अप्पन समाचार

बुधवार, 17 दिसंबर 2014

Giving a voice to young village girls in rural Bihar

Appan Samachar, a small but vital initiative started by Santosh Sarang in the heartland of rural Bihar, may well signify the beginning of a women-led media revolution in the country! Appan Samachar is an all-female news network in rural Bihar, which brings to light crucial issues affecting the villages, which are blatantly ignored by national and even regional media. Young women riding bicycles and holding basic camera equipment go around villages voicing their opinion against issues like child marriage, witchcraft, and female foeticide, and in turn empower all the women they reach out to. To run such a revolutionary news network, Appan Samachar requires funding for equipment, and for holding workshops for aspiring female journalists.

Young girls from villages, walking around holding camera equipment and microphones, talking to the elders about the events in the village, is indeed an empowering sight in rural India; where even now women do not have an identity of their own. These girls are part of Appan Samachar, an all female news network run in Bihar. ‘Appan Samachar’ aptly translates to ‘our News’, and it is the aim of the girls who a part of it, to reveal incidents that happen in rural Bihar, that are often overlooked, or ignored, by most mainstream media. Through their brand of citizen journalism, they seek to not only raise awareness amongst the villagers, but also try and play an important part in changing their perceptions and opinions for the better. “The daughters of the poor farmers and villagers have dreams and aspirations, but there is no one to guide them”, says Santosh Sarang, a journalist and social worker, who started Appan Samachar in the year 1997. He started this organisation in an effort to bring the girls out from the confinement of the homes, and have their voices and opinions heard loud in a public forum. What better way to enable this, than to empower them to run their own broadcasting channel! The news programs filmed by the girls are aired for the villagers at the village haat (market), using projectors. Khushboo, one of the oldest members of the group, is now generally seen holding a microphone and asking the tough questions; but initially she was very hesitant to leave her home and talk to people, for fear of being mistreated and teased. Now, as a part of Appan Samachar, she feels much more empowered, as her opinions are acknowledged by people who otherwise never bothered to listen to women. Running this small but strong ‘media revolution’ requires good-quality equipment, like cameras, microphone, and tripod; and also funds required to conduct training workshop for aspiring women journalists from the villages. HopeMonkey is proud to support Mr. Sarang and the girls, and help them pave the path to women empowerment, and possibly start a new chapter on Indian news media!
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http://www.hopemonkey.org/project/giving-voice-young-village-girls-rural-bihar

सोमवार, 27 अक्टूबर 2014

एक जर्मन महिला के सपने, सोच व साहस

कुछ दिन पहले जर्मनी के हेमबर्ग से एक मेल आया था. मेरीबेन नाम की एक महिला का. वह जर्मनी से कोलकता पहुंच कर सीधे मुजफ्फरपुर आना चाहती थीं. वह मुझसे अप्पन समाचार के कामकाज पर बात करना चाहती थीं. मिलकर कुछ करने का सपना लिये मेरीबेन 12 अक्टूबर (रविवार) को मुजफ्फरपुर पहुंचीं. मैं अंग्रेजी में थोड़ा गरीब हूं, सो अपने मित्र के. नीरज के साथ होटल लिच्छवी पहुंचा. साथ में अमृतांज इंदीवर भी थे. यह देखकर आश्चर्य हुआ कि एक जर्मन महिला भारतीय नारी की तरह साड़ी पहनी कमरे का दरवाजा खोला. उसने हाथ जोड़ कर स्वागत किया. चाय के साथ बातचीत शुरू हुई. करीब ढाई घंटे तक बातचीत होती रही. इस दौरान पाकिस्तान के आतंकवाद, भारत की जातीय व्यवस्था, यहां का कल्चर, महिलाओं की स्थिति समेत ढेरों मुद्दों पर बातें हुईं. मेरीबेन ने बताया कि उसे भारत का कल्चर अच्छा लगता है. वह खटिया पर भी सो सकती हैं. गरीबों का भोजन कर सकती हैं. बातचीत के दौरान पता चला कि मेरीबेन को भारत के बारे में गहरी जानकारी है. दक्षिण से लेकर उत्तर भारत तक की संस्कृति व समाज के बारे में बहुत कुछ जानती हैं. वह हिन्दी के कुछ शब्द बोल रही थी. जैसे-पंखा, पलंग, कुरसी, चीनी, चाय, दुध, आप कैसे हैं आदि. दरअसल, वह बहुत कम बजट की डॉक्यूमेंट्री फिल्म बनाने का सपना लिये लीची का शहर मुजफ्फरपुर पहुंची हैं. थीम है-
एक जर्मन महिला भारत आती हैं. वह यहां की महिलाओं से मिलती हैं. भारतीय कल्चर व वेस्टर्न कल्चर को एक साथ मिलाकर वह यह दिखाना चाहती हैं कि आपका यानी भारतीय कल्चर ही अच्छा है. यहां की साड़ी अच्छी है. यहां का पहनावा अच्छा है. बेवजह यहां की लोग अपनी संस्कृति को छोड़ पश्चिमी कल्चर को अपना रहे हैं. वह यही संदेश देना चाहती हैं इस फिल्म के जरिये.
होटल से चलने के बाद हम यह सोचते रहे कि हजारों किलोमीटर दूर जर्मनी से एक अकेली महिला कैसे भारत पहुंच गयीं. बिल्कुल अनजान शहर में. हमारे यहां की महिला को पटना भी जाना होता है, तो साथ में एक पुरुष सदस्य जरू र होता है. असुरक्षित महसूस करती हैं हमारी बहनें व बेटियां, ये डरती हैं इस समाज के सिरफिरों से. कभी-कभी उम्र में पांच-सात साल छोटा भाई भी अपनी बहन का संरक्षक बनकर बाजार या कहीं अन्यत्र जाता है. वाकई, कितना अंतर है उनकी हिम्मत और हमारी सोच में.

यूनीसेफ के कार्यशाला में अप्पन समाचार की प्रस्तुति

बाल सहभागिता के राज्‍यस्‍तरीय कार्यशाला में बिहार में बाल भागीदारी के कुछ सफल उदाहरणों में से एक अप्पन समाचार के बारे में बताते हुए Santosh Sarang उनका यह प्रयास वाकई अनूठा और असाधारण हैं ।
- अविनाश गौतम, मीडिया कोऑर्डिनेटर, यूनीसेफ

अप्पन समाचार के बारे में बताते संतोष सारंग

शुक्रवार, 26 सितंबर 2014

प्रशिक्षण व साक्षात्कार

बुधवार, 13 अगस्त 2014

द पायोनियर में बाल विवाह पर प्रकाशित रिपोर्ट

मंगलवार, 12 अगस्त 2014

Knot in the age of innocence

Rinku Kumari | in Oped

Children forced into marriages are caught in a vicious cycle that prevents them from realising their full potential and also adversely impacts their families, communities, and the country at large
Fifteen-year-old Anita Kumari roams around the lanes of Bihar’s Muzaffarpur’s Neknampur village flaunting a line of vermilion powder over the parting in her hair. Forced into marriage before the legal age of 18, Anita had to compromise with her dreams of becoming a doctor as her parents disapproved of the idea of a girl ‘dreaming’. Born to illiterate parents, Anita somehow managed to study till class eight, but after getting married to an illiterate man, she sees no scope of reviving her dream.
Child marriage, wherein a girl is married before the age of 18 years and a boy before 21, has been rampant in India since time immemorial. Even today, Anita isn’t alone. As the recent report by the United Nations reveals, one out of every three child brides in the world is in India, putting the country to global shame for its inability to stop this social malpractice. The States of Bihar and Jharkhand have the highest prevalence of child marriage.
Even after this embarrassing revelation, many Indians prefer to ignore the reality. A visit to Anita’s Bihar provides testimony to the recorded facts. Dalit bastis of Bhairon Ganj in Bagha like Juda Pakdi, Kadamhawa tola, Manjhariya, Bhainshi and Nadda have traditionally married off their girls at an early age.
Young girls and boys who don’t even understand the meaning of marriage are made to tie the knot, follow every tradition and in the process, and lose their innocence. It is a heart wrenching moment to see vermillion in a little girl’s forehead, loaded with accessories she can’t even bear the burden of, taking ‘saat pheras’ behind an equally young boy with maudis on their heads.
Soni, Meena, Seema and Pratima are not just girls, who before attaining puberty have been married, but also precious lives that trapped in a vicious cycle where, at every step, their physical, mental and reproductive health is compromised.
The reasons behind child marriage are as unacceptable as the trend itself. Paying a higher dowry, ensuring the chastity of women, considering girls as a liability and poor emphasis on girls’ education are some of the excuses ‘unfortunate’ parents of a girl child give while marrying them off early. Weak laws and their poor implementation are also part of the problem.
In its report, Ending Child Marriage — Progress and Prospects, the UN placed India in the sixth position among the 10 countries with the highest prevalence of child marriage. South Asia is home to almost half (42 per cent) of all child brides worldwide, with India alone accounting for one-third of the global total, the report stated.
“In India, about 27 per cent of women aged between 20 and 49 years were married before they turned 15. About 31 per cent of women in that age group were married after age 15 but before they turned 18. The median age of the first marriage among girls is 19 in India”, it added.
This deep-rooted social evil is, for several years now, being fought by a number of Governments and non-Government organisations. A Google search shows a long list of national and international NGOs fighting child marriage in different parts of India. It is due to their constant efforts that the prevalence decreased slightly
Between 2007 and 2008, the percentage of child brides was 42.9, as per the district-level household and facility survey. In over a decade between 1992 and 2006, the percentage of child brides in the age group of 20 to 24 years decreased by 6.8 percentage points — from 54.2 per cent in 1992-1993 to 47.4 per cent in 2005-2006.
It is not only the girl child who bears the consequences of early marriage but the lives of those around them are also impacted. When girls marry young, before their minds and bodies are fully developed, they usually become pregnant before they are ready for parenthood.
Research done by Plan International shows that pregnancy is the number one cause of death among girls aged between 15 and 19 worldwide. It also shows that child marriage reinforces the gendered nature of poverty, with limited education and skills reducing the potential of the girl, her family, her community and her country. Child marriage hinders a girl throughout her adult life and into the next generation.
With India contributing more than 40 per cent to incidences of child marriages in the world, one can only imagine the number of teenage mothers this nation is home to. One in six girls in the age group 15 to 19 years in India is a mother. The percentage of teenage mothers varies from 19.1 per cent in rural areas to 8.7 per cent in urban areas.
Child marriage has been a part of Indian society for several centuries now and has forced millions of girls into the vicious cycle of illiteracy, poverty, weak physical and reproductive health and eventually, untimely deaths. It is high time that the practice of child marriages in India ends.
The malice isn’t State specific; little children across our country are being affected, jeopardising India’s future. The time is right to support our Government and NGOs in spreading awareness towards the cause. Any little help can give back girls like Anita the right to dream.

(The writer is the Editor of ‘Appan Samachar’, a community channel & monthly Chittha run by village women in Muzaffarpur, Bihar)

http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/oped/knot-in-the-age-of-innocence.html