Nicaraguan youths tell us their story through participatory video
Gian Betancourt(Freelance Writer)
"Deacachimba": a common term in Nicaragua that refers to something good, cool, or "chevere" as we would say in Colombia. This is the word used by the participants to describe the participatory video workshop in their community.
Featured by the organization Insightshare, participatory video is a “Participatory Rural Appraisal research tool that bridges worlds, unlocks doors and involves the beneficiaries in each phase of the research project”. This project was supported by the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the CGIAR Research Programs on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics (Humidtropics) and was conducted under the supervision of Shadi Azadegan and Manon Koningstein.
Through participatory video 15 young farmers were able to send their message on conservation to the world. Photo: Gian Betancourt
The title given to the final video was: "La Danta protecting nature". La Danta is the name of the community where these young people live. Located in the north of Nicaragua and 16km from the border with Honduras, this region was the site chosen to develop this activity. During the workshop fifteen participants (eight women and seven men) learned to use camcorders, interview techniques and how to structure a video. After this, they applied the techniques learnt in developing their own video, with the means to express and publicize their community and the importance of protecting the environment, nature and the ecosystem in their community.
They were able to show that the La Danta community is a region unlike the other ones as it has a more pleasant climate. Furthermore its inhabitants have been concerned to preserve the local fauna and flora, amongst others thanks to the new tools discussed during the successful Quesungual project in the area.
Despite this, the inhabitants of the La Danta community have been affected by the negative consequences of the global climate change and through this video they want to explain the world their conservation techniques. Furthermore they want to spread out the message given by their interviewees (teachers, community mothers, farmers and peasants of the area of Somotillo) to preserve the environment and plead to other communities to adopt the practices proposed in the video.
We leave you with a photographic summary of the workshop and the final video made by this group of enthusiastic young farmers.
See the movie 'La Danta Protecting Nature'.
In a second video, CIAT's researchers explain the methodology used.
Photo gallery:
Gian Betancourt is a freelance photographer and communications assistant, externally hired by CIAT for this project.
Shadi Azadegan is a Communications specialist working with Forages. She is based at CIAT Nicaragua.
Manon Koningstein is a research associate Gender & Climate Change; and a specialist in Communications Science and Techniques for CCAFS and CIAT, based in Cali, Colombia.
