Feminist Approach to Technology (FAT) is a non-profit organisation that envisages a holistic leadership model for girls, by helping them own technology from a rights-based feminist perspective. The project proposed here aims at creating three digital stories by girls from an urban poor area in New Delhi. They will capture and document the opinions and perspective of three stakeholders, viz., community-elders, boys and the girls themselves, on a film they have already made on issue of lack of toilets (called Apna Haq) and trace the impact the film has had on each stakeholder for safer living.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
New Delhi
Describe the specific population with whom you will be working.
The girls that the project aims to work with are from Jal Vihar, an urban slum in New Delhi. The film they made on toilet issues is being taken forward by this project. As the decision to sensitize the community has come from the girls therefore they have invariably formed an integral part of the development of the proposal.
The girls belong to poor households and because of limited resources and mobility do not have access to new media beyond our tech center and haven't been represented online much.
We want to work with the girls because when given an opportunity they become strong, opinionated and capable enough to break the stereotypes around them and emerge as leader.
The target population is competent in using multimedia tools and internet because of prior film making experience.
Who else will be on your team to help implement the project?
Team Lead will be Asha, who is a ‘Program Associate’ with FAT and has trained girls in our Tech Center Program to use camera (both still and video), computer, and the Internet. Supporting her will be two coordinators:1) Renu Arya- has been trained in the FAT's Tech Center and interned as an ‘Administration Associate’. She is an amateur film maker and a theater artist. Renu was an important part of Apna Haq film making process. 2) Deepika Passi has been trained in FAT Tech Center. She is undertaking a professional course in film making. She wants to be a wildlife photographer and a filmmaker. She is from Jal Vihar community which we plan to work with. Tech Center volunteers will support these three team members in the project.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
The girls of the community will produce 3 short films as followup of Apna Haq film with the vision of sensitizing the community, to mark their presence in the society and to break away from stereotypes.The first film will document the reaction, understanding and suggestions of the community on the issue of lack of toilets and girls engaging in a technological activity of making films. The second film will capture reaction and understanding of boys from the community. It will try to examine if boys have been sensitized about gender and sexual harassment by the film. The third film will be a reflective film made by girls on their journey and experience of having made a film on an important issue.The film will also put forward their visions and how technology has empowered the girls.
What technologies and digital tools do you plan to use in the trainings?
Describe the connections that you or your organization have already established or plan to establish that will contribute to the success of the project.
Connections between FAT and the local community has been sustained over a couple of years now. This has happened with training girls in the Tech Center and community film making process during the making of the ‘Apna Haq’ film. Over a period of time, we have built an amiable relationship with parents of the girls as well. This encourages them to engage in Tech Center work and support the girls in their ambitions. In context of future partnerships, through this project, we are aiming to get men of the community to also be sensitized and involved in girls rights. We also look forward to partnering with organisations that work with adolescent girls for an outreach that will help them understand the issues on their personal and public spaces and how new media can be used to highlight them.
How many participants do you think will be trained in your project?
The project aims to train and engage with 15 girls from Jal Vihar community of Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi. Important link between FAT and the community is that the parents of the girls after much perseverance and after seeing the end result (‘Apna Haq’ film) have started to support the girls in their endeavors to pursue technology based careers. The film has also surfaced these young girls as leaders in the community and enhanced their acceptability within their community. Even mothers have openly come out to support their daughters as they see their problems being handled through and by them. The overall acceptability, parental guidance and self confidence of the girls has and will sustain the partnership as well as make it successful. The project has potential to inspire other girls also.
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
Technology to be used by girls for making the 3 films are: a) Camcorders, b) Tripod c) Computers, d) Internet, e) Projector, f) Speakers, g) Lights, h)Editing software.
The project organizer brings not just the skills of film making to the project but also the understanding of issues of the community and everyday struggle of the girls. She also knows how to use technology as placed in a social context for empowerment and not just a tool to capture audio and visuals. We are using the tool of film making because this in this community, girls issues are highly underrepresented. When the issues of girls are presented on a screen, their struggles gain a validation and acceptability. People find it interesting and pay attention. This also breaks the stereotype that only men can use technology.
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
FAT has a Tech Center near the community where girls from different communities come to learn and chisel their technological skills on a regular basis. It has sufficient space to accommodate 15 girls for workshops. We have 20 computers in the Tech Center with very high speed Internet (ADSL). We have cameras, tripod, projector, speakers and lights. A few camcorders will be purchased for the project.
What is your current relationship with the community with whom you plan to work? What makes you the most appropriate individual or organization to implement this project?
Our current relationship with the community is that of trust, faith and cooperation. We, at FAT, have built a mutual understanding to work towards development of girls as leaders. We also have constant engagement with girls’ parents and counsel them regarding the need for girls to gain training in technology and generally on girls’ rights. We have also helped the girls negotiate in private spaces to be able to fulfill their ambitions and have provided support when required. Through ‘Apna Haq’ film, the attitude of fathers and brothers towards the girls from the community has changed from being hostile to being encouraging. Our association with all the stake holders of the community and long term partnership with the girls makes us the appropriate organisation to implement this project.
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
We are operating in a deeply patriarchal society and the objective to help women emerge as leaders is often met with resistance and hostile atmosphere. While our ‘Apna Haq’ initiative has already challenged the control that is exercised on girls at home to some extent, there is a long way to go before girls will get some decision making rights for their own life. Even today when girls do not conform the rules set by male members of the family and chose to break restrictions on mobility, they experience domestic violence. This has direct effect on the project. In this regard we visit families and counsel them regarding girls’ rights. But its a long process and will take some time before patriarchy loosens its grip in the community. We will have to solve problems as they come, case by case.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
There will be constant feedback on the digital stories that will be created. Firstly, when we begin the project we will do a baseline survey on girls’ leadership level in the community, their confidence level about conducting this project in their community, their expectations from the project. During the period of the project, after end of every screening of films, a feedback will be taken from the community to understand how the film helped to change the audience's perspective about girls rights. Every week the team lead will engage with girls to discuss their development. At the culmination of the project we will engage in an end line survey with the girls to see if their expectations have been met and if there is a change in their confidence level and leadership within the community.
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2014?
Timeline:
May
-Baseline survey for the project
June
-Workshop with girls on initiation of the project
-Story boarding, film screening and shooting in the community for film one
July
-Editing of the films
-Feedback session with girls by the team lead, design a questionnaire form for boys of the community and shortlist the boys for interview
August
-Film screening (of the film made in the project) with NGOs that work with adolescent girls.
-Story boarding, screening of the film and shooting in the community for film two
September
-Editing
-Feedback on the film by the team lead
-Girls reflection on their journey for the next film
October
-Film screening (of the film made for the project) for NGOs that work with adolescent girls
-Story boarding, shooting of girls reflections for film 3
-Editing
November
-Film screening (of the film made for the project) for NGOs that work with adolescent girls
-Feedback with the team lead
-End line Survey with the girls
Detail a specific budget of up to $2,500 USD for operating costs.
Hardware (Camcorders) – 250 USD
Workshops – 120 USD
Local travel – 100 USD
Costs during shooting – 30 USD
Coordinators fee – 800 USD
Space for workshops – 1000 USD
Electricity – 200 USD
Total – 2500 USD
Besides the microgrant funding, what other support can Rising Voices provide for your project to ensure its success?
Our main request to Rising Voices is if they can help us spread the stories and struggle of these girls at a global level. Additionally, we would really appreciate if there can be a workshop for girls on producing digital stories, better editing of films and using social media platforms to share their films.
Contact name
Asha Tiwari
Organization
Feminist Approach to Technology (FAT)
