Bright Home – Cholistan, Pakistan

Roshni-Ro-Ghar (Bright Home)

Amplifying Voices Pakistan is working with a Marwari community in the desert region, Cholistan, to create new opportunies for women and young people. New Hope is one of the Bright Home group of projects, integrating community-centred media with vocational skills classes and other off-air activities

Bright Home (Roshni ro Ghar in Marwari) provides vocational classes for women or young people. In partnership with regional health care providers, health camps provide advice, medical checkup and basic medication.

Media training provides women an additional route for building skills, self confidence, and for participating more widely in community life and wider society.

Women and young people from the community use media skills to create audio content that promotes social developments, good health and hygiene, and supports livelihood development. Content is aired via speakerbox and WhatsApp, with a view to providing FM radio content as skills grow.

Background:

Pastor Lazur heard about Roshan Ghar in Sargodha from a WhatsApp group in June 2023 and invited Amplifying Voices Pakistan to help set up a Bright Home project a Marwari village near Rahim Yar Khan, on the the edge of the Cholistan desert.

Bright Home projects aim to build foundations for trust, by creating livelihood opportunities and addressing health concerns before engaging in media.

During earlier projects in we found that media activities can be sensitive. Local power-brokers are suspicious when minority figures suddenly gain prominence.  Working primarily with minority Marwari people in a multi-ethnic region, Roshni-ro-Ghar activities encourage participation from across the Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities.

Our Role:

Provide support to Amplifying Voices Pakistan for project planning, including funding proposals and design of participatory community-based research and learning.

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