RTK - participatory photo and tv projects

photography
television

Right to Know Participatory Photography in FYR Macedonia [top]

"Say it with a picture."
Photovoice, a participatory photography NGO based in England, has been working with youth in FYR Macedonia and helping them tell their stories through images. The experience has been rewarding for many of the youth and they are now facilitating training with other young people, enabling them to use cameras to tell their stories. Many of the images that have been produce by the young people tell the stories of their lives, and how they are affected by HIV/AIDS in their daily activities and interactions. These visual narratives provide the participatory action research [PAR] information that will enable young people themselves to begin thinking about how to ensure that all young people have access to necessary information and skills to make healthy decisions. It is hoped that the skills gained by youth in FYR Macedonia can be shared with youth in other RTK countries in the Balkans, including Bosnia and Herzegovina and FR Yugoslavia.

For more information on Photovoice, visit their web site - click here.

Right to Know TV show in FYR Macedonia [top]

Will a group of teenagers from Macedonia be the next stars of the small screen? This could very well happen, as the young people of FYR Macedonia work on their newest project to further HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention in their country: They are producing a television show called "Imam Pravo da Znam" (I Have the Right to Know) in collaboration with a local television station. The biweekly, national television program will aim not only to impart through interactive methods, information about HIV/AIDS, engage youth in a national dialogue about the infection, and discuss other related issues such as gender relations and life skills.

The television program will consist of five segments: a drama based on real-life situations and dilemmas, a survey in which young people interview people on the street on the theme of that episode, a guest interview, a documentary-style clip, and a segment on major concepts and terms used in the media. Young people are actively working to develop ideas for scripts, documentaries and interviews for the show, which will premiere in the next few weeks.

Television is very cost-effective for reaching large numbers of young people in FYR Macedonia. It is expected that depicting real-life situations will result in young people identifying with the scenarios presented and encourage further discussion from viewers. The program will educate the public on young people's issues and concerns by broadcasting the positive action taken by youth and making use of the voices of young people themselves.

17-year-old Milica Gjuroska of Skopje, FYR Macedonia, one of the teenagers helping create the program, describes the show:

"The TV show consists of five parts. The first one is a TV drama. The second is a survey where we ask people on the street what they think about something connected with HIV/AIDS. After the survey we have a guest, usually some interesting but not famous person who is doing something that we can connect to AIDS. For example, our guest might be some boy who is skating so that young people who are interested in skating can learn something about AIDS while watching. You need protection if you are doing extreme sports, and you need protection while you are making love... The fourth part is something like a documentary part, filmed by us. It's about some interesting place, object or other thing that we can link to AIDS in some way. The last part is about technical terms connected with AIDS that we use, and their real meaning. Maybe we'll have other parts, but I don't know yet. The main thing is that all the information you want to give to young people must be served on a plate with other things that young people are interested in."

Source
UNICEF Right to Know Initiative, November 2002.