New names for old friends

To kick off a new year, we’ve changed some things around here. As of 1 January 2021, our HCR teams in the UK and Pakistan are operating as ‘Amplifying Voices’. Our Australian team will continue to be known as Health Communication Resources, and we continue to work together as an international family.

The Amplifying Voices teams have got a new name, new logo, new colours, new websites, and new stories! But why the change?

Health Communication Resources (HCR) was founded in 1996 as a health promotion organisation. The WHO defines health promotion as "the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health”. You could say, health promotion is amplifying voices - its what we've always done! The names Health Communication Resources and HCR have a well-established history among Australian public health service providers, and among the aboriginal communities in Western Australia where we work, so in Australia we will continue as Health Communication Resources or HCR.

However, the UK and Pakistan teams work in different contexts and had identified a need for a name that helps people to visualise how media projects help communities bring about changes in wellbeing, peacebuilding and resilience. The name ‘Amplifying Voices’ does paint a picture of communities being equipped to speak out and be heard in order to take the lead in their own development.

Different names, same family

Health Communication Resources (HCR) and Amplifying Voices (AmpVoices) continue to be part of the international HCR family.

HCR and Amplifying Voices continue to pursue our shared vision together as we seek to see communities live life in all its fullness, free from poverty, injustice, and conflict.  

Our vision and values remain unchanged, we continue to be a family sharing a common commitment: we’re taking the same approach in using community-centred media to further our mission.

Whether in Australia or elsewhere, our role is to come alongside communities and listen. It’s then we can empower people to find what media solutions work in their local contexts. We help train partners and community members on how to use tools and strategies to their full potential so that the communities themselves can champion positive social change. This is our approach in every community-centred media project.

Why focus on community-centred media?

A typical community-centred media project brings together community members, service providers, and media organisations to create content. The media content can be anything from a social media video talking about protecting our mental health to an informal chat where a community member shares their story. It’s designed to tackle issues that are raised by the community. This, in turn, gets people talking about their ideas and opinions and helps people hear others’ hopes and concerns. 

Our partners then use trusted communication channels to broadcast or distribute the content, to help them play a key role in mobilising inclusive, community-led initiatives. What’s important is that the community members play a key role in designing and voicing the messages and content.

Health communication happens best by amplifying community voices. Amplifying local voices is a proven, effective way to mobilise local resources for health communication.

What’s next? 

As an international family we are currently working with eight projects, where community-centred media is making a positive impact. Exciting developments are happening in each of them, and we’d love to keep you updated as part of our supporting community! You can subscribe to sign up for our monthly newsletter, or help get more people involved by clicking the share link below. Go and do the same on Amplifying Voices UK and Amplifying Voices Pakistan site.

Thanks for joining us in this new chapter of the HCR International Family.

Media for the children by the children

A couple of weeks ago HCR Pakistan held a competition with boys and girls from the government primary school in a village near Charsadda. The competition got children thinking about sickness and how to prevent it – especially Covid-19.

Typically, during this time of year, children get more sickness. The community health worker told us that children suffer a lot from typhoid, diarrhea, gastro-diseases and tapeworm. Covid-19 adds to the risk, especially after the schools re-opened at the end of summer. The health worker also noticed that families and children were not following the Covid-19 health guidelines.

The community volunteers from HCR’s local partner, New Dawn, decided to revitalise families’ awareness around handwashing and hygiene. So, the created audio slots on social media and the local FM station which primarily addressed the adults. They wondered what the most effective media would be to engage children. We know from experience that media messages are most effective when community members are involved in creating them. After consultation with HCR Pakistan, New Dawn decided to hold a painting competition for primary school age children, to create pictures about the importance of handwashing, especially after using the toilet. It was community-centred media, but not as we know it!

Children in Majukay creating a hygiene poster

In a major first for this community, girls were allowed to participate in the competition alongside boys. The first prize went to one of the boys and the second prize was awarded to a class 4 girl.

A student who got the first prize said, "I did not know how important it was to wash hands for our healthy lives. From now on I will tell my family the importance of handwashing and hygiene.”

Art was previously been considered a low priority for childrens’ education but this looks set to change, as we heard from school staff members:

The school principal said:

“we did not realize how talented our children are.​ Through this painting competition, we also learned a lot. We’ve decided to start a new period in our weekly schedule to promote painting.”

Teacher #1: This was the first time we have experienced such an activity "learning in fun". our students also learned about competition.

Teacher#2: We need more such activities in the future as girls and boys loved it and learned about [Covid-19 hygiene rules].

Competition entries on display

“You have given us courage to speak”

 “You have given us courage to speak and express our views in front of men!”

One female participant’s words express the exciting outcome of a recent HCR Pakistan workshop on creating community-centred radio. Five women and nine men took part in the workshop in a rural village in Pakistan.

At the start of the workshop, the participants said they wanted to raise their voices on behalf of the poor. One woman said she wanted to be a champion for those who are marginalised.

Participant and facilitator at community-centred media workshop, Pakistan, Jan 2019. (HCR Pakistan)

A health worker in the community is already using radio to include marginalised voices in community conversations. He goes around the village speaking to a variety of people, recording their opinions on health and development topics. He and the HCR Pakistan director, Mr Hazeen Latif are eager for the radio to be even more inclusive by building a team of volunteers within the community to help design and produce the programmes too.

The group learned the basic principles of community centred radio, how to make Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and how to interview people for radio. The quality of the practical work was very high, one team’s work reaching what we call ABS – Above Broadcast Standard.

Male participants prepare a PSA incommunity centred media workshop, Pakistan, Jan 2019. (HCR Pakistan)

Yet a big challenge in this traditionally male-dominated culture was how to have men and women participating in the workshop together. Sitting in the same room for a public event is not the norm.

As the practical exercises began, the women’s voices were too quiet to be heard. The women realised that if they wanted to be inclusive activists, they had to overcome their fears of speaking out. As the course continued, they found more confidence. They said later that they began to see the facilitator as a friendly, fatherly figure, making the workshop a safe environment for speaking. The men were impressed at how passionately the women would argue their points publicly.

Confidence grew within the workshop, but the trust that led to this has been growing over several years. Mr Latif and the community health worker have collaborated on the Naway Saher project for about four years, facilitating a variety of community development activities. They have patiently built trust with each other and with the community.

Trust has been essential in arriving at the point where the workshop was possible. Trust was also essential for the workshop to become truly inclusive. Trust gives hope that the new team will be successful in their goal to be champions for the poor and marginalised.

Mr Hazeen Latif and Naway Saher project coordinator, Pakistan, Jan 2019 (HCR Pakistan)

Women have a voice

Day 11 of #16DaysofActivism

By Johnny Fisher and Hazeen Latif

This year the UK celebrated 100 years of women being able to vote. Before that democracy was interpreted to mean “rule by the men” rather than “rule by the people”. This development has been repeated over and over again. Women around the world are be able to participate fully and equally in decision-making at community and national level. Sadly, in many communities, people are unaware of these national developments and the threat of violence is often used to prevent women from speaking out in public conversations. 

In Pakistan women do participate in public life and Pakistan is one of an increasing number of countries to have had a female prime minister. But in some Pakistani communities it would be considered offensive for a woman to engage in influential conversations at community or family level. Women who try to do so face threats of violence and exclusion. 

HCR supports a community-centred radio project in one such community. Community activists have worked together to get training and put community radio programmes on air. However, the participants in the radio work are all men. Women do participate in complementary off-air activities, and one lady, Zakia*, has been running health and hygiene workshops for women and girls. Another older lady in the community has offered her home for Zakia to run vocational groups for women and girls. The older lady said, “We have to do this, whatever the cost to me”.  Inspired by this Zakia also spoke to an HCR associate about getting involved in radio. She realised it could be very dangerous for her as it might invite repercussions from the wider community. But she believes that radio by women and girls, for women and girls would extend the benefits of the workshops to more people. Zakia said to our associate, “Someone must stand up and speak, and I will do it”. 

HCR is supporting women who want to engage in public life through radio. We are also speaking up for the many women whose voices are not heard because they have been intimidated into silence by the threat of violence.

*Not her real name

in some Pakistani communities it would be considered offensive for a woman to engage in influential conversations at community or family level.

She is a mother, when she herself is still a child

Day 6 of #16DaysofActivism

By Stephanie Mooney

Each year, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18 (Girls not Brides). Early marriage violates a girl’s rights to health, education and opportunities in the workplace. It can often expose girls to violence throughout their lives and trap them in poverty. This is an issue that cuts across countries, cultures and religions. 

Pakistan continues to rank near the bottom of the gender inequality index, with Pakistani women facing terrible inequality in access to health care, education and work. One of the solutions to assisting girls to escape discriminatory customary practices like early child marriage is providing education and skill building opportunities.

HCR faces these issues in some of the communities in which we work. Recently, in a village in Pakistan, an HCR associate was confronted with child marriage at a women’s empowerment session. A girl, aged 15, had an eighteen-month-old baby and was married to a 45-year-old man. She is a mother, when she herself is still a child. In a culture that tends to be patriarchal, the birth of a son is celebrated as boys are considered assets who will provide support for ageing parents, whereas a daughter is often considered a liability. This traditional culture, along with poverty, reinforces practices like early child marriages.

HCR has made gender a major priority in all its projects. We believe that human rights are essential to the full development of individuals and communities, and that gender equality is a basic human right. In Pakistan we use media to continue to work towards the education of girls and women and target many of the underlying issues that keep them in a cycle of poverty.    

Early marriage violates a girl’s rights to health, education and opportunities in the workplace

A ‘New Dawn’ for Volleyball in Pakistan

By Hazeen Latif

When it comes to community empowerment, service providers often look at what resources and strengths THEY have and what THEY can do to meet community needs.  But it is too easy to overlook what the community already has, to meet its own needs, even among poor and marginalised communities.  As a core value of HCR, whenever we work with communities we always begin by listening to them and helping them to listen to each other, exploring what assets and strengths they already have, before we begin to explore what things need to be improved (see blog “It’s a ting thing”).

In our work among village communities in Pakistan’s KPK province, for example, it would have been far too easy to focus on the desperation felt by many young people, which has often resulted in frustration, substance abuse and even gang violence.  But as we began our listening activities, we heard stories of youngsters who really wanted to do something meaningful with their lives, but didn’t know how.  We also  found tremendous energy, talent and enthusiasm for sports as well as plenty of open ground to organize sporting activities such as cricket competitions.  

With HCR’s help, the young people recently came together to register a community-based organization calling themselves, “New Dawn Community Services Group” and one of their first activities has been to set up a volleyball court on some unused open ground. 

A “New Dawn” for volleyball in a village in KPK Province, Pakistan

“New Dawn” Volleyball has now become an important feature of village life for both young and old alike as some gather to play and others to watch.  As one father told his son as he came in starving, after a long game of volleyball: “It is a miracle that you are home early today”. 

Among other community support activities, one of New Dawn’s next goals is to bring neighbouring communities together to play a cricket tournament, something we first tried successfully in 2015. 

Besides taking young people off the streets and giving them healthy activity to do, sport really does bring people together, but best of all, it’s completely run by the community and for the community. And it all started with a simple act of listening!

A mother, but still a child

Early marriage is a major obstacle for girls in acquiring education and has many physical, social and psychological implications. The girls are forced into this cycle of poverty, inequality and illiteracy.

One of the solutions to assist girls to escape discriminatory customary practices like early child marriage is providing education and skill building opportunities. Education is the most valuable asset and ultimately empowers the girls to reach their fullest potential.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which define global development include target 5.3 ‘Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilations’ (under Goal 5 ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’).

HCR faces these issues in some of the communities in which we work. Recently, in a village in Pakistan, an HCR associate was confronted with child marriage at a women’s empowerment session. A girl, aged 15, had an eighteen month old baby and was married to a 45 year old man. She is a mother, when she herself is still a child. In a culture that tends to be patriarchal, the birth of a son is celebrated as boys are considered assets who will provide support for ageing parents, whereas a daughter is often considered a liability. This traditional culture, along with poverty, reinforces practices like early child marriages.

At HCR we continue to work towards the education of girls and women all over the world and target many of the underlying issues that keep them in a cycle of poverty.  

'Who will marry you?'

By Hazeen Latif

Sahib Gul is 25 years of age and has never been able to walk. He uses his arms to go places in the community. The ground is covered with dust, stones, glass and rubbish. Sahib Gul’s hands get dirty, cut and blistered. He never thought he would be respected in the community. Almost every day he hears humiliating remarks from the community, even from relatives. Street kids taunt and tease him about his short stature.

His uncles and parents comment, “Who will marry you, your clothes and hands are always filthy, and how will you stand or walk with your wife”. These words have always echoed in Sahib Gul’s mind, that he is not worthy of a family life.

However, through all this, he has remained hopeful that someday he will hold his head high and have a family. This is what he shared with me when I met him a year ago.

Sahib Gul in 2016

A year on and things have changed. Recently HCR gifted Sahib Gul a wheelchair.

Sahib Gul's response:

‘I am so much more confident sitting in this wheelchair. I feel I have got my own feet I am no longer on the ground. To me it's not a wheelchair but it’s a journey from being dependent to independent. Through this wheelchair I can earn, contribute financially for my family, and will have a beautiful wife of my dreams. Now, no one can say, “who will marry you?”’

Sahib Gul in June 2017, after receiving his wheelchair

Relationships built on trust

By Hazeen Latif

Sitting in a “hujra” (a room in the house for meetings and discussions) my host’s uncle asked me, “What is your interest in coming to our village (Swabi, KPK)?”  This question is rarely asked of anyone when it comes to hospitality in KPK region, a province to north of Pakistan.

Before any kind of reply from me, my friend’s (the host) uncle changed the tone and said, “Oh, you must not misunderstand me. It rarely happens that people come to visit us in this hot weather, with no facility of any kind in the village, and having to sit on the ground with us. Please do not take this the wrong way as we are honored by your presence.” This dialogue gave me an opportunity to share how I felt in their midst. It was through my friend that I had been invited to visit the community and asked to help the community become healthy and prosperous. I told them that my visit to the community was the fulfilment of a promise to my friend; no more than that.

In the hujra (house), a council member from government was present who was elected to the union council for that region comprising of eight villages of which one was the village where I was sitting. All the men agreed to develop a CBO (community based organisation) for the villages. They all happily decided on the name which is Khush-hali meaning prosperity. Amazingly, they all agreed on the name. With my guidance, they identified the issues of the community for the first time and even proposed some solutions.  Major issues which came up in our discussion were education for all, but mostly for girls, and health issues as there is only one BHU (basic health unit) operational in the region for over ten thousand adults in the union council. Other issues discussed were youth being neglected, hygiene and poor infrastructure. The men asked me to develop a program and to proceed in developing Khush-hali by establishing a proper legal frame work. The meeting ended with a delicious lunch we all shared by eating from the one dish.     

Got my confidence back!

On 26th February, Hazeen Latif, Director of HCR in Pakistan visited Charsadda to present a refresher course for a previous radio group who were trained in 2014. The meeting was held at the residence of Asad Ullah, an active community member and a certificate holder of the HCR Radio Skills Training Workshop.

The content of the refresher course covered the strengths and weaknesses of radio, types of microphone, how to use the microphone, and target the audience. The participants found the training valuable, and in the words of Asad Ullah, “this refresher course has helped me get my confidence back in using the microphone and availing myself of every opportunity as host of a program on my local FM station. Thanks so much to HCR for their follow up and support."

Hazeen as he facilitates the refresher course

Disaster Response Radio TRAINING IN Pakistan

Photo courtesy of First Response Radio

Following the Asia Tsunami and numerous earthquakes in Pakistan, radio broadcasters have come to see the need for a fast, disaster-response radio plan to assist in recovery from a disaster.  Based on these experiences, HCR worked with broadcasters to develop the programme now used by the First Response Radio Network (FRR) which includes training in the needed equipment, a programming system based on the listeners' need for critical information and a workshop to teach radio journalists, relief workers and government personnel how to put these into use in the field.  Since 2007 over 12 workshops have been held across the Philippines, India, Nepal and Indonesia.

In collaboration with First Response Radio, a 5-day workshop and 3-day field trial will be held in Pakistan from 21st to 29th March, 2017.   For more information to be a participant or observer, please contact hazeen@h-c-r.org.