Shornokishoree : Entertainment Education and trans media communication for development
It was 8:30 A.M., March 5, 2017. We were on the way of Amari Dhaka, Gulsan. Till then nobody knew how the next four days are going to be. Would they be the most boring days of our life or would they be the most amazing days that their memory will last in our mind throughout the life?
Reaching the 14th floor of Amari Dhaka, we got all the answers. We have come to attend Entertainment Education and Trans Media Communication for Development Workshop organized by UNICEF. The media partner was Asiatic. The aim of this workshop was to develop a TV program consisting 26 episodes for the adolescents which will not only entertain them but also make them conscious about various health issues social problems, their complexes and their rights.
Moreover it would change the perception of the society towards the adolescents and various problems related with them such as child marriage, immature motherhood, eve teasing etc.At the end of the workshop, we found ourselves successful in this regard. Besides, as one of the youngest members of this workshop, gained some wonderful experiences.
A team consisting 3 members: Shornokishoree Joypurhat Shatabdi Roy (myself), Shornokishoree Palashbari Rounak Tabassum Suty and Farzana Heaven attended the workshop representing Shornokishoree Network Foundation. We were so warmly welcomed that we could not believe if it was reality or a dream. And instantly we understood that the title for the following days could be nothing other than “ Awesome!”.
The workshop was enriched by a team of wonderful people from different localities, of different ages and with different talents. But there was one common thing and it was that they loved to dream. They dream of a society which will be safe for every adolescent, in fact for every creature.
There were four adolescent members in the workshop including us and at every moment we felt us the most important ones. Actually there was another adolescent who was the life of the workshop; he was Sean Southey, the CEO of PCI Media Impact. I am not going to talk about his biological age, but after observing his passion and spirit, he can called nothing but an adolescent, an ambassador of youth.
The workshop got started. Firstly the participants introduced themselves and their organizations. Then we come to know the organizers and their plans for the workshop. After some time, a quiz had started. Though till then there was not presented any observatory with a lot of difficult figures or boring speeches of the expert, we have already learned about the development of human brain. In fact we have already acquired the basic knowledge for making an E-E drama. Both Shornokishorees got one prize and from the first day started showing their capability.
On the same day, a good example for an Entertainment Education Drama was presented. We were divided into four teams and each team was asked to perform a drama. 2 of the dramas will present the consequence of the success of SDGs, and the rest will present the consequence of the failure. In a very short time, the teams presented 4 great dramas. Actually then it was clear that the workshop was going to be greatly successful.
On the following days, we worked on various topics. Firstly we decided the target audience and thought about their tastes. Then the 4 teams worked separately on the four topics: Child marriage, Education, Health,Nutrition and hygiene for the adolescents and Safety and security of the adolescents. Then the causes, effects, expectations and required steps were presented as digital contents. The presentation was given by the adolescent member of each team. It was a great experience for us. We got much pleasure for doing this and everybody highly appreciated us.
Then the most interesting task was started. It was making the characters. This time the writers of the Asiatic leaded every team. As there ware various kinds of people, for example: workers of various NGOs, workers of BRAC, UNFPA members and people from the root of the society. The created every character from the different experiences of their life and so we got some wonderful characters. The characters created by the four teams were presented before all.
The process of presentation was also very interesting. We presented the links between the characters by different stickers, e.g. a smily for friendship, an anchor for family members and a thunder for conflict. At last we chose the final characters, whom we are going to watch on our TV set.
We hope this project will also be successful like another revolutionary project of UNICEF, the “Mina” films. And personally, I want to work again with those wonderful people, who are trying to achieve the same thing in different ways, and that greatly desired thing is nothing other than a beautiful world for the adolescents, who are the only hope and aspiration of the nation.
Written by: Shatabdi Roy
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