The Speaking Rickshaw is a media pilot project, which focuses on connecting the socially excluded and marginalized community of the bi-cycle rickshaw pullers in India with the mainstream society and providing a dignified status. The project will revolve around the daily life and challenges of the migrant rickshaw pullers (RPs) in big urban settlements in India. Through the use of use citizen media tools the stories of the RPs will be shared.
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Describe the specific community with whom you will be working.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
A migrant RP has to come across various challenging moments to exploitation from his customer, rickhaw owner, government, police, health, drug abuse and so on. RPs are also classified as a high risk population for HIV and they serve as a carrier of the infection from cities to their wife in villages.
Through Speaking Rickshaw, we aim show the daily life challenges of RPs and advocating the same with the Government agencies and Police.
What technologies and digital tools do you plan to use in the trainings?
Describe the connections that you or your organization have already established that will contribute to the success of the project.
The Speaking Rickshaw will be implemented by the Dove Foundation, through our project ‘Aarambh’ funded by Mtv Staying Alive Foundation we have been working directly with almost 4000 rickshaw pullers (RPs) in four cities of Uttar Pradesh, India.
Through our existing network and community of the RPs we will role out the Speaking Rickshaw.
How many participants do you think will be involved in your project?
We will build the capacities of 60 rickshaw pullers in digital photography and digital video, as the major segment of the community is illiterate therefore we will be using a trained blogger to express the views of the RPs to along with the video and photographs.
In on-going project with RPs towards thier capacity building we are using peer to peer approach (cascading model), we will be using the same approach to built sustainability & ownership
Besides the microgrant funding, what other resources and support are you seeking for your project to ensure its success?
The rickshaw puller community has been ignored highly by the internationa lcommunity as well as the international orgainzations as ILO, International Organization on Migration, World Bank etc.
RisingVoices could support us in bringing in an international visibility of this challenges and exploitation which a migrant RP passes through daily in his life.
8 comments
Dove foundation has a strong sense of community ownership, The founders are highly committed and passionate about their course, Am glad to have met them .Rckshaw puller Community members were volunteers. Volunteers are members. Members are clients. Clients are volunteers.
As an Activist this kind of critical mass is achieved through support ,I think at this time that we can fuel HIV prevention efforts, challenge stigma, and simultaneously advanced massive advocacy efforts and social justice
Anthony Adero many thanks for your words and believing in our work !
great work … ppl please support…!
Hi Abhinav and Mohita,
Excited to see this pilot media project get off the ground! Looks really interesting and a great initiative.
Good luck, and look forward to seeing the RP videos and photographs.
Shay
Thanks a lot Shay for your encouragement..we are also excited to bring the project on ground !
great idea.. best wishes.. would love to join if required..
Thanks a lot Prateek for showing your interest..
I know The Dove Foundation from its beginning and since beginning it has been continuing doing great jobs, working on grassroots in fight against HIV AIDS. It is really a wonderful project and will be really very effective.
Continue doing your great work Mr. Abhinav Singh…!!!