Thousands of phone shot films and hundreds of solved cases: our correspondents are now available for conducting training on phone based filming and grassroots activism.

At Video Volunteers we believe that Mobile Journalism is the next revolution in reporting. The combination of cheap internet and affordable phones with sophisticated and high definition video filming capabilities is democratizing reporting of issues. Platforms like YouTube and Facebook allow individual users to upload their own content, potentially making news reporting open source. The rise and spread of these platforms is phenomenal. Some estimate that more than 500 hours of fresh videos is uploaded on YouTube per minute. Yes, you read that right, per minute.

In this scenario, Video Volunteers is uniquely positioned to provide phone based filming and editing training for grassroots reporting. Our correspondents have made i.e. filmed, edited and promoted thousands of videos using just their phones. Our correspondents also organize end-to-end phone based film making, documentation and micro-campaigning trainings in their own communities empowering the community and enhancing the training skills of the correspondents

We now offer training in these areas to interested organizations and movements that want to train their members and constituents in reporting and documentation. These three to five day trainings are conducted by Video Volunteers staff or correspondents and cover areas such as-

how to find a good story?

how to find a character?

how to film a story using a mobile phone?

how to edit a video on a mobile phone?

how to promote a story on social media using a mobile phone?

how to advocate using a video and solve an issue?

Following are some of the organizations that we have conducted trainings for in the last few years:

Sixth Annual Anti-Trafficking in Persons Conclave

Practitioners from government law enforcement agencies, NGOs, and activists working on the issue were trained to use MoJo for storytelling and investigative journalism. The conclave was hosted by the US Consulate General, Kolkata in partnership with Shakti Vahini and Bangla Natak.

woMEn: Understanding my Responsibility in Combating Gender-Based Violence and Inequality

VV conducted a module at this workshop on understanding gender equality and technology, and how practices around technology innovation can accelerate equality.  It was hosted by Shakti Vahini in partnership with US Consulate General, Kolkata and other local stakeholders.

Gunvati J. Kapoor Medical Relief Charitable Foundation

The organisation supports programs in education, healthcare, and social services in Mumbai. They will use MoJo to document case studies, which can help them generate awareness about cancer tests and treatments.

The Goat Trust

The Goat Trust works to promote small livestock (Goat/sheep/ Backyard birds rearing) based livelihood through demystifying production technology, build institutions and promote standard of marketing and linkage across the globe. They mostly work with women farmers. 13 of their employees were trained by us. They plan to use their newly learned MoJo skills to document their fieldwork and their multiple processes.

International Council for Research on Women and Pradan

We did one training each in 2017 and 2018 with 14 women identified by the organisation. The women learnt how to capture gender stories, specifically on maternal and adolescent health issues.

Empowering Community Voices is our ethos. In line with this core belief, we have kept our mobile journalism related training material free to access and download on our website. We believe that with a little nudge this self propagating idea has the potential to reach the stage where locally relevant content is locally produced and locally consumed.