I have chosen to do my intersection project in coordination with my Directed Study on Bride Price and Human Trafficking in Viet Nam, which I am completing with Prof Nuket Kardam. I should be prepared to present this project in her seminar, Women’s Human Rights Cross-Cultural Studies on 1 December 2009.
The goal of my intersection project, besides to use super-cool technology to spice up a presentation, is ultimately to tell a more powerful story by engaging the audience in my topic of interest. I feel that everyone here has their own agenda and reason for studying here. There is seldom a chance to fully mingle and understand the passions of others, no matter how interesting they seem. I know that not everyone has time or desire to think about human trafficking issues. However, I think that the more people who are exposed to the realities of the issue, the better. It would be best, however, to engage the audience in such a way that they cannot forget the issue. I don’t want this to be a presentation that they just enjoy while they are in class and then forget the next day. I want the topic and the women I represent to remain in their minds –even in the back of their minds—for the rest of their lives. Is that too lofty of a goal?
I hope to interview several people in Ha Noi about the bride trafficking issue, including the situation and what is being done to tackle the issue.  I hope that part goes smoothly and that the sound quality is good enough to use.  I have contacts in UNIAP and a friend who is working in The Asia Foundation. I don’t have photos of victims in Viet Nam.. but maybe I can get some things from the Director of the Women’s Shelter there—or permission to use what I have from her presentations..
I’m still playing around with layout and what I actually intend to do, but I know it won’t be powerpoint =)
Hey guys~ I think some of you might be interested in interviewing people as part of your intersection project (maybe?). Well, if you plan to do so on Skype, this might help! I was hanging out in the DMC and the lovely DMC folks and myself were trying to figure out how to go about recording a skype call. I stumbled across this very, very simple application: http://www.ecamm.com/mac/callrecorder/
There is a 7-day trial for free, so download it a few days before you need it =) Bob should so hire me.. hahaa.
I’ll post my intersection project proposal sooooon !
I’ve finally finished my digital story. I’m not finishing this up at 4am the day it’s due because of lack of commitment, but for a couple of reasons — one being that I simply create terrible work if I ever start ‘early’ and the second being that it took a long time to figure out what I was going to say (literally, speak) in this video.
I guess everyone has their own creative process, and I’m curious to know how others went about this.. For me, as usual, words fail to express the entirety of my thoughts. So I started with images. Quite honestly, I could not form words to match my emotions until tonight. Even now, I’m trying not to over think what words I have chosen. I just jotted them in my journal, free-style. My little brother composed this song.
A dear friend of mine recently told me that his friend committed suicide. I haven’t been able to say anything comforting, as far as I can tell. I know that listening is important, but I guess I wanted to be able to offer some words of wisdom that I felt he might have been seeking from me. This has bothered me all week.
I changed the topic and mood of the digital story project from my original idea.. I felt like I could use this as a chance to express my emotions about the whole situation, even if it didn’t necessarily help my friend. I suddenly found that I needed to wrestle with the acceptance of the fragility of life.
This video is dedicated to a boy I’ve never met. I’ll never know why he chose to end his life. I hope that he can start again, wherever that may be, in a better space than he found in this life.
This one doesn’t count, since it’s too long and originally made for another class =)
BUT at least one person (thanks Sarah!) said that she was interested in seeing it~
Please let me know what you think of it as a digital media story… It was my first one (I’ve made like fotos montages with music in the background for Development class project about Bangladesh before.. but this is kinda of a “story” .. well, 2 stories..).
After seeing Kate’s post about organizations videos and the power of brevity in sending important messages to an attention deficit society, I was reminded about this powerful video by the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC). It’s only 30 seconds long, but look how much is captured in that short time. I wish this was localized to in several languages for the audiences that need to see it.. then again.. will they even be able to?? Surely these videos may help in prevention measures, but what about those arguably most vulnerable and at risk to human trafficking? They most likely have no access to tv.. I don’t doubt the effect that “digital media for change” can potentially have on populations that are in a position to be moved into advocacy. But what about the populations that most need to hear the messages… ?
You have probably heard of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues more than once in your life by now. She begins her TedTalk with the opening of the VM script. Her comical introduction includes various slang used to indicate the vagina. She ends stating that she’s worried about vaginas. The taboo surrounding female genitalia has contributed in part to the cycle of violence against women.As long as people are afraid/embarrassed/forbidden to talk about something, little can be done to resolve the issue.
There are several points in this TedTalk that really spoke to me. I hope that I can capture some of the inspiration in this post.
One thing that stood out and has been my inspiration for the past few days is Eve’s changing relationship with the concept of happiness. She said:
“… I didn’t really believe in happiness. I thought that only idiots were happy, to be honest. I remember when I started practicing Buddhism fourteen years ago, and I was told that the end of this practice was to be happy. I said, “How could you be happy and live in this world of suffering and live in this world of pain?”I mistook happiness for a lot of other things, like numbness, or decadence or selfishness.And what happened through the course of the Vagina Monologues and this journey is I think I have come to understand a little bit more about happiness.”
I love this. I used to struggle a lot with the idea of happiness. I always thought of myself as a pretty happy person; smiley, cheerful, friendly. Then I started to feel very misunderstood. My happiness began to be mistaken for the things I dislike most: ditziness, apathy, ignorance. So I became a very serious (read: numb) person. Naturally, I was uncomfortable with this new me and so was everyone around me. Well, you asked for it, I thought. That’s what you get for not taking me seriously. This inner conflict has been somewhat resolved by now. But I want to own this. I want people to understand that I (and anyone else) can be happy and live a beautiful life and still care. I don’t have to be depressed or depressing to be passionate about my interests (which can be very dark and depressing). My smile is not to be confused with naivety or apathy.
We should not feel guilty about being happy, but we should definitely work to bring that happiness to those who have yet to enjoy it.
I want to explore what Eve’s 3 qualities/principles of happiness mean in the context of my life.
See what’s in front of you and state it, talk about it.
By talking, discover how to serve the world and make this situation better.
Trust the wave of events that follow and things will happen organically and truthfully.
Eve commented that, in her work listening to the stories of women who have suffered violence and abuse, she felt like a war photographer who takes fotos of terrible events but does not intervene on their behalf. I felt like that this summer in Viet Nam. I felt like an outsider in so many ways. The other bazillion expats in Ha Noi might have been able to accept and cope with that reality, but I am someone who likes to focus on similarities (while celebrating differences) rather than focus on differences (and ignore similarities).
Chà o Việt Nam,
I’m coming back to meet you in January. Please be ready. I will continue to learn your animated language and rich culture. I hope that, in return, you will open your arms to me and allow me a chance to do something more this time rather than sit in an office (taking metaphorical war photographs of your trafficked daughters).
Hẹn gặp lại,
valki
Another point in Eve’s talk.. that I would like to discuss is the fact that 1 out of 3 women on this planet will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. This reality is closer to me than I am willing to discuss in detail in an online blog. I never thought that I would let myself be a part of this sick statistic. It’s so true, though, that:
“in the course of seeing that violence, that being in the face of things and seeing actually what’s in front of us is the antidote to depression and to a feeling that one is worthless and has no value.”
At some point, you have to own the issue; admit to it and make it yours. Don’t let someone else try to rob you of all that you can accomplish by learning from it. I can attest to the fact that you just become so at peace once your take a step back and stop blaming yourself. You begin to turn such an ugly piece of your puzzle that you thought didn’t belong in the box and flip that unsuspecting piece of cut cardboardover
and realize how it can fit,
in it’s own ironic way
into your big picture.
This is my blog for the course “Digital Media for Change.” In this blog I will attempt to record the processes and activities that are part of assignments for this course. However, at the end of the semester, I plan to continue to use this blog as a space for reflection on issues of international development and as a springboard for discussions (hopefully not just with myself, but with other visa feedback/comments) on ways to improve and freshen the way in which development activities are carried out or communicated.
