Portraits from Medan
Hi VAPers,
How are you? Missing each other already?
Hope you had a save way back home.
Here’re the portraits you made in Medan, enjoy them!
A day in the life
Most of you guys have seen this already, but here’s me in Senegal. Thanks for evaluation comments whilst in Indonesia – if I have time and find a way to use video’s from Mireia’s camera, I’ll have another go at it (then put it on FaceyB obviously for my two comments!).
Kat
A Day In The Life of Me
Tried presenting my life in Cambodia.. but not to my satisfaction because this is a temporary phase of my life and hence cannot show my real life.. Whatever best i could do… Enjoy!!!
Here’s the link:
A day in the life of me
People!
Here my task 4, simple but cute!!
See you in few days!
VIDEO: Our tool to act against poverty!
I really believe that film has the power to communicate messages to large audiences and empower it’s viewers by embedding images and stories into their conscious which they can draw upon to inform their own actions.
As we can see with the recent Kony 2012 film, video can be powerful, controversial and make an impact; sometimes globally. Some of the most memorable films I have ever seen such as Bowling for Columbine and Favela Rising have been documentaries. These can have a powerful effect because they expose truths from images and stories of real people and experiences which can’t be learned from a book or newspaper article. A person becomes so much more real to you when you see their face and hear their voice telling their own story.
We need to make our film different from documentaries or news reports which people normally see on the subject of poverty. It needs to be either; entertaining, shocking, funny, memorable or inspiring……preferably it will be all of these things and more. We need our film to have high production values; as high as we can manage (this is often something that takes time and money) and somehow we need to come up with strategies to create a buzz around it. We can do this through many means such as social networking and utilising the people power which I believe our special group of VAP participants’ posses.
Just imagine if each one of our 20 or so international members shows the film to five friends and asks them to do the same, alongside this our sending and host organisations could share the message amongst their network of stakeholders. Already we are talking about hundreds of people and these are people spread all across the world. We could also use public screenings, local television networks, blogging, and even flash mobbing and other ‘out-of-the-box’ and creative means to get our documentary seen by as many people as possible and make the kind of impact which I know we’re capable of!
Assignment 4: A day in the life of me
Dear VAPers!
With just two weeks to go, we thought it would be a good idea to start the process of getting to know each other and what better way to do that in the VAP project than by making a video letter about yourself?!
What is a video letter?
A Video Letter is a way to share with the world a personal experience. Its power is the personal tone of voice, which has the potential to create a connection with anyone and everyone across the globe.
The title of the last assignment is: ‘One day in the life of me’ and we’d like you to make a short (maximum 2 minute) video about your life. You could include:
- Where you live
- Where you work/ volunteer
- What you like to do in your spare time
- What you’re passionate about
You can make the video in whatever style you chose but here are some examples to inspire you:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/wm3iTdHA4y0
http://www.youtube.com/embed/dsSCXUPx_3c
http://www.youtube.com/embed/LsaL-JO2ATw
The deadline is 5th April – Enjoy!
Tamsin, Christine, Eugeni, Ana, Miki
Task 3
Hi Everyone,Here is the link to Task 3 !!!
3rd task – making the documentary
hey everyone,
here’s the video of our task.. well we have not taken our own videos and narrated everything but tried to put certain activities in the video which can help reduce poverty or atleast put smiles on the faces which are deprived of the luxuries and amenities enjoyed by us.
According to us, video is an expression of the people’s thoughts and actions. video creates an awareness among the mass about a specific problem and also conveys messages to the concerned people on a large scale.
In helping reduce/eliminate poverty, video reaches to the many people who believe poverty can be reduced and in turn unity in diversity is created. More the awareness easy it is for us to accomplish the task. Like minded heads come together to fight against poverty. A common platform is created for people to share ideas, analyse, reflect and comment.
Here is a small glimpse of what we can do or rather our contribution in reducing poverty..
In the video there are 3 parts.
1st part where a school promotes girl education. Girl education in India still lacks importance. Girls in India are still considered as a liability in many villages and rural areas. Our contribution was to share smiles and distribute food. These girls have so much of art in them. It can be seen in the video too.
2nd part where hundreds of poor people are being given lunch. These people have no shelter, food or clothes to wear. Just a small gesture to convey “We Care”.
3rd part distributing food items in the hospital. Poor people do not get the proper medical aids because of lack of finance. Atleast one part (i.e food) is being taken care of.
We have tried to show that we can contribute a lot in many ways though small ways to the cause of reducing poverty. If we decide and determine a lot of small things can contribute in reducing poverty.
Hope you all will like the video.
Prepared by Nirat and Anisha
(The video is not a proper professional one but some still pictures framed into a movie)
Intercultural Training in Derby
20th-23rd February 2012
By : Eko, Elvis, Angelica
Intercultural Training is the theme of the training we (Angelica, Elvis and I) had between the 20th to 23rd of February in the City ofDerby -UK. Early in the morning, Angelica and I set out from the town ofStanley -Durham by train to the city ofDerby. The training was a training dedicated to all EVS volunteers in the UK, as a provision for volunteers to better understand, what, who, where, why, when and how the EVS and the volunteers do their activities. It’s during the training at Derby that we both met with Elvis from Cameroon for the first time since we arrived the UK.He is a friend in the VAP`s(Volunteering Against Poverty) project and he is currently based in Central London where he does his weekly task assigned to him by his hosting organization (Woodcraft Folk).
Beyond my knowledge, there were a lot of EVS volunteers in theUKtaking part in the training inDerbywith different projects from each participant. Some of the participants are citizens fromPoland,Czech,Austria,Belarus,Germany,Russia,Spain,Italy, and many other countries. Although at the time the training took place, we were divided into two groups, namely Beginner’s (volunteers with placement in early 2012) and the second group being with volunteers whose placements started last year (2011). I kind of realised we weren`t the only EVS volunteers. There are many other volunteers scattered throughout theUnited Kingdom. We now have so many friends all over theUK, allowing us to visit each other from time to time. As such some of our social needs are met.
At this meeting, we shared a lot about our program, our activities, personal expectations, goals that we want to achieve during our placement, social issues, cultural and financial issues that we are facing or may face. We learned about the life style and culture of the British. Initials to help us to mingle with the community in which we carry on the activities assigned to us. We also learned about the possible situations we could face during are placement, as well as how best to resolve these situations when they arise. In addition, the high cost of living in theUKis also one the topics we discussed. Based on her experiences, our trainer being a former EVS volunteer and gave us a lot of ideas and feedbacks on how we could manage our finances throughout are placement in theUK.
In the four-days training, we were also provided with the knowledge of transport inBritainand how to access them. So, with the knowledge, getting to different parts in theUKto conduct our activities is much easier now. Apart from tips in transportation, we were also provided with tips about health and emergency contacts in case of an emergency. Our trainer explained our access to health facilities in theUKsuch as Home-Hospital. ” In the UK the medical care is free, except for the eyes, teeth and complex Operations’ said our trainer.But,the insurance company AXA covers EVS volunteers on those exceptions during their placement.
Other topics did involve language, our rights and obligations as long as we volunteer under the EVS program. Our trainer reminded us of the activity agreement form that was sent to us and we signed before we left to our hosting organization .She also told us that we have no obligations to do our activities outside the workplace agreement. Our trainer insisted that we go through the activity agreement again.
In the training we discussed about some issues that are likely to occur throughout our placement, and how to overcome them. Based on the results of our discussions, the possible situations that could occur are as follows:
1. Problem of language differences
2. Small dwellings
3. Social problems (like having no friends)
4. Cultural differences.
5. Projects that do not correspond with the talent
6. Troubles with another volunteer
7. Troubles with one`s Supervisor / Mentor
In the training, the trainer warned that ” It’s important to establish communication with the sending organization, with family, with a boyfriend or girlfriend, because in certain circumstance they will be very instrumental in providing support to you all,” she said.
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Better late than never! (many many internet problems) Mar 23, 11:37 AM
I love this idea! I look forward to finding out about everyone's lives! Mar 21, 2:35 PM
Really like the way you thought about this question and changed the emphasis of the question - lots of food for thought there! Mar 20, 12:54 PM
As usual Christine beat me to it but I LOVE the third video especially - your analysis of the causes of poverty is brilliant and... Mar 20, 12:43 PM
Thank you, Miki, we will definitely need your advice in filming! Mar 19, 4:35 AM