This project draws on the power of participatory video to effect social change. According to C4C, the video medium surmounts the barrier of illiteracy and generates excitement, both because it’s an inherently dynamic form and because people tend to be keen to see their own community and its members on screen. Applied to the prevention of gender violence, organisers say, local video helps amplify voices of change from within the community, expands ARC’s outreach activities in an organic way, and fosters peer-to-peer education in a context of collaboration and self-empowerment.

Interpersonal communication has been central in the capacity-building components of "Through Our Eyes". In early 2006, C4C carried out a 2-week training workshop at Lainé refugee camp in Guinea’s Forest Region. The participants, all Liberians, were diverse in age, gender, and ethnicity. They included ARC field staff (both Guinea- and Liberia-based) and members of the refugee community (members of camp committees - local groups that serve as boards of inquiry within the refugee community, and which refer GBV cases to ARC’s response programme). One female participant was the founder of a local theatre group whose members were all survivors of gender violence, and whose presentations helped support sensitisation efforts.

Specifically, over the first days of training, participants familiarised themselves with the equipment (2 packages, each of which included a mini-DV camcorder, microphones, headsets, a battery-operated field monitor, 2 VCRs, 2 TV monitors, a small generator, video tape supplies, and accessories) and viewed examples of video work that promoted health, human rights, and gender justice goals. As the workshop progressed, participants were guided in interpersonal communication and interviewing skills; they then practiced shot identification and storyboarding, and undertook increasingly challenging shooting exercises. In particular, participants developed team skills in programme planning and sequential filming, considered to be essential for the "in-camera" editing approach adopted for the project. By the second week, participants were carrying out interviews with community members and developing plans for their first productions. Filmed during the final days of the workshop, these initial programmes included a documentary on early/forced marriage and short dramas on rape and community responses to domestic abuse.

During the training workshop, in-depth discussions took place on the issues of ethics and survivor safety and welfare. All team members understood that survivors of gender violence should never be pressured into sharing their stories if they are unwilling or unsure about doing so. Several options were developed for survivors who wish to speak out but prefer not to be identified. They can, for example, be filmed anonymously by means of specific techniques practiced in the workshop. Alternatively, they can take part in developing a role-play or drama that reflects their experiences but leaves out personal details and identifiers. Some survivors wished to speak out directly. A refugee woman featured in the team's first tape, a documentary on the consequences of forced/early marriage, chose to share her story on-camera. In doing so, she was able to urge her peers to abandon the practice that had such detrimental effects on her own life.

Following the workshop, the 3 Liberia-based ARC staff participants returned across the border and shared their participatory video skills with a designated group of community peer educators. A few days later, this new team produced their own first video: a profile of a local man who was formerly an alcoholic and wife-beater, but who overcame his addiction and has become a responsible, caring husband and father. Productions on rape and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have followed. (The Liberia-based participants have chosen to name their community video team Kuma-afalen, a Kpelle phrase meaning “We can change.”)

During the facilitated discussions that followed community screenings, audience members discussed the issues raised in the videotapes, shared personal stories, and gained information on the full range of resources provided by ARC, including legal aid, counselling, and skills training programmes that foster women’s economic independence. These screenings and discussions of the videotapes have reportedly prompted many individuals to seek ARC’s services. This is particularly notable in the case of the programme on rape. Field staff had observed that, prior to the implementation of video activities, most reported instances of rape concerned assaults on children, whereas following the video viewing and discussion sessions, a greater number of adult women have come forward to report assaults and seek counselling. Although further inquiry is desirable, this development, according to C4C, suggests that the scenarios depicted in the community teams' videotapes resonated with viewers in such a way as to reduce concerns of stigma, encouraging them to speak out about their own experiences, and seek appropriate care.

On the occasion of World Refugee Day (June 20) 2006), the “Through Our Eyes” project was the subject of a Congressional briefing organised by ARC. A short documentary on the project’s early stages, developed for advocacy and fundraising purposes, was shown at this event.

Gender, Conflict, Children, Women, Health, Rights.

The American Refugee Committee International (ARC), a non-profit organisation based in Minneapolis, Minnesota (United States), has been working with conflict-affected communities since 1979. In Liberia, ARC has 5 programme areas: community development, income generation, microfinance, camp management, and GBV prevention and response. The 40-person GBV unit carries out prevention and response activities in 8 districts as well as a cross-border information and referral programmes for returning refugees from Guinea. Response activities include referral to trained counsellors for comprehensive case management and the training of local health, protection, and security personnel. Prevention activities include community education through "mass sensitisations," small group discussions, and door to door visits. GBV staff also mobilise, train and support community peers (men, women, boys and girls) to work with their local communities.

Communication for Change (C4C) is a non-profit organisation based in New York, New York (United States) that provides training in the use of participatory video to support social development, health, and human rights goals. Over the past 25 years, C4C has collaborated with non-governmental organisations and community groups in many countries to develop projects that enable members of traditionally under-represented groups to represent their own experiences and needs. The majority of these projects focus on women's rights and socio-economic status, community and reproductive health, and the prevention of various forms of gender violence and abuse.

Start-up of project activities in Southern Sudan, in support of ARC's prevention and awareness programmes on HIV/AIDS and GBV, is planned for mid-2007. Funds are being sought for implementation of the "Through our Eyes" initiative in other ARC project countries, including Thailand and Rwanda. Ideas for variations in implementation, reflective of local conditions and needs, have emerged through discussions with field staff during planning trips. Anticipated future activities, pending funding, include community-based assessments of project outcomes and a gathering of participants from diverse project sites to exchange experiences and develop a toolkit of "best practices" in the use of community media for outreach on gender violence and related issues.