Bright Home – Nowshera, Pakistan

Amplifying Voices Pakistan is working with community activists in Nowshera district, north west Pakistan, to create new opportunies for women and young people. Light of the Dawn (Noor-e-Saher) is one of the Bright Home group of projects, integrating community-centred media with vocational skills classes and other off-air activities

Bright Home (Rokhan-e-Kore in Pashtu) provides vocational classes for women or young people.

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

In partnership with regional health care providers, health camps provide advice, medical checkup and basic medication.

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:

Pilot community-centred media projects in other communities in Nowshera district highlighted some specific aspirations for communities in this district, including improved education opportunities for women and girls, opportunities for women to use their skills to earn a living, better health services, and better access to clean water and hygiene facilities.

The pilot projects also indicated that some goals and some activities are more sensitive than others. Media activities are important for building local self-confidence and awareness, but local power-brokers want to see evidence that local concerns and goals are truly respected before they offer their buy-in. Bright Home projects start by creating livelihood opportunities and addressing health concerns to help create foundations for trust.

Outcomes:

In early 2023, 10 women completed a 12-week block of sewing classes, developing a sewing centre for making clothes and doing repairs.

Class participants also listened to community-centred media programmes which had been created during earlier pilots.

Our Role:

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