating?

The mobile phone has huge potential for story gathering and reporting. Imagine if there was a phone number to report rural news and – most crucially – villagers knew about it and trusted its efficacy in terms of either getting the story public attention or getting action? Gram Vaani, an IIT based initiative, has set up such a network called Jharkhand Mobile Vaani that is one of the most successful in the country, and VV and Gram Vaani are starting to share stories on it.

Photo: CC Nirmala Ekka learns how to use the interactive DVDs created by Gram Vaani

An important part of the impact process for our correspondents is to screen the videos they create in their communities in order to get people talking about the issue. The process is often expensive and difficult to monitor. Gram Vaani is developing Interactive DVDs for us whereby people attending a screening can take a survey or a poll and can record messages about how an issue is affecting them. This will gather interesting data that can complement our videos and create a more powerful call to action when the campaign is shared with officials.  Rocketalk and Radar are other interesting examples of mobile-based projects/platforms we may partner with (one for social networking and the other for citizen journalism) that are doing innovative things with mobile to connect urban and rural India.

Mobile Internet is slowly, very slowly, making its way into the communities where we work. Out of about 100 new people trained in the last two years, I’d say ten have arrived at a training session with a Facebook account enabled on their phone. The majority still have never heard of it, but that will change in time. Internet activism is good for some things, less good for others: The Internet is best to get people to act on specific targeted issues with a clearly definable target who can execute the change. Systemic change still needs masses of live grassroots organizing.

We’ve been working with change.org — one of the world’s biggest online petition sites — for about a year now. The petition launched for acid attack survivor, Chanchal, got an overwhelming response with over 50,000 signatures (and counting) demanding proper legal action against the culprits and medical treatment for Chanchal. It is currently one of the three biggest petitions on change.org in India. The officials in Bihar have had no choice but to sit up and listen to the 19 year old. A half hour TV program on the subject was broadcast, and several thousand dollars in donations have been raised from online viewers and Chanchal is getting much better medical care.

Over 86,000 people have signed on our online Change.org petitions in the last year. This has created impacts on the ground. I can give you documented examples of practices of untouchability being abolished in rural Rajasthan; teachers being paid in Jharkhand after 4 years; villagers in Gujarat receiving fluoride-free water; visually impaired people getting a bridge in Mumbai.

For me these impacts are great examples of how NGOs can use technology to create change. Our partnerships with tech groups like Change.org and Gram Vaani have worked because they have the deep thinking on technology for development, and we have the ability to transfer this technology to local and rural communities in a meaningful and participatory fashion. We provide them with stories from grassroots India and they in turn are able to amplify those stories to a diverse Internet audience.

My hope is that somewhere in the near future people in rural communities will be recording video on their phones and uploading it directly to the internet in large numbers. Imagine what organizations like VV – with one foot in villages and another in mainstream media houses – could do? There’s a lot of mystery, and that mystery is exciting. The demand to be heard and to contribute to the conversation has always been there in rural India, and now technology is catching up. We cannot afford to let so many millions to go unheard.

Julia and Rohini visit a leprosy clinic in Walhe

In 2012 I came from Germany to volunteer for Video Volunteers (VV) in India.    During my time here, I worked on the maintenance of the website of VV’s own Community News Service, IndiaUnheard. I encountered the daily struggles of marginalised people in India. Video reports from a network of over 100 Community Correspondents from different parts of India are published on this website.

My main responsibility was the strategic publication and dissemination of these videos through the Web 2.0 and writing the accompanying articles to the videos. I learnt a massive amount about this country, the culture as well as the politics and how missing infrastructure affects its people profoundly in economics and education. I researched and wrote about the failures of the well meaning welfare and health schemes to reach the people in need; displacement of slum dwellers and the ill effects of the changing environment and climate on the livelihoods of farmers and villagers.

Each video aims to bring change on a social and political level. For myself it is a great information tool, because it is so close to the people affected. It’s powerful, because they speak with their hearts and at the same time uncover the structures that suppress them.

While I was working at Video Volunteers, the ARTICLE 17 Campaign was launched to abolish all practices of Untouchability, which continue despite being constitutionally banned. The 22 videos of the campaign show 22 stories of caste discrimination in different states of India. All of them have one request: end caste -based discrimination and to live together in equality.

Inspired by the video reports, I was intrigued about the continuation of such customs despite being illegal. I decided to understand why this is and how women in particular are affected by it. After several months of working in the office, I knew I had to meet some of the Community Correspondents in person to speak to them about the practices of Untouchability in their communities with a particular focus on women. I spent time with Rohini Pawar from Walhe, Maharashtra and Margaret Joeji and Mani Manickem from Tamil Nadu. All of them are most inspirational people, who work for social change in their communities. Gender equality and the abolition of Untouchability are central issues in their lives and work for equality.

Margaret and Julia visit a slum with high drop out rates. Margaret hopes to set up a tuition center for these children

A central thought is how the lack of adequate education perpetuates the practice of Untouchability. Margaret thinks people do not have any possibilities without proper education as their jobs continue to depend on more influential and resourceful people. She knows how hard it is for people living in slums to achieve a degree under challenging conditions, as she is also a Dalit—the first in many generations to finish her undergraduate degree against all odds.

Mani agrees that without external financial support it is difficult, because the money is always limited and the children start supporting their parents by working themselves. Both have seen how many of their friends in the slums of Trichy and Chennai had dropped-out of school due to a lack of help in their studies and financial pressure.

I also visited a few community screenings while on the field. After a community screening of the ARTICLE 17 Campaign in a slum of Chennai, people discussed practices of Untouchability and bonded labour with Mani. Being tied into financial despairs a

lso means there is little space for them to sit back and think about their situation. The screening opened up this space for them.

Margaret and Mani organised a screening of videos on Untouchabilty opening up a space for them to talk about the issues

At a community screening with Margaret, I met human rights activists from various districts in Tamil Nadu. All of them confirmed that

the practice continues in their areas as well. Women are not discussed in particular, but when I talked to the Correspondents all of them confirmed that they are hit most by these practices. Rohini thinks discrimination on the basis of Untouchability against women will only stop if women themselves stop discriminating against other women, like widows who become excluded from society.

Meeting with the Community Correspondents was the central experience of my time living and working in India. They are all such inspiring courageous people, who do make change happen. It was great to see that an important tool for them to make change happen is their video camera. The empowerment they felt was significant as people start to listen and their voices are heard in the public sphere. Because of this, I hope IndiaUnheard will expand it’s services further and become part of news reports all around the world.

– Julia Lechner

 At Video Volunteers, we’re constantly asked two questions: how do you locate potential Community Correspondents? How do you find the right people in these remote corners of the country?  So, we thought we’d explain the whole process from start to finish. We’ve written about the criteria for being a Community Correspondent HERE.

For most NGOs, accessing talented people in disconnected parts of the country is very challenging. VV is committed to not just training but to building a network. For that, we need to find people who will stay engaged for the long term. We’re proud of the length of engagement of many of our Community Correspondents, and that is a direct result of the time we put into selecting the right people.

We’re also committed to producing in-depth reports and in bringing out articulate ‘voices of communities.’ To do that, when working in areas with extremely high levels of marginalization, it means one has to really travel, talk and meet people. It means investing time and resources into recruitment and getting our hands dirty in the field, meeting the right activists, and understanding the issues of each state we work in.

Here’s an insider’s view on recruitment narrated by our motely recruitment team, who have meticulously put this formidable community of change makers together.

Prioritizing states:

Our goal is to have one Community Correspondent in every district, i.e. 645, within the next five years. We’re have around 130 total trained at the moment, and we are now growing state by state. Our first goal is to cover the conflict regions of Central India. As we make the annual plan for the year, we decide which states we want to expand to. Last year, it was Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Orissa and Maharasthra. This year it is UP, MP, Bihar and an expanded presence in Jharkhand.

Research:

We then research the issues, key districts and activists in each state. We also research the media scene in that state. Research is not just the first step, but a continuing activity in VV’s recruitment.

Says Radhika, VV’s recruitment coordinator, “We have seven to eight criteria or indicators that we keep track of – starting at the state level, narrowing down to the district level– on atrocities on Dalit, forced evictions, state oppression, corruption, infant mortality, etc. We get the information from the mainstream and alternative media, our network of organizations and movement, contacts made through conferences and through our network of existing CCs.”

“The collated data identifies issues and concerns in regions across the country and prioritizes the need for the IndiaUnheard program in those regions. A comprehensive contact sheet of people in or associated with the regions and its movements and organizations is prepared. This is only the very beginning.”

Recruitment Trip Plan:

Radhika next plans a road trip through the region to meet all the key contacts.

Says Radhika, “By this time, we have a ballpark timeframe for the recruitment drive. We call through our contact sheet and try to source as many contacts of the people at the grassroots. We explain our agendas to them and ask them for their support and goodwill. We schedule appointments and meetings with them.”

“All these go on a Google map and we have our route traced on paper before we set off from the office.”

The Recruitment Drive:

The recruitment drive is an actual drive – over potholed roads, along distant unfamiliar landscapes, into the heart of the region. Stalin and Radhika (who have done most of the recruitment drives over the last two years) do an average trip of 14 days, to meet approximately 90 people and drive about 4000 kilometers.  These might be twenty- minute meetings by the side of the road with two activists, or an hour long presentation at an NGO’s community gathering. The purpose is to tell people about the IndiaUnheard program, hand out application forms, ask their opinions on key issues to cover, people to meet, and to inspire them to spread the word. We urge them to emphasize that this is a paid position – each CC gets at least Rs.1500 per video. At the meetings, we tell them the dates we’ve fixed for the selection workshop, and ask them how many people they think they can send. The local contacts are often activists doing great work but with no recognition and often few contacts outside the state. It becomes clear that they can benefit from the IndiaUnheard program giving a wider platform to their struggles.

Radhika describes the recruitment drive as an anxious fever that attains a critical momentum. She says, “The research is tested. Our perspectives change. Issues and concerns which once seemed distant now appear acute and immediate. The need for the IndiaUnheard program is understood and it takes hold on your heart and mind. Every time I have gone on a recruitment drive, we have ended up identifying more issues and more priority regions than we started off with.”

Radhika recalls her visit to Dhinkia, the heart of the anti-POSCO movement, “We lost track of our directions and when we stopped and asked people to help guide us they asked us to move away. ‘It’s a Naxal region.’ they told us, ‘don’t go there. Go back from where you came. It’s dangerous for you.’ But we went nonetheless. And it was a completely different picture inside. And I realized that the region was so cutaway that not even the neighboring villages had any clue of what was going on inside. Now this is region that desperately needed a voice on the IndiaUnheard platform.”

“The drive is exhausting, challenging, even exasperating but ultimately inspiring. At each of these meetings, we give a presentation on IndiaUnheard. We meet strangers with powerful voices and powerful stories that have so far gone unheard. It helps us identify the people we want to work and associate with in the region. More importantly, it gives a shape and perspective to our mission.”

(Read Radhika’s account of the Chhattisgarh recruitment drive here)

Shortlisting Candidates:

There is a two to three week window after the recruitment drive when applications begin arriving in the Goa office by post and courier. The application forms contain basic data relating to contact details and financial situation.

The data from the application forms are collated and each applicant receives a phone call from the Goa office. She/he is interviewed to ratify the content of the forms. They are then given the date for the two day selection camp to be organized in their state.

The referees and resource persons who recommended the candidates are also called and informed about the selection camp. The recruitment team then travels back to the state for the selection camp.

The Selection Camp:

“A selection camp has the possibility to go crazy,” says Amrita, a coordinator at VV who also works on recruitment. “Sometime you are expecting a 100 people and only 30 turn up. There have been times when you expect 40 and 80 turn up. It’s maddening. The logistics can bring the roof down.”

All suitable candidates gather at the selection site and the VV recruitment team is joined by the training team to put the prospective correspondents through the paces.

Says Amrita, “Other than our stated criteria we are looking for leadership qualities, experience in activism, a willingness to take initiative and a deep understanding of the issues they are facing.” Empathy and a visceral sensitivity to the issues of their communities and a commitment to righting them are essential in a prospective CC

Group Discussion:

The ice is broken with a few quick and fun exercises before the session moves into group discussion.

“Even the basic introductions gives you clues into a person’s views and experiences”, says Amrita.

The moderators introduce social issues and ask the group to articulate them in the context of their community. As the candidates speak, the moderators play the devil’s advocate trying to provoke them into revealing their emotions and passion.

We push people to speak on subjects like gender, sexuality, discrimination, etc. We want prejudices to come forth and to see how they react to being faced with different opinions. “Tensions run high and sometimes the intensity is unbelievable”, says Amrita.

The moderators keep watch at an arm’s length. They want the candidates to resolve the issues among themselves. Grace shown under pressure and during times of stress is highly rated by the VV teams.

The Interviews:

After the fever of group discussions, the candidates are grilled one-on-one by VV staff. The candidates are mostly asked about their prior experience. Questions that remain unresolved at the group discussion are introduced. During the interview, the team clarifies and makes final notes on the candidates.

The Final Meeting:

 The VV team gathers away from the crowd for the final meeting.

“By now it is pure instinct,” says Radhika. “Every team member has their favorite candidates and they are prepared to fight for them.”

Amrita insists it is a ‘long discussion’ but Radhika sticks to ‘fight’.

The world stands still as the team settles the final shortlist among themselves. By this time we have no recorded facts of what goes on. But there are florid rumors going around.

The door remains closed. One can never say for how long. Inside each member of the VV team stakes honor and life as it tries to retain their candidate as a Community Correspondent. Threats and loud noises were reported. Injuries and scratches were seen. Throats were sore. Some furniture and a few windows had to be compensated for.

When the door opens and a strange light pours through. Through the light, appears a very tired, very exhausted VV team. In the hands of the team is a piece of paper. On the paper is the final shortlist of those who made it as ‘Community Correspondents’.

The one’s who didn’t make the list say their goodbyes and leave for home. The ones who stay will now learn how to change the country, one video at a time.

And the recruitment team returns to their excel sheets. The next training is just around the corner.

Introducing the Recruitment Team:-

 1. Radhika Gupta – One and a half years with Video Volunteers, Radhika is now at the centre of VV’s recruitment processes. In her time with the organization she has reviewed and interviewed prospects for over 1000s of possible Community Correspondents. She has traveled extensively across the eastern states of Chhattisgarh and Odisha visiting some of the most troubled districts for the perfect candidate. 80 of the finest have made the cut till date.

2. Amrita Anand – Six months in the organization, Amrita has been assisting Radhika in recruitment. Amrita recently went on a two week long road trip across the third largest state, Maharashtra, in a rickety old jeep in search of Community Correspondents in some of the most interior regions. She has helped bring in over 45 Community Correspondents into the VV fold.

The Video Volunteers Recruitment Timeline (March 2010 – June 2013):-

1. March 2010 – 30 Community Correspondents from across the country (the first batch)
2. March 2011 – 27 Community Correspondents from across the country
3. January 2012 – 26 Community Correspondents from Jharkhand
4. August 2012 – 16 Community Correspondents from Chhattisgarh
5. September 2012 – 16 Community Correspondents from Odisha
6. January 2012 – 17 Community Correspondents from Maharashtra
7. February 2013 – 10 Community Correspondents across UP, Bihar, MP
8. May 2013 – 30 Community Correspondents from Jharkhand (planned)
9. June 2013 – 42 Community Correspondents across UP, Bihar, MP (planned)

According to the projections of the recruitment timeline, there will be 200 Video Volunteers Community Correspondents actively producing videos and social change by 2014.

By Radhika Gupta and Siddharth Pillai

This is what we look for when recruiting Community Correspondents. You can read HERE about how we actually locate and select them.

1. The candidate should be associated with social movements, human rights campaigns and/or NGOs.

Candidates with a history of social movements not only have deep insight but also a strong perspective on the issues and concerns facing their communities. They have first hand on-the-ground knowledge and an understanding of the people they will be working for. They already have the experience of working at the grassroots and mediating with the state. For most of them, the camera becomes a necessary tool in their day-to-day activism.

Video Volunteers is not looking for journalists. We actually prefer if they do not have previous experience in journalism when they join our community. Our priority is activism.

2. Candidates from Economically Weaker Sections living Below Poverty Line are given priority

The financial situation is important because we are looking for candidates who can be empowered by the amount that VV pays them for their videos. At the same time, we want the amount to act as an incentive for them to keep producing videos and generating impact. We think there are numerous ways for those who are more middle class to be trained in citizen journalism and so VV doesn’t need to take on this task.

3. Candidates should be able to dedicate at least 12-15 days a month to do this work, and be ready to commit for several years.

We are seeking to build a network of professionals. Students studying full time in college, or people who have regular jobs will not be selected. We often find that while such candidates might perform well in trainings once they return to their village they find that they just do not have enough time to invest into making videos.

This is not a one-off video training course. CC’s are getting a job that starts with a training workshop.

Candidates also need to be above age of 18, as we want them to have the maturity to deal with sensitive issues.

4. Candidates should be Tribal, Dalit, religious minorities or sexual minorities ONLY – other candidates will not be selected.

One of the questions we are most frequently asked is – ‘Why don’t you take people from the ‘general’ category? Don’t they have issues of their own that are unheard?’

Our response is, ‘Yes, they certainly do have important problems that go unaired especially when they are living in poverty. But in most cases minorities experience these problems in a more intense way. Video Volunteers and its IndiaUnheard program are supporting the most marginalized communities to voice and express themselves. The need for our program is much greater among the communities that we have chosen to work with.

5. Women candidates will be given priority.

Even within marginalized communities, women are further sidelined. VV is adamant that 50% and more of our platform must be occupied by the voices of women. For most of our six years we had a 50-50 gender balance, but currently only around 33% of our correspondents are female which means that we will be giving even more priority to the gender criteria until the balance is tipped in favor of women once again.

That there are not enough women applying for our program is one of the biggest quandaries facing the IndiaUnheard recruitment drives. One deterrent for women seems to be that selected candidates have to attend an intensive two-week residential training camp.

We have tried to send out a clear message that women candidates will be given priority. We are making more efforts to target NGOs specifically focused on women.

6. Candidate should have strong community connection and strong ties to the community

We’re interested in hyper local journalism. We want to work with people who will stay engaged in that community. We’re also interested in having the videos reflect the diversity of the country. As compared to mainstream journalists we believe that a community correspondent’s connection to their community is their greatest, most unique selling point. They must know how to express this powerfully, and speak about personal issues.

7. Candidates should not be a part of any political party

This is not to say that our work is not political. It is. But we want to be clear that we do not want our work to be mouthpieces for a party’s agenda.

8. Basic reading and writing skills in Hindi preferred (not necessary)

We have worked with people who are completely illiterate in other programs and we know they can produce good content. But for IndiaUnheard, because the CC’s work on their own most of their time, it is preferable they are literate.

Change in their hands – A twinkle in their eye and a determination in their voice. How a small camera can make all the difference

By Namita Srivastav

My first impressions, when I met the participants of Community Correspondents Network training (CCN) was a sense of awe that they had been finally reached their destination – their video training center. Inspite of the long journey, missed trains, low battery on mobile phones and some first time travelers from all across Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, I saw active, enthusiastic and determined people who wanted to change the situation of their community.

All the eleven participants attending the two week training on creating videos to talk about bringing a change in their community, are change agents in their own right. They are sensitive and aware of issues of their community like gender and caste based discrimination, poverty, lack of transparency when they want to access education, health or nutrition. Because all of them at some point or the other have themselves faced discriminations in their lives, they have a determination and a passion to change the situation and raise their voices.

As one of the participants Shabnam from Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh shared “In our community gender inequality is very common, women there face discrimination at every stage in their lives and their attitude is that it as part of their lives. I always believe that women and men are equal and therefore women should never tolerate any kind of discrimination. I want to raise this issue in our community and make them aware of their rights, so that women can raise their voices. I want to do something to change their situation in society”. 

The Training

The training was conducted by three resource persons from Video Volunteers and four mentors. The mentors are community correspondents who have been with video volunteers for more that three years and have created regular videos. These mentors would be handholding the participants for a year to ensure they are able to develop videos of change.

During the training, PACS and Video Volunteer saw to it that all participants understood the dimensions of the discriminations faced by their community. Resource persons were invited to enrich their understanding on the issues like gender, health, nutrition and forest rights. These discussions not only gave them an insight into these issues with a social exclusion perspective, but also gave them ideas of how their stories and videos could be framed and issues adequately highlighted. I could see them asking about how and what they can do to bring a change in the status quo.

Although it was a difficult task for them to work on a computer and understand the working of a mouse, internet and copying to DVD as also language barried, as most of them had never worked on a computer before, I could see they were trying their best to learn despite all this.

Most of the participants at the training had never handled any kind of camera before, let alone a video camera. So initially when they were asked to take shots, the images were out of focus, the lens cap was still on, while they clicked away, someone’s hand was inside the frame. However, gradually with the help of the resource persons and their mentors, they started picking up the basic of framing and shooting. Slowly they were introduced to other technical aspects through screenings, discussions and late night video screenings.

On the Field

After the technical inputs, participants were taken to a nearby village to actually develop a video. When they got the chance to prepare a video clip, all of them did an excellent job. Their frames were good, research proper and the storyline good, even though shaky at some places. The field visit experience was also a major opportunity for the trainees as they got the chance to practice all that they had learnt over the last 12 days. This increased their confidence in their newly acquired skill set.

Satendra from Mau district shared that “this training has made me more confident and capable, and now I am sure that I will make a remarkable change in my community through my videos, I will share the problems of my community with the district and block officials through my videos.”

The CCN training was a good opportunity for participants from different districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to make friends, find solidarity, discuss issues and explore new dimensions of the society that they live in. After the training they were better equipped to raise issues that they had so far never taken up.

“The purpose of your life should be special, and you should have confidence in your ability to do things differently. Through this training I think I will finally be able to do things differently and bring about positive change in my community” – Premlata, a CCN participant from Sehore, Madhya Pradesh.

At the end of the training each of the participants were provided with a small flip camera and a certificate. On the last day, with the farewells and smiles, were glimmers of hope and confidence that they too will be making a difference for their people.

About the PACS – Video Volunteer Community Correspondent Network

PACS is looking to use videos and visual content for developing a change narrative and tapping into emerging media, including social media, which is increasingly recognized as a potent strategy for a range of engagements related to impact and mobilization.
This will be done in collaboration with Video Volunteers by creating a network of 50 community correspondents from excluded socially excluded groups from PACS intervention districts in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Video Volunteers is one of the leading community media organizations in the world. The community correspondent’s network will generate content and videos from their constituencies to leverage impact and work towards ending discrimination in everyday life and access to entitlements.

A deeper engagement in the form of these community correspondents will emerged as a means for bringing to fore voices from the margins and providing skills to social communicators to provide advocacy tools to community based organisations. These correspondents are being envisioned as chroniclers of change and struggle, supporting campaigns and advocacy efforts at state, regional and national levels.