Wednesday 16 March 2016

Seven years with no war

In February 2016 a team of ERR documentarians travelled to Sri Lanka in order to see how the country lives in nearly seven years after the civil war. For 25 days of stay on the island the author and editor of the film Artur Aukon, director Mati Kark and operator Väino Laisaar crisscrossed more than half of the country and talked with representatives of different ethnic and social groups.


The confrontation between the Tamils ​​and the Sinhalese that lasted for a quarter of a century has left a serious mark on the social situation in the country. Until recently, there were special restrictions on visiting the northern part of the island, populated mainly by Sinhalese. Even today more military bases are located here. On Jaffna peninsula, where active military operations were carried out, there are still many destroyed buildings and uncleared minefields.


One of the central figures of the film is a driver and a guide of Sinhalese origin, who continued doing what he loves most – even during the war. Together with him the documentary team discovered the post-war Sri Lanka. He shares his memories about the conflict, his reflections on the current political situation in the country, and tells the story of how the war changed his life.



The film is divided into several parts, each one dedicated to a specific episode of the journey. For example, St. John’s College, Jaffna takes one of the central places in the narrative. It was founded by the Church of England in 1823. During the military conflicts most of its buildings were destroyed. The United Kingdom and Norway paid for their restoration. The current head of school N. J. Gnanaponrajah took office in 2006, during commencement of the last phase of the war. By that time, many children were already left without parents, placed in field centers for refugees and had no access to education. Thanks to the actions of the head of the college and the support of the EU countries, ca. 400 orphans received free education and accommodation on the campus. Currently teachers from Denmark and the United States are involved in internship under international exchange programs – they are trying to understand how the experience of the European multicultural education can be applied in Sri Lanka. With the support of the EU funds several school buildings for joint education of children of different nationalities were restored in the country. 


The subject of inter-ethnic and inter-religious dialogue can also be traced with the example of drastically different fates of fishermen in the west and in the east of the country. They also share memories of life during the war, and reflect on the social and economic problems of the country.

Volunteers from European organizations help in solving these problems. In particular, the film focuses on the activities of the organization People in Need, representatives of which are trying to work towards two goals. This year they hope to get a grant for implementation of educational projects. The organization also successfully runs projects on implementation of modern waste recycling and bio-gas production technologies. These plants are used to supply both state institutions (for instance, hospitals) and private companies. For example, in the city of Batticaloa such eco-friendly technologies are actively used in the hospitality industry.

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Newsletter for journalists

 







In February 1st issue of 6 newsletters planned for year 2016 was distributed to 188 journalists.

It reminds activities and events organized last year as part of the European Year for Development, highlights the new development Agenda 2030 that was adopted last September by UN member states including the Slovak Republic and points out that in spite of the declared announcement, the Slovak budget for the bilateral development cooperation will not be higher this year.



The newsletter provides basic information about two major UN events of the year 2016 - World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey and Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador.



It also lists activities planned for journalist: the VIKES training for writing journalists - beginners, joint media trips to Palestine and Nepal, the photo /story competition 2016 and includes links to selected articles and resources on development issues that journalists might find interesting. One of them is directed to the report released by the CONCORD Europe that states that security and economic interests of EU and its members continue prevailing in the EU’s policy and institutional approach to migration and development.

Wednesday 2 March 2016

Evening tea with documentary journalists




On the 17th of February Kārlis Lesiņš and Lelde Prūse, journalists from the Woodpecker Pictures were invited to an evening tea at the Green Liberty’s staff and friends to share the story of their trip to Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where they filmed a documentary movie about the care for protected eastern gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei and Gorilla beringei graueri).


Evening tea with journalists was a non-formal event, where Kārlis and Lelde shared the story about two different countries – Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo. They told how Volcanoes National Park, and more specifically, gorillas living there supply these countries with resources for survival and development. While listening to them, the auditory could follow the process of filming in Rwanda (Kigali, Musanze, Gisenyi regions), DRC (Goma and Masisi regions) and the territory of the Volcanoes National Park

The journalist shared reflections about unexpected turning-points during the trip, interaction of the team, and what other journalist should consider when they go to Global Southern countries in Africa. It was exciting to hear that journalists had changed their conception of the movie: “I hoped the movie would be about pleasant and peaceful things like the animals, nature. Consequently, I could step aside from the previous experience to see the things through the looking glass of conflicts. Yet, it turned out that the foundation of the plot is the tension between people and animals, rebels, government and society, veterinarians and tourists” (Kārlis). It was very inspiring to hear that “the world is round. It means that we as the species on this planet are interconnected.” (Lelde).

It was inspiring to feel the connection between the journalists, sponsors, representatives of environmental organisations and activists. We hope that this Evening tea event helped participants to enrich understanding of why stories from Global South are meaningful for us.

Woodpecker Pictures is a brand new film studio – a group of energetic enthusiasts including a director, a journalist, a video specialist and a producer, who were brought together by a common vision of interests and professionalism. In project Media for Development, this film studio has agreed to make a documentary film that currently is in after filming stage. The documentary film will tell the story not only about the efforts to protect the animals and maintain their health and lives, but also about their geographic, political and social environment. The documentary will reveal personal motivation and attitude towards protected eastern gorillas in Rwanda and DRC – starting from veterinarians of Gorilla Doctors organisation to rebels in the war affected DRC.

The trip and documentary is also supported by the Boris and Inara Teterev Foundation

Tuesday 1 March 2016

Mondo activities January-February 2016

The new year started with receiving new bracelets from Kenya. The bracelets were again made by women's self-help groups in Shianda village. The two groups who made the bracelets are called Ikoli and Riziki. Kalle Aasamäe, an Estonian designer and volunteer in the area, was the one who gave advice to the women and helped them find the necessary materials. This time the colours were chosen to be green and blue.


In January, the TV crew from ERR visited Birma/Myanmar for making a documentary. Our team members, Johanna and Triinu also travelled to the area during the same time. Silvia Pärmann – a journalist from Delfi (one of the biggest online media channels in Estonia) also travelled with them. Just after Silvia arrived back to Estonia, she was selected as the best travel journalist in Estonia in 2015 :)

Her articles from Myanmar can be found here:

  • http://reisijuht.delfi.ee/news/reisiblogi/markmeid-myanmarist-i-kuld-kiirus-korgus-ja-pudel-hugo-bossi-parfuumi?id=73387833
  • http://reisijuht.delfi.ee/news/reisiblogi/markmeid-myanmarist-ii-aja-seismise-voimalikkusest?id=73387881
  • http://reisijuht.delfi.ee/news/reisiblogi/markmeid-myanmarist-iii-rand?id=73387909
  • http://reisijuht.delfi.ee/news/reisiblogi/markmeid-myanmarist-iv-mis-trikke-on-voimalik-opetada-kitsele?id=73387935
  • http://reisijuht.delfi.ee/news/reisiblogi/markmeid-myanmarist-v-ukski-buddha-kuju-ei-saa-olla-kuldsem-tanintharyi-inimestest?id=73387963
  • http://reisijuht.delfi.ee/news/news/markmeid-myanmarist-vi-tatoveeritud-nagudega-naised?id=73568397
  • http://reisijuht.delfi.ee/news/news/markmeid-myanmarist-vii-mrauk-u-udu-volus-ja-varjus?id=73623315
  • http://reisijuht.delfi.ee/news/news/markmeid-myanmarist-viii-what-do-you-get-when-you-fall-in-love?id=73686985
  • http://reisijuht.delfi.ee/news/news/markmeid-myanmarist-ix-printsid-ja-sodurid?id=73776529
  • http://reisijuht.delfi.ee/news/news/markmeid-myanmarist-x-kulad-kuhu-oodatakse-eesti-opetajaid?id=73801131
  • http://reisijuht.delfi.ee/news/news/markmeid-myanmarist-xi-kagu-aasia-koige-kuulsam-jarv?id=73920001
In January another trip finalised – the winner of the article competition "Decent Life for All" returned from Kenya where she visited Mombasasa and communities in the Mara and Shianda village where Mondo also works. In Shianda she visited the schools where Mondo has support programs and saw the work that our recent volunteers have been doing. She has posted photos on her Instagram account (@karolinkruuse) and published two blog posts from the trip:

  • Photo essay from Shianda village: http://karolinkruuse.ee/fotopostitus-shianda-kulast-ja-mtu-mondo-tegemistest/
  • Interview about religion from Mombasa: http://karolinkruuse.ee/my-friend-muslim/ 

February has passed under the star of planning our Ghana-trip that will happen in March. It will be a bigger group than we have had before, so it's quite challenging :)