Video Volunteers is based on the notion that members of economically poor communities, even if they lack education, can become serious filmmakers and journalists, if they are given the right training. Video Volunteers believes that it is not enough to give a "voice" to the economically poor, but we must also give them the ability to articulate - that we must invest in the intellectual capacities and creativity of the economically poor to produce high-quality media, and that this will result in the economically poor driving development with their own solutions.

Video Volunteers' key innovation was the CVU model, which it developed in partnership with the Indian media collective Drishti. As of February 2009, 12 CVUs have been set up to date in India with 12 different NGOs. In each CVU, 8 community members are selected as the "community video producers." They are trained full-time for 18 months, and given salaries. They create community editorial boards that determine the content of the film, and they screen each video in 25 villages. It becomes participatory media because of the fact that the residents in each village will get a new film every 2 months. So now, after 2 years of doing this work, villagers come forward with story ideas, requests that the CVUs film their issues, and even offers of payment. The villagers and slumdwellers in these 12 different locations are starting to know that this is "their" media.

All of the videos are action-oriented, and end with something concrete that communities can do. According to organisers, every video produced (around 50 video magazines in the last 3 years) has led to some concrete change, the evidence of which has to date been gathered primarily anecdotally. These impacts are primarily around empowering communities to take action (such as undertaking rallies on health issues, or approaching government officials, or launching "village clean up days"), or forcing the government to take action – such as getting doctors to come on time, fixing roads, and other impacts that are documented on the Video Volunteers website.

Some of the 12 CVUs set up by Video Volunteers and Drishti in partnership with different NGOs include:

• Apna TV, Mumbai, India - means "our TV", and works on urban issues is promoted by the women's organisation Akshara .
• Manyam Praja Video, Andhra Pradesh, India - means "Forest People's Video," and is promoted by Laya Foundation.
• Apna Malak Maa, Surendranagar, India - an all-Dalit team that aims to create a dialogue between the upper and lower castes. The CVU is promoted by the organisation Navsarjan.
• Samvad, Ahmedabad, India - means "dialogue," and provides critical information to slum dwellers in Ahmedabad. The CVU is promoted by Saath.
• Hamari Awaaz, Mumbai, India - means "our voice," and works on the needs of slum residents and the future of Mumbai, which organisers describe as "one of the fastest growing and globalizing cities on the planet." The CVU is promoted by Yuva.
• Sakshi Media, Panchmahal District, Gujarat, India - means "witness media", and is promoted by Yuvshakti.

In 2007, Video Volunteers launched Channel 19, an online platform showcasing the videos made by the "community video producers" from slums and villages of India. These men and women are full-time video producers working in local CVUs which are based in 6 states of India. On this interactive website, one may watch and comment on videos, read blogs and comment or cross-post, take action and contact the partner NGO, and support the Producers Fellowship fund.

Poverty Alleviation, Human Rights.

According to organisers, in the 1990s, a World Bank survey asked thousands of economically poor people to identify the biggest hurdle to their advancement. Above even food and shelter, the number one problem cited was access to a "voice". The Video Volunteers project is about giving a voice to the voiceless, and to the people who fight for them.

Video Volunteers claims that the CVU "has proven an effective tool for an NGO to expand their own programmatic scale and reach, [to] promote awareness and information, and to enable communities to advocate with authority. It also empowers communities with a voice, both locally and globally, when we distribute the videos to the mainstream media. Our approach bridges the literacy barrier, and communicates to people in the visual medium they like best. Finally, it promotes community-led change, through focused discussions and follow-ups with audiences around a 'Call to Action' in community screenings that often reach the majority of a village or slum in ways that development programs cannot."

To date, the CVUs that have been set up comprise: an all-Dalit team, an all-women team, a Hindu-Muslim team, an all-Tribal team, and an all-youth team. In the first 3 years, 125 grassroots Community Video Producers were trained and went on to produce over 60 films and to hold more than 800 community screenings seen by more than 185,000 local people. The screenings "are resulting in both government and communities taking specific and measurable actions" (click here to read specific "stories of impact"). Video Volunteers believes that every NGO's videos should reach at least 10,000 people. At that point, economies of scale begin to kick in. At one CVU, the cost of reaching a single person came down to 1 rupee a head, less than an NGO would spend on giving chai or a pencil to the villager in a training programme.

The cost of launching new CVUs in 2009 will be approximately 18 lakh Rupees (US$37,000) split equally between the NGO and Video Volunteers. NGOs provide funds for equipment, community producers' salaries, and local travel. Video Volunteers provide funds for coordination and training, as well as international distribution and advocacy. Subsequent annual costs are about 1/3 of the first-year costs and are borne by the NGO. Video Volunteers remain involved in future years in distribution, further training and networking, and possible capacity-building in other media like community radio, web, and new media.