With the objective of building the awareness raising capacity of key community members, the training covered basic elements of journalism, radio interviewing and editing, so trainees may contribute directly to Van Hung Radio, one of the accessible sources of information in Van Hung.
MCD’s sustainable livelihood campaign was initiated in 2009 in response to increasing poverty levels over the last decade, largely caused by the depletion of wild fish stocks, and unsustainable aquaculture farming where many fishers lost shrimp and lobster stocks to disease.
The 8 key community members selected to take part in the training represented a broad cross-section of the Van Hung community, including representatives from the Youth Union, Women’s Union, government, and tourism and environment groups.
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Interview role-play conducted with Le Thi Thanh Huyen (Women's Union) and Vo Cao (Village leader)
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A strong practical focus was maintained throughout the 3 days, with creative and politically sensitive ideas being discussed at length. In groups, trainees brainstormed inclusively, created interviews from scratch and conducted interview role-plays with immense flair.
Adding digital equipment to the equation initially baffled a few older members of the group. Younger trainees with more previous exposure to digital equipment transformed into patient teachers, building the confidence of older members until all were capable of recording and editing an interview on their own.
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Miss Thuy Hai Trang (translator) and Nina (MCD officer) explaining digital recorder to Vo Cao (village leader) and Nguyen Cuong (Tourism Officer)
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Discussions would be halted for fruit break, and trainees would pass around the guitar, singing original compositions about Trao Reef and love. The warmth and confidence flowing from everyone during these sessions was overwhelming, despite the immediate barriers in communication between trainees and trainer.
Equipped with their new skills, the Van Hung journalist team ventured out into the community to record the words of selected interviewees. These interviews will become the first digitally recorded interviews to be broadcast on Van Hung Radio.
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| Editing the final interviews |
A special thanks to Catherine Boundy and all those in Australia who donated funds for the translator and digital recorder. Your generosity has provided an ongoing contribution to environmental conservation and sustainable livelihood education in Van Hung.
Bronwyn Cumbo