🚀 go-pugleaf

Dear Elvira

Not quite sure what you are looking for but I found the following stateme=
nts
to be so important so I published them in the last issue of our FTP
newsletter. We've also had some few articles on community media that may =
be
of interest. You can check out our homepage for more information.

Good luck with the next issue of AMARC's magazine

The Voices of History Makers
Another project of DDS concerns setting up their own local radio station.
Below is an extract from consultations held on 2nd Oct. 1996 between Mr. =
J.
Bentley, Regional Communication Adviser (Asia) UNESCO, and about 35 women
from the sanghams of the Deccan Development Society.

Sammamma from Bidakanne village (a 35 year old unlettered organic farmer)
explaining why they must have their own radio.
"We are working on so many alternative issues. The dissemination of this
message is now the burden of a few women leaders who travel around, work
till after midnight in sangham meetings, talk to their fellow women to tr=
y
and convince them about the things we are talking.
If we have our own radio, the issues we are talking about will have a muc=
h
wider dissemination even outside the sangham circles and will reach a lar=
ger
community of women. This radio will also enhance the credibility of our
messages by lending them the =1Aweight=1A of the medium.
The mainstream radio disseminates some dominant values. We must fight the=
se
dominant values which are anti-poor and are against village people.
Therefore we must have the control of the media."


Siddamma from Matoor (a 45 year old unlettered woman) discussing what can=
 be
the content of their radio programmes.
"If we are talking on OUR radio about our DWCRA (4) group=9As experiences=
, we
will tell about where we bought the goats. How we took care of them. What
our problems were and how we solved them. And how we made a profit out of=
 it.
(As a footnote
(4) DWCRA is a UNICEF and Government of India programme called Developmen=
t
of Women and Children in Rural Areas which makes available a capital of R=
s.
1000 per woman and encourages group formation for income generation.)
THEIR [the mainstream] radio has no time for these micro details. They on=
ly
talk broadly. For the poor this broadness has no meaning. They need micro
experiences. OUR radio can do this effectively. As we share these
experiences we also get support from other women outside the sangham for =
the
work we are doing."

Pushpalata from Pastapur (a 40 year old single woman who has studied up t=
o
class V) - reacting to a suggestion that, if it is very important for us =
to
disseminate our messages through radio, why don=1At we invite mainstream =
radio
to come and do programmes with us.

"Our language and their language are very different. We can=1At understan=
d
their language at all. They will never use our language. For example, I w=
ant
to tell my fellow women not to stop eating green leafy vegetables during =
the
rainy season. Only if I use our language and our imagery do people
understand what I am talking about. But in the mainstream radio they won=1A=
t
use this language."
 - on the essential difference between the issues that our radio and the
mainstream work on =1A
"We are talking about saama and sajja (two minor grains). We are always
talking about marginalised grains, marginalised people, marginalised
language, and marginalised issues. This does not interest the mainstream
radio. This is the reason we should have our own radio to allow us to
discuss OUR issues."

Metlakunta Susilamma (a 28 year old rural dalit woman who has not passed
class V) - reacting to a suggestion why can=1At we persuade the governmen=
t to
open a radio station here and preserve our language, culture and our issu=
es
"We can=1At accept government radio. It becomes their propaganda tool. Th=
ey
will go to a village and say we have given so many buffaloes in this
village; we have given so much land in this village =1A THEIR radio will =
not
allow poor women to dialogue on their own problems and issues. OUR radio
helps us in our own analysis of our experiences and our problems."

Chilukapalli Anasuyamma from Pastapur (a 30 year old unlettered woman) -
when asked to suggest what we can do with our own radio
"In our sanghams we are carrying out a number of tasks which used to be d=
one
by men. So also are our men. They are doing a number of tasks which were
only being preserved for women. This way we have been able to erase the
boundaries between men=1As work and women=1As work. The mainstream radio =
is
still steeped in the traditional gender roles. If we depend on it, we hav=
e
to go back in time. All that we have done in our sanghams will come to
nought. If we have our own radio it can help us continue this progress we
have made on gender issues.
Nagamma from Ranjole village (a 40 year old unlettered woman) - expressin=
g
her concern about people having to depend upon the mainstream radio for
their information and knowledge

"Let us take farming. What will the mainstream radio tell us? They (the
government) are the producers and sellers of chemical fertilisers and
pesticides. They tell us to use it. Once in a while some of them [ a
researcher from a research station or university] may say don=1At use
chemicals. What do we understand by this?
In our radio we can speak with unity of voice. We uphold certain values o=
f
organic agriculture. We can speak about it without confusing people.

Ratnamma from Algole village (a 45 year old unlettered rural dalit woman
leader) - reacting to a statement that it might be very difficult to get =
a
license to run the radio from the government:
"Why won=1At the government issue us a license? They invite us so many ti=
mes
to their meetings and listen to our views. When they do that, why not a
radio license? They can hear us regularly and better."



(Information note in a box)
The Deccan Development Society
Cover of the 1994 - 95 report - Gowramma from Kamalpally, a campaigner
against environmental destruction. She symbolises all our concerns:
environment, gender and tradition.

The Deccan Development Society (DDS) started, some 15 years ago, with a v=
ery
well defined aim namely, to reach the poorest of the poor while helping
rural development with illustrations of innovative interventions. From th=
e
very beginning DDS had visualised the importance of training a barefoot
cadre to take care of the needs of the communities living in this drought
prone backward part of the country. The aim, i.e. to train the people to =
be
their own barefoot doctors, barefoot agricultural experts, barefoot
extension workers, was gradually put on the ground.
Somewhere along the way, and as a result of our reflection over the impac=
t
of our activities,  the strategy changed. The emphasis shifted from deali=
ng
mainly with men to work with women. It shifted to a viewpoint which
envisaged empowerment of village women to not only confidently take up a
leading role in developmental affairs but also to struggle for a greater
degree of gender equality within their own families and communities. Anot=
her
emphasis was added sometime around 1985 when environment consciousness
became a significant part of the philosophy  of development advanced by D=
DS.
For a number of years we have been taking up various programmes to
strengthen the economic base of women=1As groups and this has been expres=
sed
in the establishment of women=1As affinity groups called =1Asanghams=1A i=
nitially
in around 40 villages. Today DDS works in approximately 75 villages of Me=
dak
district.
In pursuit of the philosophy of women groups=1A empowerment DDS has taken=
 up
such programmes as land lease, cooperative farming on women=1As collectiv=
ely
purchased lands, etc. During the last three years the People=1As Public
Distribution System has grown and is now being carried out, with support
from the government, in 30 villages. (see article)
Another land related programme, funded by the Ministry of Rural Developme=
nt
under their Wasteland Development Programme is being implemented in 25
villages. This programme is also being implemented by women=1As sanghams =
which
are taking responsibility for land development on the principles of
watershed planning and organic farming (Permaculture).
Work continues with the radio station. UNESCO has released the funds.
However the Government of India=1As present policy does not allow a priva=
te
radio station, even (especially?) if it is run for non-profit by the most
downtrodden people. A new Broadcast Bill was being introduced in the Indi=
an
Parliament in August, 1997. If this bill creates a proper environment of
licensing social communication oriented radio stations, the DDS Radio mig=
ht
become a reality by January 1998.

The author P.V. Satheesh is Director of Deccan Development Society (DDS).
With a background in professional film production he has, among other
things, helped the women of DDS to document their perspectives on video.
For more information about how to obtain copies or for more information
about their work write to DDS, A-6 Meera Appts., Basheerbagh, Hyderabad -
29, A.P. India (Tel: 91 40 231 260 /232 867; Fax:  91 40 231 1 260; Email=
:
ddshyd@hd1.vsnl.net.in)



Yours
Daphne

At 13:47 1997-10-05 -0700, you wrote:
>INTERADIO SEEKS RADIO DRAMAS
>
>TO: All supporters of the democratization of communications
>
>FROM: Editor, InteRadio
>
>The next issue of AMARC's (World Association of Community Radio
>Broadcasters) bi-annual magazine is dedicated to theme of  'cultural
>diversity'. To make it even more interesting, I would like to include an
>excerpt from an original socio-politically oriented community radio play
>and demonstrate how important issues can be addressed in a creative way.=
 If
>you have anything relevant, I would love to read it and consider publish=
ing
>it for our next issue.
>
>In solidarity,
>
>Elvira Truglia
>
>
>
>Elvira Truglia
>Editor, InteRadio
>
>World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters
>Association Mondiale des Radiodiffuseurs Communautaires
>Asociacion Mundial de Radios Comunitarias
>(AMARC)
>International Secretariat
>3575 Saint-Laurent Blvd., # 611
>Montreal, Quebec  H2X  2T7   CANADA
>Tel : +1 (514) 982-0351 Fax : +1 (514) 849-7129
>E-mail: interad@amarc.org
>WWW : http://www.web.apc.org/amarc
>
>
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--Daphne Thuvesson
   Editor/Forests, Trees & People Newsletter
 Department of Rural Development Studies
  Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
  P O Box 7005, S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
  Phone: +46 18 672317 (work)
  Fax: + 46 18 673420
  Email: Daphne.Thuvesson@lbutv.slu.se
Website: http://treesandpeople.lbutv.slu.se/