WUNRN
CONGO - MULTIMEDIA STORYTELLING FOR
WOMEN'S POST-CONFLICT SUPPORT, HEALING & EMPOWERMENT
February 26, 2010
Seven women affected by Congo-Brazzaville’s
(also known as Republic of Congo) civil wars between 1997 and 2003 came
together in November 2009 for a four-day digital storytelling workshop
organized in a partnership between the United Nations Development Programme Bureau for Conflict
Prevention and Resolution (UNDP-BCPR) and the Center for Digital
Storytelling’s initiative Silence Speaks. Since their
beginnings in 1999, Silence Speaks, which is based in
the
On behalf of Global Voices, I interviewed the director of Silence Speaks, Amy Hill, to learn more about this
wonderful project. Amy explains that their workshops blend oral history,
popular education, and participatory media production, enabling people to
create short videos about their own lives, with stories that may otherwise go
unheard.
“We modify our methods to accommodate languages, literacies,
and technologies in a given setting and emphasize reflection on the
implications of bringing sensitive personal narratives into the public sphere.
Following careful informed consent processes, stories are shared locally and
globally, as strategic tools for training, community mobilization, and policy
advocacy to promote well being, gender equality, and human rights,” she says.
GV: How did you start working with
women survivors of war in the
Amy: “In April of 2009, I was approached by a
staff member with UNDP’s Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (BCPR)
in
“In recent years, BCPR personnel have recognized that
critical to the success of their efforts are the development of communications
strategies that ensure a voice and audience for those directly affected by
conflict. Because we shared a particular interest in women’s health and
well-being and because DDR efforts have been criticized for failing to
emphasize the need for gender-specific approaches to post-conflict support, we
outlined a collaborative project to assist a small group of women affected
by/involved with the most recent civil war in Congo Brazzaville (1997 – 2003)
in sharing their stories.
“The goal of the project was two-fold: (1) to use a
participatory production process in creating a collection of short videos and
radio pieces that can be screened by UNDP in various local and international
settings (ie, at community events, trainings, conferences, meetings, web
presentations, etc.) to highlight examples of success and positive change; and
(2) to provide a mechanism for addressing the deep scars left in the region in
the wake of years of conflict (both through the workshop process itself, and
through subsequent distribution of the digital stories in Congo).”
GV: With what local organizations did
Silence Speaks work with in
Amy: “The BCPR chose
“A key piece of the participant recruitment process involved
informing interested women from the outset that their stories were intended for
public sharing. After years of working in extremely resource-poor settings and in
communities experiencing high levels of poverty and distress, I do not view
“informed consent” as a one-time procedure involving the signing of forms.
Instead, I am committed to weaving the notion of consent throughout projects…
“Our goal with the project was to support as best we could a process that gave the women themselves a sense of clear ownership over their work and a sense of commitment to how their stories can assist community reconciliation and peace building activities in the wake of war both locally and globally.”
GV: What forms of media did the women
survivors select (video, audio, text, photographs, internet-based) to narrate
their stories?
Amy: “Most of the women who participated in the workshop
had less than a sixth grade education and had never had access to any
media-making tools. We wanted to design a workshop process that would be
empowering rather than intimidating, and we were limited in terms of local
technology resources (again, electricity is scarce in Kinkala, and computers
are virtually nonexistent), so we focused the participatory aspect on
photography and drawing rather than on the use of computers.
“Prior to the four-day session, UNDP staff carried out an
orientation for the women to go over the purpose of the project and describe
what would happen in the construction of stories. Each participant was given a
disposable camera, and UNDP staff offered a short training session on
photography basics and camera use.
“Several weeks later, we gathered in Kinkala for four days,
where the women shared and recorded stories and drew illustrations. We also
shot additional photos and videos on site. Participants turned in their
cameras, and the photos were developed. Afterwards, I edited these materials
into finalized short videos and radio spots.”
GV: How did the women who participated in the workshops describe the experience of telling their stories?
Amy:Time and resource limitations made it impossible for us to
do focused interviewing with the participants about how they felt in the
aftermath of sharing their stories, but the sense of relief and pride was
palpable, on the last day of the session. During a short debriefing
conversation, workshop participant Florence Malanda, Head of the Kinkala
Women's Cooperative, said, “These testimonials will help to raise awareness
with all Congolese people on the consequences of war. We hope that UNDP's
support will also help other women who are suffering around the world.”
GV: What is the role of multimedia
tools and the Internet in these storytelling projects?
Amy: “At the Center for
Digital Storytelling, we view multimedia/digital media tools as just that:
tools to assist people in sharing meaningful stories from their lives. We do
not glorify them or see them as in and of themselves capable of bringing about
change. We believe that what is important is how and why these tools are used.
“With Silence Speaks, I am not interested in “collecting
stories” just for the sake of creating an archive of stories; I am interested
in critically examining the ways in which the process of sharing and listening
to stories can lead to specific changes across multiple levels of human
experience and influence.
“Of course user friendly digital editing and production tools
are essential to this idea, if the stories are to be developed in media
formats. But teaching people technology skills alone or dumping equipment into
their communities absent a coherent plan for how these skills or equipment can
be utilized to promote an analysis of people’s life circumstances, build
political consciousness, or support community/civic engagement, etc., seems to
me to be extremely misguided. Instead, I take a Freirean
approach to the use of the tools – one that views technology as an enhancement
to a process of learning and empowerment.
“When it comes to the role of the internet, particularly in
relation to projects like the work with women in
“Certainly I am complicit in this equation, since I clearly
stand the benefit from the outreach and publicity that sharing stories on the
internet can bring about. However, when it comes to project development, I
prefer to focus not only on strategies for internet distribution but on
mechanisms for sharing stories with local audiences, where they have the
potential to really make a difference.
“My colleagues at WITNESS have offered useful mentoring along these lines, with their emphasis on “micro audiences” and video advocacy. In the case of the Congo women’s stories, the collaboration with UNDP stresses not only distribution in international venues but also distribution locally, via community screening and dialogue sessions in Kinkala, and distribution throughout the Pool Region and nationally, via radio broadcasts and associated call-in programming on issues of conflict and reconciliation.”
GV: How can telling one's story be
empowering?
Amy: “Trauma expert Judith Herman contends that while telling one’s story can be
healing, participating in collective action at the community level also plays
an important role in nurturing recovery. This is why Silence Speaks aims to
support individual transformation and empowerment while simultaneously building
the resilience of participants for involvement in community building and social
justice movements.
“It’s really important to stress, though, that before any of the above benefits can be realized, people must feel ready and able to share their stories. Most people will come to the digital storytelling process when they are emotionally and physically strong enough to do so, but some may not be able to assess their own readiness.”
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