Asia

The news from Seva, our partner in Maharashtra, India, is that despite Covid-19 spreading rapidly even in the most remote Adivasi villages, communities that have speakerboxes programmes are resisting the worst of the pandemic through robust hygiene practice and vaccine readiness. In Dhule district, Seva had trained a team from another partner organisation (much the…

Amplifying Voices Pakistan were recently invited to Nowshera in KPK by an enthusiastic group of socially-minded people who want to learn what community-centred media is all about.

“It’s the most important public health message that is now becoming famous all over Nashik,” Shilpa told me, as they placed more speakerboxes in clinics across the city at the invitation of the Municipal Corporation. Which message is that, I asked. “That we love our neighbour as ourselves,” she said. “On top of all the…

Amplifying Voices Pakistan is supporting a church youth group in Punjab to develop a community-centred media project called New Hope. Following training at the end of last year and early this year, the youth group have been making regular podcasts that they distribute over WhatsApp, addressing local social issues. Hazeen Latif told us how pleased…

As the Indian health system buckles under the strain of a Corona virus surge that has eclipsed anywhere else in the world, our partners in Maharashtra say the pandemic is now rapidly impacting remote Adivasi (indigenous) communities. Adivasi Voices Project leader, Shilpa says that while the pandemic has greatly affected the livelihoods of tribal people,…

As far back as she can remember, Sunita has been collecting water for her family. Instead of playing as a carefree child, she had to walk to the river, fill up large vessels, and carry them back to the small Maharashtran village of Kobada, India. This arduous task would become one of her lifetime duties.…

Amplifying Voices partner in Pakistan recently hosted a workshop for women to learn more about health and hygiene. It was a great opportunity to give some hands-on help, so after the event the women received free check-ups from health workers and medicines were provided through Amplifying Voices Pakistan. The local partner based in the Khyber…

A couple of weeks ago HCR Pakistan held a competition in a village primary school near Charsadda. The competition got children thinking about sickness and how to prevent it – especially Covid-19. It was community-centred media – but not as we know it

Community-centred media helps people facing disadvantage or injustice to speak out and be heard by those in positions of power. Local stories are powerful, as HCR Pakistan’s partner, New Dawn, saw recently when responding to a scam that was hurting low income families. A few years ago in Pakistan, the government started to roll out…

In a world suffering from too many strong people using their strength to enforce their will on others, its really exciting to find this Pakistani youth group who are using their strengths to listen to their community. These young people from a church in the small city of Jauharabad said they had felt despair about…