Programs
OBJECTIVES
FilmAid International's programs aim to:
- Educate and inform refugees through potentially life-saving messages on health care, prevention of HIV and AIDS and other infectious diseases, gender-based violence and post-conflict reconciliation.
- Entertain refugees, helping to alleviate problems of psychosocial trauma and despair.
- Empower refugee youth through participatory video activities that develop confidence and self-esteem by giving them the opportunity to be creative and tell their story.
- Enable greater self-sufficiency of refugees by hiring them to implement FilmAid's programs in the camps as well as training them in fundamental work skills, including video-projection techniques. Refugees also comprise a local committee that FilmAid relies upon to choose appropriate films and determine program logistics such as locations for screenings.
PROGRAM COMPONENTS
Local FilmAid Advisory Committees
FilmAid has formed a local committee in each location, representing the different ethnic and social groups. The committees are comprised of both traditional community leaders, such as tribal elders, and non-traditional voices including those of women and youth. The committees guide our programmes in the community. They pre-screen all films and videos, provide input into FilmAid's programmes in general, and relay the community's reaction to and interest in our activities. Selection of Films to be shown:
- Educational films and entertainment films on issues including health, hygiene, HIV/AIDS, gender based violence, and repatriation.
- Feature films from Africa and other parts of the world
- Cartoons and silent films
- Public service announcements
All films are nonviolent and appropriate for families
Evening Feature Screenings
FilmAid projects films and videos onto a large screen fixed on the side of a truck in open air spaces throughout the camps. The feature presentation is preceded by a short educational film, classic cartoons, and a public service announcement. The majority of films are produced regionally and deal with a variety of topics relevant to refugees, such as conflict resoluction, landmine risk, HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence. These screenings have attracted as many as 33,000 refugees in one night.
Daytime Educational Screenings
In collaboration with other humanitarian organizations, FilmAid holds screening sessions in community centers, schools, and health centers throughout the camp followed by facilitated discussions on vital topics of concern to the participants. These screenings present a forum where refugees can feel comfortable discussing otherwise taboo subjects
My Reel Life: The Participatory Video Project (PVP)
FilmAid works with young adults in the camps teaching them basic camera and editing skills in an effort to help them tell their own stories through video. Through this program, we develop the participants' self-esteem while providing hands-on skills training and a means of communicating within their community.
No Place Like Home: A Youth Video Exchange Project
(Late April in Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
To aid in the relief of emotional trauma and resulting behavioral problems afflicting youth in the Gulf Coast region of the United States, FilmAid, in collaboration with local partners and Barefoot Workshops, is offering young people displaced by the hurricanes a unique opportunity to reflect on their experiences through a therapeutic and empowering process of visual storytelling.
Targeted messaging
FilmAid produces and distributes video messages specific to local issues and circumstances, such as repatriation and HIV/AIDS. Camp residents actively participate in the creation of these videos, responding to an immediate, unmet need for locally relevant messaging.
Employment and Training
FilmAid International employs refugees to operate its programs. In FilmAid's East Africa programs, for example, FilmAid employs only two expatriates who work with some 25 national employees and 75 refugee staff. As the programs develop, the local and refugee staff assumes increasing responsibility.
