Stories of Impact

One of the primary missions of each Community Video Unit is to encourage local people to take action on the issues presented in the videos, which, in turn, would bring in a change.

In most cases, a single video goes way beyond changing the status quo in one village and sparks a chain of impacts. For example, when one village community took action to demand access to safe water in Surendranagar district of Gujarat after a film screening, several others followed. This finally led to provision of water in over a dozen villages.

The CVU produces impact on four levels:

  • It encourages governments and authorities to take action
  • It encourages local people to take action
  • It expands the scale and reach of social programs
  • It transforms the Community Producers into community leaders

Here are some of many powerful impacts that have taken place in communities as a result of CVU films.

Water

  • The government of Gujarat re-opened a water treatment plant and brought clean water to 3000 people after the producers exposed a dangerously high level of flourosis. The local community also agreed to invest in the treatment plant
  • Water supply increased in two Mumbai slum areas after screenings of a film on water, with the government promising to start providing water 24 hours a day in one area

Health/Sanitation

  • About 1200 people in a village in Surendranagar district got toilettes after villagers were informed it was their right to have proper sanitation
  • Slum dwellers in Mumbai, after watching a film on Right To Information act (RTI) filed an RTI to find about the details of budget spent on garbage clearance. The RTI resulted in quick clearance of the garbage and clogged drains

Government & Infrastructure

  • The local government repaired the only road connecting several villages within days of producers filming it and exposing it on camera, and allocated Rs. 300,000 for long-term road repair in the area
  • The government brought electricity to two villages after local people learned it was their right and organized a rally outside of the government office

Employment

  • 150% increase in applications for a job-training program for youth
  • 700 workers got 100 days of work under NREGA rural employment scheme after CVU producers shot a film on them and villagers produced the film to the district collector

Community

  • Upper caste people have started to come forward to ask a Dalit (formerly ‘Untouchable’) organization for their assistance for the first time ever because the CVU is succeeding in projecting unity between the two communities
  • Hindus and Muslims came together in one area for the first time since the riots, to watch a film on communal harmony, and wished each other, ending fear in the minds of  community members

Finance

  • People successfully accessed government loans after learning about the opportunities in the Video Magazines
  • Local villagers are now demanding that the local moneylender charge them the proper rates

Education

  • Children of migrant workers across 12 villages received migration card which would stop their children from dropping out of school.

Land

  • 750 villagers filed reports of land rights violations with NGO staff in response to a film made for the NGO’s land campaign, significantly increasing the likelihood that those villages will become part of the government’s land reallocation program