WUNRN
POTRET
Indonesia - POTRET
Magazine by Women
Programme Summary
The Aceh, Indonesia-based local non-governmental
organisation (NGO) Center for Community Development and Education (CCDE) is
working to empower and strengthen women by building a writing culture. CCDE is
training women in Aceh with knowledge and skills related to creative writing in
an effort to bring them actively into the public media.
The result is "POTRET", a printed and online
magazine designed to be a medium for women to share their perspectives.
Communication
Strategies
CCDE uses the medium of writing as a tool for breaking
the silence and solving the problems of women. Face-to-face sessions are used
to build the capacity of women to express themselves, and a printed publication
is the means to share their voices.
Specifically, first designed in 2001, this educational
initiative became a reality in 2003 through a programme supported by World Day
of Prayer (WDP) Germany; CCDE trained 25 women from 5 districts in Aceh in
creative writing. Aligned with this training, CCDE also began providing monthly
discussion series to sharpen women's communication skills. Then, in order to
give more space and variety to their expressions, CCDE started publishing a
magazine called POTRET, which was at first printed every 3 months. One year
later, the tsunami struck. Another year passed before CCDE could recover from
the damage; they then partnered with Hivos to offer creative writing training,
monthly discussions, and publication. There were four 3-day trainings held for
100 women from 7 districts. Since then, every month, CCDE staff has been
visiting women's groups to offer more opportunities for women to practice oral
and written communication, focusing the discussion around current issues
affecting women (some of which are linked with the theme of the publication).
Women authors are paid a small fee for their contributions to POTRET, which
CCDE currently publishes each month, distributing them to 12 districts in Aceh
as well as areas outside of Aceh.
Key Points
CCDE explains that, even though more than 53% of
Aceh's population is female, "they are voiceless, because they have been
marginalized and ignored; their problems are just being hidden. Every thing
seems left in the silence."
POTRET's goal is monthly publishing, both online and
printed copies. The number of printed copies increased from 1,000 to 3,000 and
continues to grow.
Contact
Tabrani
Yunis, Director
Center
for Community Development and Education (CCDE)
Banda
Aceh Aceh, Indonesia
================================================================
To contact the list administrator, or to leave the list, send an email to: wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com.
Thank you.