Balochistan Point Voice of Nation
Mariyam Suleman Baloch
Gwadar – Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Alumna Gwadar celebrated World literacy day workshop by designing a workshop for 20 female members of Gwadar Youth Forum (GYF).
One day long extensive workshop was organized by YES Alumna Gwadar, iEARN Pakistan and a few other volunteers.
“I never thought that I would learn so much in one day and that too in Gwadar,” Said a member of GYF after participating in the workshop.
Throughout the workshop the trainer emphasized on four major ways to make a difference and do something innovative for the society they live in. With different activities the participants learned about citizen journalism, photo journalism, Blogging and got some tips on journalistic writing with hands on practice.
The alumna included some fun activities and shared videos of women who used tech-tools to make a difference in the world. By the end of the workshop, the participants were divided into four groups; Citizen Journalists, Photo Journalists, Journalistic Writers/bloggers and innovators.
Participants of the workshop
The group “citizen Journalists” got three news pieces ready and shared them with the whole group via different social media forums.
The group “Photo Journalists” went out with their task and then came back with some pictures. With their return they edited and wrote some relating captions for the pictures before posting them.
The third group “Journalistic Writers/Bloggers” got a picture of protesting citizens and their task was to figure out what actually was going on. They came up with a report to go with the picture.
The last group “Innovators” had the most interesting task. They were encouraged to think about something unique that would also help their communities socially and economically. The group came up with different ideas but the one they presented, was to create a website “www.voiceofcitizens.com”. Their idea was to create a platform where the government and the citizens would get an opportunity to express their views and raise different social issues.
While talking about applying their learning to actually bringing a change, the participants discussed different issues and challenges they might face in the male dominant society where getting involved with activities may also be prohibited for girls.
“I loved the session on photo journalism and would like work on it after this workshop. I know I will be discouraged at time but I think that doesn’t matter as far as I know I’m doing the right thing for my community,” shared a participant during the discussion.
The workshop was enjoyed by the participants and YES Alumni Network was appreciated for all the efforts. The participants considered it as a valuable learning experience and seemed excited for the follow up activities that includes ongoing blog posts by the participants.
Staff report
Published in The Balochistan Point on September 21, 2015
