child journalism & photography workshop_report

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REPORT ON CHILD JOURNALISM & PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP On MAY 16, 17, 18, 19 & 20, 2011 at Hotel North Point, Siliguri, District: Darjeeling West Bengal Theme: CAPACITY BUILDING IN WRITING AND PHOTOGRAPHY SKILLS Organised By: KOPILA SILIGURI PROJECT II 35, Villa De Pasang, Abedananda Road, P. O. Pradhan Nagar, Dist. Darjeeling -734003

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Kopila Siliguri Project of World Vision India organised 5- day workshops at Hotel North Point in Siliguri, 30 were imparted with writing and photography skills. Children were imparted with the basic skills of writing and photography. They were taught reporting and interviewing techniques, on-the site coverage, photo coverage, format, and layout designing of wall newspapers.Capitalising on the skills learnt during the workshop, children developed wall newspapers in Hindi and Bengali, which was unprecedented and first of its kind in Siliguri.

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Page 1: Child Journalism & Photography Workshop_Report

REPORT ON

CHILD JOURNALISM & PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP

On MAY 16, 17, 18, 19 & 20, 2011 at Hotel North Point, Siliguri, District: Darjeeling West Bengal

Theme: CAPACITY BUILDING IN WRITING AND PHOTOGRAPHY SKILLS

Organised By:

KOPILA SILIGURI PROJECT

II 35, Villa De Pasang, Abedananda Road, P. O. Pradhan Nagar, Dist. Darjeeling -734003

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Background Kopila Siliguri Project of World Vision India works to create lasting change in the lives of children, families, and communities living in poverty and injustice in Darjeeling District. To harness the skills of 30 children living drawn from different slum colonies, WVI organised 5-day training workshop on child journalism and photography. 30 participants were imparted writing and photography skills in Hindi and Bengali using the Manual.

In the 5- day workshops, 30 were imparted with writing and photography skills. Children were imparted with the basic skills of writing and photography. They were taught reporting and interviewing techniques, on-the site coverage, photo coverage, format, and layout designing of wall newspapers. Children developed eye catching wall newspapers on the last day of the workshop.

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WORKSHOP ON CAPACITY BUILDING OF CHILDREN FROM SILIGURI JOURNALISM AND PHOTOGRAPHY Hotel North Point, Siliguri, May 16th to 20th, 2011

PROCEEDINGS While conducting workshops such as this one, in a classroom style the participants’ interest was kept intact. Though the turnover of the children participants was quite more as expected then also, it helped in quantifying the level of success and the workshop achieved in imparting and bolstering the skills of the participants. Based on our experiences we have managed to accumulate and cull over the years leading us to design and format this workshop in a way we felt would benefit the children in an optimal manner. Thus it was that it came about that the workshop as started at 9 am till 5.30 pm, with children coming from different colonies and localities of Siliguri to participate in the workshop on journalism and photography. The workshop was held over five consecutive days, each day comprising two intensive and highly interactive sessions. Not only were writing and photography skills imparted to the participants, but discussions on many core-issues and problems also took place. This was followed by the participants putting out designs and formulated content for wall newspapers ably assisted by the resource persons who had assembled at the venue to guide them through the process of skill acquisition and the deployment of skills so acquired at the community level. We give you here a graphical and succinct account of the workshop sessions in the narrative format, along with the impressions, observations, and recommendations that emerged out of this entire exercise.

16.5.2011, First Day: Amol Tshering, World Vision India (WVI) functionary based in Siliguri began the workshop with the introduction of Resource Persons, Tarun Kanti Bose, and Jagdish Yadav to the participants. Participants were children and adolescents drawn from Lenin Colony, BRI Colony, Pramod Nagar, Dharam Nagar, Koila Depot, and Ratan Lal Basti of Siliguri. Beginning the workshop, Shikha Bardewa, a WVI staff, lightened the lamp and asked the Resource Persons to light the lamp heralding auspicious opening of the workshop. After that, Benjamin Khasouso, Programme Officer of Kopila Siliguri Project, WVI, the main organiser welcomed Sanjay Pathak, Ward Councillor for his august presence in the opening of the workshop. Sanjay Pathak took the centrestage and asked the participants to excuse for his delay due to inclement weather. He expected that participants would get their skills

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harnessed to optimal level so that it helps the community to which they belong in raising their voices. Then, Resource Persons and participants introduced themselves, which helped in getting to know each other informally. After this preliminary introduction, which set the scope and nature of the workshop in perspective for participants who were attending such a workshop for the first time, the activities began in earnest. Rupak Gurung, a WVI staff, requested the participants to follow the requisite norms required to run the 5-day workshop smoothly and efficiently. He asked the participants to be attentive, ask questions when they fail to understand and jot down in the notebook whenever it is necessary. Tarun Kanti Bose asked the participants to discuss among themselves and finalise the list of those, who would sum up the previous day’s activities and present it before the participants, when the session begins. Following names were finalised for daily briefings:

� 1st Day’s Report: Mohan Roy, Lenin Colony � 2nd Day’s Report: Ranjib Roy, Pramod Nagar � 3rd Day’s Report: Suraj Basfore, BRI Colony � 4th Day’s Report: Santosh Sahni, Dharam Nagar � 5th Day’s Report: Shafina Khatun, Koila Depot

Tarun Kanti Bose divided the participants into six groups, as each group comprised of participants belonging to the same colony. Participants were asked to quickly compile a small list of issues that they considered were most important, ones that they would very much like to write about. Then, the participants were asked to identify the issues at the ground. The six groups took 45 minutes through with the exercise, and the following top-of-the-mind issues emerged:

� Child labour � School Drop out � Child marriage � Non- functional Primary Health Centre, exorbitant private practitioners � Water Scarcity � Poverty � Lack of playground or playing facilities � Intoxication, Alcoholism & Gambling � Schools having no boundary walls � Funeral / cremation burning creating pollution

After the group presentations, Tarun Kanti Bose launched the activities of the session asking the participants to delineate the importance of writing in their day-to-day activities. Participants spelled the following relevance of writing: 1. Writing is the best mode of expression

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2. Writing develops crusading interest in digging out the fact 3. Writing helps in corroborating the fact and ascertaining the truth 4. Writing sharpens knowledge and evinces interest among the readers

Then, the Resource Person explained participants the importance of wall newspaper, when the mainstream media fails to cover the issues at the ground. The wall newspaper helps to do the following:

o By bringing to fore the issues at the ground it generates awareness among the people.

o It activates officials, district administration and gram sabhas for resolving the problems.

o One village or street inspires the neighbouring villages/streets to launch their wall newspapers.

Participants discussing their issues before writing in the chart paper prior to presentation

The issues in the group discussions emerging as topics on which the participants were asked to write on issues related to these topics, and submit their stories after being trained with the techniques of reporting and interviewing. The issues emerged as topics on which the participants were asked to write on issues related to these topics, and submit their stories after being trained with the techniques of reporting and interviewing. Beginning with the essentials, Tarun Kanti Bose told the participants to remember 5 Ws and 1 H. 5 Ws are

� Who. This is whom the action is about. Who is talking � What. What happened? It usually includes a verb. � When. Simply the day of the week, usually. Like where, it is a reference point

for the reader. Sometimes more specific time is important to include.

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� Where. Leaving out where an event occurred confuses readers to no end. In covering news, you may be expected to include an address. Often it helps to include a landmark as well.

� Why. Hard to answer sometimes. It usually involves some discussion in the second or third paragraph of why the event seems to have occurred or why it is significant.

1 H is � How. And sometimes how, which usually takes care of the story’s middle.

Then Tarun Kanti Bose asked the participants that whenever they go for reporting or interviewing they should write the 5Ws and 1 H in their notebook with lots of blank space between 5 Ws and 1 H. Before finishing an interview or reporting, go down that list and make sure the blanks are filled.

Participants were led to the tips of reporting in Hindi and Bengali. The tips were as follows:

• Taking Notes: While reporting whatever information you gather do write down in your note book. Don’t let the jargon get into your notebook. Avoid words, expressions, and phrases that are known only to people with specific knowledge or interests. You to keep in mind that most of your readers are either unlettered or semi-literate. You have to use simple words and expressions so that able to build up a rapport with the readers.

• Keep the colours in: Keep the colourful details that would give life to the story. It’s not only what people say that’s important, but also how they say it. Consider this: Asked how he would handle council members who disagreed with him, Chairman Sunder Mohan looked his questioner straight in the eye, grinned, and formed his right hand in the shape of a gun, letting his thumb drop like a hammer. He didn’t say a word.

• Do not forget people: Remember that people like to read more about people and their issues than about things. Such as, “Critics of the government housing project say it would pollute the river water and undermine the livelihood of the residents” has less impact than “critics of the government housing project it would kill the fish in the river and put fishermen out of work.”

• Report both (all) sides: Every story has more than one side to it. In the interest of balance and fairness, talk to all parties concerned and report their views.

• Identify the issues: Prior to the reporting a meeting needs to be organised so that you know what you have to do. In this meeting all the activists should be called so that they deliberate on all the issues of the area, where you had planned to go for reporting. It would also help you to know the issues, necessities, and aspirations of the area so that you take a concrete step towards resolving the problem. Even through regular meetings helps in acquainting you about the progress.

• Prioritising the issues: Prior to the reporting, in the meeting you could choose the most important issue out of the compiled issues. It means that the issue needs to be prioritised in tune to the ground realities of the area. It should

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like that in the area, there is outbreak of malaria or other disease taking an epidemic proportion due to filth and dirt but you take up some other issue. Always you have to remember that you have prioritised the issue and choose the most important one. It helps in giving pace to your work.

• Prepare your questionnaire: Before going for the reporting, prepare your questionnaire on the issue, which you want to raise in your story. Your prepared questionnaire, prior to the reporting helps you to understand the issue compared to others.

During the reporting, following things needs to be remembered: You have to keep in mind that your work is to dig out the true facts and inform people about it so while during reporting following things needs to be remembered: • Readers are not interested to know your personal views so while reporting do

not impose your views on the readers • Use simple language, which people understand and report in such a manner,

which enhances their interest. • Do not use words, expressions, and phrases which are not known to the

people. Use the words, expressions, and phrases in a very interesting way so that readers enjoy while reading your story.

• You should have full grasp of the topic on which want to develop your story. • Do not make any baseless allegations. Do corroborate it with facts. • Use correct figures. • Do not gather wrong information if there is paucity of time.

Crosscheck the information gathered for ironing out the mistakes: Its responsibility of every reporter that whatever information they give it should be balanced and fair. It should be free from bias and mistakes so that the readers get correct and accurate information. It’s possible that for the readers some of the information might be quite new so in this situation, if any inaccurate or wrong information is given to them, then they would think it to be true. If it crosschecked within the team then the mistakes or inaccuracies could be ironed out. The resource person asked the participants if they had any queries on the reporting. Whatever queries the participants had, the resource person clarified it. After that, Tarun Kanti Bose gave ten tips for better interview to the participants. The tips were as follows: 1. Be prepared: Always read up on the subject you are reporting about and the

person you are interviewing. Your source will appreciate your effort, and you will be able to skip questions that can be a subordinate, book or document. When scheduling the appointment, ask your source to suggest documents or other sources of information about the topic you will discuss. The interviewee will appreciate your interest and often share valuable documents before the interview. Make sure that your tape recorder has batteries that work. Bring an extra tape as well as pens and notebooks.

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2. Set the rules of the interview right up front! Be sure your subject understands the story you are working (this will keep the interview on track). Additionally, the interviewee must understand that everything they say is “on the record.” It is best to establish these ground rules when making the interview appointment. Remember that upfront clarification may be required (especially when your sources or life could be endangered by being quoted).

3. Be on time: The worst impression you can make on a source is being late for the

interview. 4. Be observant: Observe details of the place and of your interviewing partner: this

can add colour to your story. You may start an interview with assumptions about a person and leave with a completely different impression. However, this may be exactly what your sources intended. Perception is a tricky business! Try to talk to others, colleagues or friends of your source, to get a bigger picture.

5. Be polite, Don’t rush your source: It is important to establish a polite rapport

and a level of comfort for the interviewee. Some interviewees, on the other hand need a couple of minutes to become comfortable talking to reporters. Even though you may only have 30 minutes for an interview, you should not rush your subject. If you sense the interviewee is in hurry, adjust your timing accordingly. Keep in mind everyone is different. Taking the time to get to know your sources will prove valuable, especially when you need to call with follow-up questions or use them as a source for future stories. If the interview goes well, it may even go beyond the scheduled time. Give yourself plenty of time between appointments to avoid scheduling conflicts.

6. Listen but don’t be afraid to interrupt when you don’t understand: Keep your

readers in mind. One reason you are conducting this interview is to explain it to your readers. If your subject uses scientific jargon or explanations only his/her peers would understand, politely interrupt and ask for further explanation. Never be embarrassed about not knowing something.

7. Silence is golden: Sooner or later you will have to ask the tough questions that

your subject may be reluctant to discuss. When you start asking those provocative questions, the answers most likely will be short, useless, or carefully worded. You may get an answer at all. If this occurs, look your source in the eye and don’t say a word. In most cases, your opponent will begin to feel uncomfortable and begin to share information again. If this doesn’t work, ask for sources who might answer your question.

8. Maintain eye contact: A reporter who spends most of the interview bent over

taking notes or looking into a notebook can be as disconcerting as a tape recorder in an interviewee’s face. While taking notes and recording the interview, maintain as much eye contact as possible. Learn to take abbreviated notes looking down

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only once in a while so you can focus on your interviewee. This will make the interview like a conversation, and enable everyone to be more relaxed.

9. Before you leave ….ask your source if there is anything that you might have

forgotten to ask. Perhaps the interviewee is burning to tell you useful information but you did not even think to ask that question. Don’t leave without getting a contact number or e-mail address and a good time to call up with follow-up questions. Always ask for other sources. Colleagues or friends of the interviewee may be more knowledgeable or willing and able to speak to you. Thank your source for spending time talking with you before you leave.

10. Review your notes right after the interview: Don’t wait until the end of the day

or later in the week to review your notes. Go over them right away, while everything is fresh in your mind, filling in your short notes and elaborating on your observations. Skip that date for drinks with your friends until after you have reviewed and organised your notes.

When Tarun Kanti Bose finished, then Jagdish Yadav, an eminent photo journalist having a long proven track record of working with The Telegraph, The Pioneer, Dainik Bhaskar and many other mainstream dailies took the centrestage.

Jagdish Yadav introducing photography to the participants

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While introducing photography to the participants, Jagdish Yadav said, photography is one of the most commonly used and effective methods of visual documentation and communication. Improving skills in taking good photographs does not need highly technical equipment or skills. Camera has four important components:

o Lens o Camera body o Flash o Film rolls

The wall newspapers the child reporters would create would be full of texts, if you want to enhance its readability and attract readers you have to appropriate photos. For taking good photos where you went for reporting and interviewing people on the issues they grapple with in their day-to-day lives. The stories you would place in the wall newspapers are on problems faced by them, so you have to get shots that tell the people’s plight in a simple and direct way. Then, the participants were told about composition and framing. While clicking the camera, the child reporters should know about the following: Subject(s) Placement of one or more elements of the subject at (or very near) the intersecting points adds power to them and makes them much more noticeable. Where the subject(s) are placed is important. When you take photos, you have to remember the following: Field : The main subject, which plays an important role in composition Foreground: The area between the camera and the main subject. Background: The area behind the main subject in a photograph At the end of the day, Tarun Kanti Bose asked the participants to prepare questionnaire on the issues selected by them. The questionnaire would help the participants in gathering information and digging out the facts pertaining to their issues.

17.5.2008, Second Day: The second day began with right earnest. Mohan Roy of Lenin Colony presented the first day’s report. Participants were quite engrossed listening to the report written meticulously in Bengali. Participants then were asked by Tarun Kanti Bose to show their questionnaires to him. He and Jagdish Yadav went through all the questionnaires and suggested some changes, which participants followed diligently. It took 3 hours for thoroughly going through all the questionnaires. Then, the session broke the lunch. Post to the lunch, Jagdish Yadav guided the participants to load batteries and camera rolls on their own.

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Prior to going for the assignment, Jagdish Yadav recapitulated what he had taught previous day. While going for the outdoor photography assignment, participants have to keep in mind the following points:

o Photos should have intrinsic link with the stories as its integration is appropriate while designing the wall newspapers.

o Photos should relate with the stories written by you o Photos need to be based on the seven characteristics of shots.

Participants divided into six groups and following places were selected for the on-the site coverage:

• Lenin Colony

• BRI Colony

• Pramod Nagar

• Dharam Nagar

• Koila Depot

• Ratan Lal Basti

After that, participants accompanied by Jagdish Yadav and Shikha Bardewa, a WVI staff boarded the bus for reporting, interviewing and outdoor photo assignments.

Mohan Roy, a workshop trainee gathering information at Lenin Colony during the on-site coverage

After gathering information and taking photos the participants came back after 3 hours and assembled at the workshop venue. Then, Jagdish Yadav explained the participants how to remove the exposed rolls from the camera.

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Then, Tarun Kanti Bose asked the participants to write down their stories during the night by incorporating all the information they had gathered during the interviews and interaction with the people. Then, participants were introduced to ‘inverted pyramid’, which meant, that they lay out the facts in descending order of importance. It is the standard narrative, inverted. So while writing a story they should start with important information and end with least important information. The inverted pyramid form for the story has three key parts:

o The lead or intro: The lead or intro is the first paragraph of any story. The lead or intro tells everything that needs to be known, as well as the most relevant details.

o The middle: This includes paragraphs to support the lead/intro, to add details that are significant but not essential. In the middle you probably will want to give the quotes of village heads, officials and people pertaining to the issue.

o The expendable ending: A major reason for writing stories in the inverted pyramid form is so the bottom can be cut without eliminating some crucial detail. Stories almost always are cut a little – often from the

Post to this, Tarun Kanti Bose gave tips on effective writing style to the participants. He also told if they adopted it then it would help in developing good stories for wall newspapers. The tips are as follows:

o Emphasise the most important item in the ‘intro’ or ‘lead’ in the first paragraph.

o Proceed from the most interesting to the least interesting. o Don’t clutter your lead or intro with too many details. o Write one idea in one paragraph o Give your source or authority when necessary. o Identify all persons. Write their full names the first time they are mentioned.

Sometimes, a surname/title is not always sufficient. Explain what the person does.

o Explain all technical terms, and avoid using too many in a story. o Use quotes sparingly. Ensure they always add something to your story.

1. Avoid clichés and sloganeering 2. Use concrete, specific words and phrases, rather than general, abstract

ones. o Use the active rather than the passive voice. o Strive for coherence by using connecting words, phrases, clauses and

sometimes– sentences or paragraphs. Then, the trainer asked Sapna Das, a participant from Lenin Colony what information she has gathered. Based on her information the resource person wrote down the intro in the board. He told that it would help the participants in writing their stories.

Then, he asked the participants to write down their stories during the night as assignment and brought the second day’s session to a close.

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18.5.2011, Third Day The participants assembled in the hall for the third day’s sessions. Ranjib Roy of Pramod Nagar was to present the report but he didn’t turn for the session. Then, Anand Basfore sang melodious songs in Hindi and Bengali. After that, Tarun Kanti Bose asked the participants to submit their assignments given. Almost without exception, all the stories centred on the problems and issues of the localities visited by the participants for the on-the-site coverage.

Tarun Kanti Bose listening to the trainees for guiding them to develop their stories

Then, he and Jagdish Yadav called each and every participant in groups evaluated their stories and helped them to write down the intro/lead and develop the body of their stories. While writing down the intro/lead of the story, the trainer stressed on the following:

• From the mass of information available to you, you are expected to select the most important and significant details and present it as intro/lead of your story. If you write in an interesting way then it will immediately grab the reader’s attention and hold it. As you become more experienced, you will find that there is more to be discarded than to be saved in your intro/lead.

• As the inverted pyramid form requires that you deal with the facts in descending order of importance, the best way to establish what is important is to summarise it at the outset.

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It almost covered the entire day to help over 10 participants to write down their intro/lead. Tarun Kanti Bose also cleared any doubts the participants had, also told them how to put intro/lead, middle, and ending of the story in a more presentable manner. Participants were asked to rewrite their stories and submit it in the next session. The session broke for the day.

19.5.2011, Fourth Day The participants assembled in the hall for the workshop’s fourth day session beginning with Suraj Basfore summing up the third day’s activities. Tarun Kanti Bose asked the remaining 16 participants to submit their assignments. Then, both the trainers guided the participants to write the intro and body of their stories. The assignments were in Bengali and Hindi which was checked thoroughly and rewritten. This exercise continued till 4 pm. Some among the participants found it was still difficult in writing their stories. They were told not to worry and have patience as it needs constant practice. Then, Jagdish Yadav gave many new insights into the planning and making of wall newspapers. Some excerpts from his interaction with the participants are given below:

o I would say that you have so far done an admirable job in writing and then rewriting your stories based on the information gathered from the field. But it now needs to be placed in the wall newspapers to be designed by you. My express suggestion to you is to keep the community within which you work, the main nodal point of the wall newspaper, and I suggest you build everything else that goes into your wall newspaper around this main focal point. In the wall newspaper, problems/issues grappled by the local people need to be raised in the language which has more readability and popular too.

Then, he explained the lay out and designing of wall newspaper by delineating the difference between a regular newspaper and a wall newspaper. He said that a newspaper you do not have much of control over what will ultimately get published. You write for it and an editor decides what will finally go into the making of the paper. In a wall magazine, you have full control over the content, that is, you decide what will go into it, and how it will look like. You are both the writer as well as the editor. You also have full control over the frequency, or rather, the periodicity of the wall newspaper. You may choose to put it out daily, weekly, or monthly, and you may even put up special supplements whenever you feel there is a need for one. Your wall newspaper structure and content would be as follows:

1. A card sheet, chart paper, or tabloid sized paper is most appropriate for preparing a wall newspaper.

2. You must also give your wall newspaper an appropriate name, which should be prominently written out middle on the top of the sheet in bold letters, so that it stands out and creates a distinct identity for your work. Do

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decide about its logo, periodicity, and edition number prior to launching of the wall newspaper.

3. The lead story/article in the wall newspaper should be topical, interesting and in tune with the needs of the community.

4. The stories should be with clear headings and photos. 5. Five to six stories which updates the readers about the issues, which are

topical and relevant. 6. One amongst in your group who has the best hand and entrust the job of

writing the text to him/her. Calligraphy is important, as it will ensure readability.

Wall newspapers should be pasted at the vantage point, where people assemble or it is easily accessible. The following places could be at or nearer to:

• Chaupal of a village • Bus stop • Community tap • Fair • Marketplace • Tea shop • Grocery or Ration shop • Anganwadi Centre • Health Centre

Jagdish Yadav after having consultation with the participants finalised the following names of the six wall newspapers to be developed on the last day of the workshop:

1. Balson Samvad (in Bengali) 2. Dalit Patrika (in Hindi) 3. Khabor Pramod Nagar (in Bengali) 4. Dharam Nagar Times (in HindI) 5. Samajik Darpan ( in Hindi) 6. Ratan Lal Jagran (in Hindi & Bengali)

Tarun Kanti Bose then brought the session to a close, asking the participants to reach the workshop venue for developing their wall newspapers.

20.5.2011, Final Day: The final day’s session began with Santosh Sahni summing up the fourth day’s progress. Then, the participants gathered in each group occupying a table and started working on the wall newspapers. Jagdish Yadav was moving from one group to the other guiding them at every point how to write a masthead, heading, and the stories. Participants were excited enough in developing their wall newspapers.

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Participants developing their wall newspapers

Participants using scales for designing the columns

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The group, which went to Dharam Nagar for on-site -coverage was first to finish the wall newspaper titled ‘Dharam Nagar Times ’

Wall Newspaper titled ‘Dharam Nagar Times’ was the first to be displayed

In ‘Dharam Nagar Times’ the participant group covered child labour, intoxication and addiction among children and funeral/cremation burning fumes creating pollution in Dharam Nagar, a slum colony in Siliguri.

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After ‘Dharam Nagar Times’ was displayed the other participant group put extra effort in giving the final touches to the wall newspapers. Next wall newspaper titled ‘Dalit Patrika’ was displayed.

Wall Newspaper titled ‘Dalit Patrika’ was the second to be displayed

In ‘Dalit Patrika’ the participant group covered child labour, water scarcity, filth and sanitation, dismal health facilities, impoverishment and upper caste domination in Dharam Nagar, a colony of poor migrants from Uttar Pradesh in Siliguri.

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After ‘Dalit Patrika’ was displayed, participant group from Lenin Colony gave final touch to their wall newspaper titled ‘Balason Samvad’ written in Bengali was displayed and pasted on the wall.

Wall Newspaper titled ‘Balason Samvad’ was the next to be displayed

In ‘Balason Samvad’ the participant group covered school drop out, child labour, Jesus Ashram Hospital, World Vision and its activities in Lenin Colony and child marriage.

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After ‘Balson Samvad’ was displayed, participant group from Pramod Nagar pasted their wall newspaper titled ‘Khabor Pramod Nagar’ written in Bengali on the wall.

Wall Newspaper titled ‘Khabor Pramod Nagar’ was the next to be displayed

In ‘Khabor Pramod Nagar’ the participant group covered water scarcity, child labour, dismal health cure facilities and exorbitant private doctors, ramshackle roads and poor conveyance facilities, lack of playground and playing facilities.

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After ‘Khabor Pramod Nagar’ participant group from Ratan Lal Basti were giving final touches to their wall newspapers, which carried stories in Hindi and Bengali.

Wall newspaper ‘Ratan Lal Jagran’ was pasted on the board

In ‘Ratan Lal Jagran’ the participant group covered intoxication and gambling, quarrelsome basti dwellers, filth and squalor and hooliganism.

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After 5 groups pasted their wall newspapers, participant group from Koila Depot were still busy in developing it. It had start again as the previous one had neither intro nor body of the story. Then, the participants assembled with the wall newspapers in their hand for a photo shoot.

Five groups displaying their wall newspapers

After that, Benjamin Khasouso, Benjamin Khasouso, Programme Officer of Kopila Siliguri Project, WVI thanked the children for developing such wonderful wall newspapers and he said, “I would not only like to thank all of you who have come to attend this workshop, I also want to convey my thanks to resource persons who helped make this workshop a success.” At the end, Shikha Bardewa, a WVI staff, He thanked the children for putting their endeavour for learning the skills of journalism and photography. She thought it would not have been possible without the endurance and persistent effort put by Tarun

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Kanti Bose and Jagdish Yadav for training the children. She also thanked the health staff for serving sumptuous meals and tea. Then, participant group from Koila Depot finished their wall newspaper titled ‘Samajik Darpan’ and pasted on the wall.

In ‘Samajik Darpan’ the participant group son preference and daughter discrimination smoking as addiction, child labour and photo reportage on Koila Depot.

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That brought an end to the activities of the workshop, and the children from different colonies and localities of Siliguri dispersed to gather their belongings and ready themselves for a journey back home.

PROBLEMS FACED

1. DURATION OF WORKSHOP. Our resource persons, in retrospect, had this to say. Five days are insufficient for imparting writing and photography skills. It was found that there was lesser of time left for practical work, especially for on-site reporting, interviewing and outdoor photographic assignments. 2. LAST- DITCH EFFORT PUT IN IDENTIFYING THE ISSUES The effort in identifying the issues for reporting and interviewing was too less. The WVI functionaries in Siliguri working in the slum colonies and localities of Siliguri needs to be well conversant with the issues on the ground. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. We recommend follow up workshops in Siliguri The follow up workshops will help enormously in consolidating gains garnered during the workshop and then planning a Training of the Trainers workshop. 2. We recommend series of workshops by the new trainers We recommend series of workshops and generation of advocacy materials emerging out of workshops at panchayats, block level and then culminating into district level. The final workshop can be conducted in our presence, which we facilitate and fine tune the skills acquired by the trainers.

LIST OF RESOURCE PERSONS, ORGANISER & PARTICIPANTS

RESOURCE PERSONS: 1. Tarun Kanti Bose Journalist & Trainer, C-2/92A, Keshavpuram, New Delhi-110035 2. Jagdish Yadav Photo Journalist & Trainer F-1/109, Sector 6, Vaishali, Ghaziabad-201012

ORGANISERS: 3. Benjamin Khasouso

Kopila Siliguri Project, WVI 35, Villa De Pasang, Abedananda Road, Pradhan Nagar, Dist. Darjeeling 734003

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4. Amol Tshering Kopila Siliguri Project, WVI, Siliguri

5. Rupak Gurung

Kopila Siliguri Project, WVI, Siliguri

6. Shikha Bardewa Kopila Siliguri Project, WVI, Siliguri

SPECIAL INVITEES: 7. Lyndon Johnson

National Co-ordinator, World Vision India 16, V.O.C. Main Road Kodambakkam, Chennai- 600 024

8. Sanjay Pathak

Ward Councillor, Siliguri PARTICIPANTS:

9. Sanjay Barai Lenin Colony, Siliguri

10. Munni Khatun Lenin Colony, Siliguri

11. Supriya Khatun Lenin Colony, Siliguri

12. Sapna Das Lenin Colony, Siliguri

13. Mohan Roy Lenin Colony, Siliguri

14. Suraj Basfore BRI Colony, Siliguri 15. Rohan Basfore

BRI Colony, Siliguri 16. Anil Basfore

BRI Colony, Siliguri 17. Anand Basfore

BRI Colony, Siliguri 18. Dinesh Basfore

BRI Colony, Basfore 19. Ranjir Roy

Pramod Nagar, Siliguri 20. Ujjal Das

Pramod Nagar, Siliguri 21. Subhankar Majumdar

Pramod Nagar, Siliguri

22. Jagdish Das Pramod Nagar, Siliguri

23. Gobindo Barai Pramod Nagar, Siliguri

24. Suraj Mahato Dharam Nagar, Siliguri

25. Chunchun Paswan Dharam Nagar, Siliguri

26. Santosh Sahni Dharam Nagar, Siliguri

27. Bappi Paswan Dharam Nagar, Siliguri

28. Mohammad Nasim Ahmed Koila Depot, Siliguri

29. Mohammad Noor Koila Depot, Siliguri

30. Rita Jha Koila Depot, Siliguri

31. Shafina Khatun Koila Depot, Siliguri

32. Mohammad Shameem Koila Depot, Siliguri

33. Gariban Jha Koila Depot, Siliguri

34. Dayanand Roy Ratan Lal Basti, Siliguri

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35. Raju Paswan Ratan Lal Basti, Siliguri 36. Ravi Chakravarty Ratan Lal Basti, Siliguri

37. Abhijit Sarkar Ratan Lal Basti, Siliguri

38. Radha Roy Ratan Lal Basti, Siliguri 39. Jyoti Das Ratan Lal Basti, Siliguri

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