NEWS: Students in media training workshop (PACIFIC)

In recognition of their potentials, about 20 students are attending a two-day workshop in Labasa to strengthen their participation in development.

Facilitated by the Live and Learn Environmental Education, the journalist forum is aimed at creating an advanced profile to the central role of children in the pursuit of peace, including children's roles in public education through media and formal education.

Formal education program co-ordinator Makelesi Batimala said the three-year project aimed to benefit more than 25,000 children under the age of 16 and to establish a large-scale network of 1800 schools and 2000 teachers in Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

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OneMinutesJr video workshop in Papua New Guinea - Day 5

The final day of the OneMinutesJr workshop in Port Moresby has arrived. Hard to believe that it has already been five days since we started working with the teenagers here in the YWCA office in "Mosbi" as Port Moresby is called in Pidgin English.

The day has a very simple structure: Get ready before 5 PM! Many of the films still need a voice-over or subtitles. There is music to be chosen, the teenagers sing songs and for one film they even write their very own song in the morning. The computer room has been turned into the "audio studio". It is by far the most quiet room in the building so it is here where we capture the voice-overs with the cameras.

The trainers have almost worked through the night to get the rough edits on the way and now it is all about putting the last touches on the films. Names and titles have to be added, certificates of participation need to be filled in and so time flies by and the big moment of the final presentation comes almost unexpectedly in the afternoon.

The screening of all 15 videos the children produced this week is - as always - quite an event. Their parents have come to watch the films, the YWCA staff is there and UNICEF staff members from different programmes have also come to see what the children came up with.

The result is a stunning display of creativity, but it is also a mirror image of childhood in PNG, which is not always just happiness and joy. A lot of problems remain for young people in the country - violence, neglect, gender problems, etc - and the OneMinutesJr films we produced here should not be seen as remedy but rather a method of showing the symptoms. Getting the right help that is needed is not in the hands of the children in most cases, but when they work together with the adult, there will be ways of improving the lives of the children in PNG.

Port Moresby, PNG - November 20, 2009 - Chris Schuepp

OneMinutesJr video workshop in Papua New Guinea - Day 4

--Two days remain at this exciting OneMinutesJr workshop in Port Moresby. Not "two days" but "two years" is the title of the first film that is completely finished. Paul's film about his two-year prison sentence is filmed, edited and already has its voice-over.

But there are still four participants who have not started with their films and so we are out with the cameras again today. Sindy (16) is first with her film about a girl who does not do what her mother tells her to do. The argument ends with the mother beating the girl and chasing her out of the house. The girl flees to her best friend, but the mother in the end finds her and apologizes.

In the afternoon, we are off to two different settlements on the outskirts of the capital Port Moresby. Ephraim's secondary school is near the first settlements and the little children from around there always exchange empty plastic bottles for biscuits in his school So Ephraim wants to use this opportunity to tell the world more about the lives of these underprivileged children who live in the streets near his school.

Next is Junior (17) and his story about alcohol abuse in his neighborhood. We are out in the streets filming a scene at a local store when more and more people, children and adults, gather to watch the filming. They are all very interested in what is going on, ask questions and make comments and give suggestions. When Paul (17) gives the final "action" sign and Wesley (14) pushes the record button for the last time, there are at least 100 people out to witness the film-making process in Kila Kila village.

Before the sun sets, Louisah (14) is the last participant to finish her film. She has told us that at one point she considered committing suicide because her parents are always fighting. But fortunately she did not go all the way and reconsidered her decision. She is a happier girl now, and with her film she wants to make a stand against teenage suicide and give others new hope.

Port Moresby, PNG - November 19, 2009 - Chris Schuepp

OneMinutesJr video workshop in Papua New Guinea - Day 3

Half-time at the OneMinutesJr workshop in PNG and today is the big filming day. We have planned to get as much as possible done today and would like to finish six films on this sunny Wednesday in Port Moresby.

The first location of the day is a very special one. It is the place where Paul spent the better part of the last two years. The 17-year-old boy was sentenced to two years in prison and served his time in the correctional centre outside Port Moresby.

Today he is back behind bars, but only for the duration of the filming. He wants to create a powerful movie that warns other young people by telling them what the loss of freedom means to a teenager. Paul is still recovering from the time in prison, but he also has a lot of hope and now puts education and a life without violence above everything else. We also found out this week that Paul has a lot of talent behind the camera and that becoming a cameraman might be an option for him in the future.

After the prison, we go to a school. Alythea (13), who has spent some time in the educational system in Australia and who is now back here in PNG, wants to show how crowded the classrooms are in her home country. The final sentence is: "Can you imagine learning in this environment?"

In the afternoon, the whole workshop group drives out to Hanuabada, the biggest village in the country. Hanuabada is partly built on the water and there are fantastic filming locations here, so we immediately set off to film in different places and with different participants. Kaia (14), who actually lives here, wants to show the life in her village in the film. In the meantime, Faith (14) uses Kaia's home for her film, in which an adopted child is exploited by the other family members. And Charlie (16) goes out to the nearby market to film teenagers who smoke.

On the way back to the workshop venue, the YWCA office in Port Moresby, we stop at a grocery store. But not to do the groceries! We are here to shoot the sixth film of the day. Stephen's film is about the fact that he cannot go to school because his family cannot avoid the 40 Kina (about 15 USD) that the bus to school would cost him every month. So he shows us what he could buy for 40 Kina in the supermarket. And tomorrow in the morning we will film him standing at the bus stop, while the bus, of course, will leave without him, because rice and flour and sugar are more important that school. Or maybe not...?

Port Moresby, PNG - November 18, 2009 - Chris Schuepp

OneMinutesJr video workshop in Papua New Guinea - Day 2

After a very successful round of brainstorming and story development yesterday, we can start the filming already today on the second day of the OneMinutesJr workshop in Port Moresby. One of the most touching stories is that of Geno.

The 17-year-old girl dropped out of school earlier this year, because her teacher almost sexually abused her. He had locked the door already and tried to rape the girl, but she threw a chair at him in self-defense and managed to escape. But the escape from this scene also meant that she could not return to school. She has not told anybody about this until today, because she fears a retaliation from the teacher if she tells her parents or even the police about the incident.

We can also shoot another story in the school building nearby the YWCA office in Port MOresby where we are holding the workshop this week. Eshcol (15) is a bullying victim at school and he wants to make a film about what happened to him last year. He was bullied for quite some time before the bullying got violent. One day he was beaten up by the bullies at school and decided for himself that it was enough. Eshcol went home, told his parents and they went back to school with him to talk to his teacher. The bullies were suspended from school fro a week and have left Eshcol alone ever since.

In the afternoon, we also film Wesley's film about the tools parents beat their children with. In the background you will be able to hear the PNG anthem, sung by the participants of the workshop. The sound and the images will stand in contrast, but this will make the film even better and more interesting.

Before it gets dark, we all take a mini-bus out to where John (15) usually lives. John was in conflict with the law a couple of years ago and was sentenced to eight months in jail. He is not behind bars anymore now and he also does not want to go back to prison. He wants to go back to school now and plays rugby with his friends. Education and sports serve as his substitutes for drugs and armed robbery. The friendship on and off the rugby field had helped him a great deal and so John will make this the center-piece of this film.

The filming schedule for tomorrow is another tight one and will see us going to a school, a prison and a local village. There are just so many more great ideas waiting to be transformed into OneMinutesJr videos...

Port Moresby, PNG - November 17, 2009 - Chris Schuepp

OneMinutesJr video workshop in Papua New Guinea - Day 1

15 teenagers from different regions in Papua New Guinea have gathered in the capital Port Moresby this week to participate in a OneMinutesJr video workshop. The UNICEF-supported training will produce 15 films, all exactly 60 seconds long, on different aspects concerning children's rights.

With the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) turning 20 this week and, the workshop fits in with global celebrations of the CRC this month and International Children's Day on November 20th.

After a short round of introductions, the two video trainers show some examples of successful OneMinutesJr videos from recent workshops to the participants to give them an idea of what can be done in a minute. There are different techniques of telling a story in a video and lots of different ways of filming and editing. It is interesting for the trainers to find out which of the screened videos the participants liked best. The discussion helps the trainers a lot to understand what kind of films might come out of this workshop. The psychology behind it is that the participants choose their favorite movies always based on what they can relate to best.

In the afternoon, we start discussing film ideas individually with the participants. Here in Papua New Guinea, the young people seem to feel more comfortable talking to us face-to-face rather than in a big group in the workshop room. However, we are still surprised how open and focused they are and soon we have a good list of great topics for the filming that awaits us over the next few days.

Alythea (13) has spent 18 months with her family in Australia, where she also went to school. Back here in PNG, she is shocked that she has to be in one class with over 50 other children and only one teacher. Her film will be about the right to education and she will not only speak for herself: Education seems to be a very important topic for many of the participants at the workshop.

Another topic that comes up frequently when we are talking to the children about their story ideas is violence. Wesley (14) wants to make a film about this and tells us what parents beat their children with: Brooms, rubber hoses, canes, power cables, belts. We just need to organize all these "tools" plus a flag of Papua New Guinea and we can create a great film that speaks out against domestic violence.

At the end of the first day of the workshop, we have talked in detail to all the participants and already have the feeling that they will create a set of very strong movies that will then work as advocates for an improvement in child rights in the country.

Port Moresby, PNG - November 16, 2009 - Chris Schuepp