Media project reveals young talents

A project in Brazil is giving young people the opportunity to express themselves through film and radio broadcasting, teaching new skills and creating awareness of children’s rights.

One hundred and sixty one thousand people live in Cabo de Santo Agostinho, and 65,500 of these are under 19 years old. Homicide and drug-related incidents are the main causes of death for young men, causing a significant decrease in the male population.

The initial purpose of the project, which began in 2003, was to stimulate youth participation through radio and video.

In the first stage of the project, 150 teenagers were trained in radio and video communications. Each group attended four 20-hour workshops. The course outlined the audiovisual media, showing the stages of filming documentaries, and focusing on the practices of seeing and thinking in different ways.

Then the participants began to produce five-minute documentaries addressing themes chosen by the group: teenage pregnancy, domestic violence, violence in the community, violence at school and community health. After they were completed, the videos were presented to the community and at schools.

Over the following years, the project was expanded with the help of new partners and the original participants were given the opportunity to improve and deepen their knowledge of the media. The project produced four radio programmes which were broadcast on community radio stations.

More recently, the project has begun to have a real impact in the community. Two groups of communicators have been formed. The Voice of Youth group, formed by 15 young people, has been developing weekly radio programmes covering Plan events for Radio Ponte FM.

The video group, Free Camera, won a Plan ChildMedia Award in 2005 and was nominated for the same award in 2006. To give continuity to the project, three communication professionals were hired, to give support to those participants who achieved outstanding results and became co-facilitators for the training courses.

This year, they are producing the documentaries Youth Collecting Life (Juventude Catando a Vida), about the children who work and survive on rubbish dumps, and Sexual Exploitation of Children, about the exploitation of young girls.

A particular success story for the project has been 17-year-old Flavio. His own life had been affected by drugs and violence, and the workshops were a way of speaking out about how he felt about these issues. The project opened a door to a new world for him.

Full of enthusiasm, he brought two other friends to participate in the work. During the activities, he showed talent, intelligence and determination. The boys were living in a chaotic environment, but they managed to bring hope and point out solutions to their problems.

Flavio interviewed a young friend who was involved with the criminal world and this interview was the basis for a special programme at the end of a module of the course. The film did not follow a script, and the testimony of the young man became a powerful cry for help.

For Flavio, and for the other young people who have taken part, the media project is broadening horizons and creating new opportunities. Elizabeth, an 18-year-old participant, said, “Before the project, I didn't do anything. My routine was going home from school, and then to the church. Now I know I can do something for my community, I can help it grow. I also know now my future career; I want to be a journalist.

“Today, we have a new group and I'm a monitor. This makes me more responsible, and I used to think I would never even be able to say "A"; now I can speak confidently. Every day, I learn with them and they with me. I hope they never give up, because they are tomorrow's monitors.”