Jahan Ara is a feminist social worker, a volunteer teacher and a Community Correspondent for our KashmirUnheard team. A concerned resident of her area, she works on the social issues that exist in Padgampora, a village in Awantipora Tehsil in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir which is the reason she joined Video Volunteers. She has reported on the non-functionality of her village panchayat and problems in infrastructure,  non-availability of staff in the education sector which need to be resolved. Besides bringing forth the difficulty that the new generation is going through like getting injured during clashes, she casts the spotlight on the innovation and achievement of the youth in her area.

Living in a patriarchal society like Kashmir, Jahan Ara highlights the oppression and atrocities on women. “I want women to become independent and empowered,” she says. One story she particularly recalls is a brutal case of domestic violence she reported from Shopian. “This case shook me to the core.  Her condition was extremely bad. I will always remember that one case out of all that I have covered.”

She started interning with Prabhat (Society of Child Development) while she was still pursuing her Master’s in Social Work from the Institute for Education Leadership (IEL), Dehradun. Jahan Ara then completed her B.Ed and joined an orphanage in Awantipora where she taught for a year as a volunteer. Then she joined a school in her village which is run by the Falai Aam Trust. She has now been a teacher at the Mount View Public School for two years.

She left her job and joined Video Volunteers through which she learnt the art of storytelling and working on the ground, with her people. “Video Volunteers gave me the platform to embolden myself and confidently put forth the problems of my society,” she says.