As Rwanda tries to come to terms with horrors of 1994 genocide, the country has attracted a lot of global media attention. It’s sad a huge chunk of Rwandan stories online today, are told by foreigners. The stories of Twa, the minority Rwandan community remains untold. Predominantly living in the forests, they know very little about the new media. We seek to reach and train them via workshops in the art of blogging, photography and video making
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
KIGALI
Describe the specific community with whom you will be working.
Unlike the two main ethnic groups in Rwanda, Twa community has not yet embraced the spirit of the new media. Their occupation as hunters and gatherers has made it hard for their children access the universal education. Despite their unique talents in pottery, story telling and traditional dancing, their standard of living is still challenged. I would love to work with them since they have something unique to offer to the global media.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
Twa’s traditional events from marriage to funeral are very unique. I doubt if there are other communities that still live in the forests. Twa occupation too is very unique and as masters of pottery in the region, their stories would offer a new recipe to the citizen media. Participants will produce different stories for print and video, which will be shared on different online platforms. Blogs, You tube, Vimeo and Flickr will come in handy.
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.
Gorilla Young Filmmakers facebook group has been in existence for the last eight months. We have attracted a strong membership of like-minded youth passionate in the new media. We volunteers at the Rwanda’s Point Foundation, an NGO that deals with orphans http://tinyurl.com/b7eu9lv. We work closely with the national broadcaster and newspaper in terms of creating video contents and articles. This project has the potential to be self-sustaining.
How many participants do you think will be involved in your project?
Six participants will do for a start. Two will be writers, two photographers and two videographers. This means three girls and three boys. We hope to bring on board volunteers and interns to enhance creativity and enthusiasm. Bearing in mind that, the participants live distance apart, we have catered for their transportation needs and basic meals in the budget.
Besides the microgrant funding, what other resources and support are you seeking for your project to ensure its success?
We are looking forward to have our activities highlighted on the Rising Voices website as this will help a lot in authenticating our project to our local partners. Digital learning materials from Rising Voices will go a long way in reinforcing our existing learning materials. Lastly, we are looking forward to feedback and continuous email/chat interactions with Rising Voices support team
Contact name
JOSEPH WAWERU NJATA
Organization
Shutter Films Rwanda