Dalia, a Croatian student studying at Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication in Pune, was one of the 8 volunteers who got a scholarship to attend the camp in exchange for volunteering. She blogs about her experiences and her interview with our director Stalin K.

All I can say is - I'm inspired!

My perception of film making has been turned inside out. Meeting people who use the camera to reach out to their community, make it aware and mobilize it for a change, was a great experience. The simplicity with which they address issues in their movies is beautiful. You cannot stay indifferent. After seeing it you have no choice but to care.

I was lucky to get this chance to experiment, learn and interact with people who change India on the grassroots level, and they use video to do it.

The interaction during workshops was strong in content and very encouraging. The creative camera workshop has helped me look at the same things differently. It reminded me of a shop in McLeod Gunj which carries the title 'Same, same, but different'. The reality is that there is almost no story left untold; the way you tell it is what makes the difference. Experimenting with wacky camera angles and camera positions was an exciting and quite challenging exercise. From now on I'll surely remember to reinvent each shot, and film it in a new and crazy way.

It was interesting to see people who have never used the internet before explore the possibilities of digital activism. The trainer, Mary Joyce, managed to make them recognize the power of social networks, blogs and mobile activism. I think the crucial point of the workshop was understanding the international audience, and learning how to create messages that will have an impact all over the world. Making people connect to a problem they have never personally faced is not an easy task. The workshop has given solid and clear pointers on how to achieve that.

I take my hat off to all the people who made this Camp possible, and who taught people from small communities how to use video to voice their problems. It's amazing to see the impact they had on their communities. It made me realize that, yes, the world is in a mess, but there's a lot we can do about it. Dalia Herceg, international student at Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune

Creative Camera Workshop - Interview with Stalin K. Stalin is a media and human rights activist, who currently leads Video Volunteers. During the camp he took up the task of making participants look through the camera in a way they've never done before. The goal Creative Camera workshop was to make people reinvent the way they look at the world. Encourage them to be creative and unique in their visual story telling. Q: This was the first CV Camp, what are your impressions and feedback from participants? A: We are very pleased with the turnout, and the fact that we successfully pulled out so many parallel events. The camp has gathered a large number of participants beyond the CV units. We had organizations wanting to explore community video, students looking at it as a prospective carrier options. The overall feedback from participants was positive; it's a strong motivation for us to make this camp happen again next year.

Q: You facilitated the Creative Camera workshop, are you satisfied with the outcome? A: A large number of people shifted to the workshop on the first day. The individual interaction was limited because the group became so big. I would have been happier working with a smaller group of maximum 20 people. But I'm still happy with the outcome. Some participants have really started looking through the camera in a different way. It was interesting to see the creativity of handling the camera drop, as soon as they were given the task to shoot a story. Their focus shifted to storytelling, and the creativity in camera angles and positions went to a toss. I'm glad that happened. They became conscious of it, and through practice will overcome it eventually.

Q: Many of the participants were CVU producers, who were already trained with video volunteers, what was the benefit of this camp to them? A: During every training two things happen. During the camp the CVU's listened to new people, with new ideas, and were exposed to new styles of teaching. Many of them have unlearned and relearned things during the workshops. This camp made them question their knowledge and improve on it. The other important aspect of the camp was the possibility to network; talk to people who do the same work, but in other parts of India. Many of the CVU's have never met before; this way they got an opportunity to exchange experiences and ideas.

Q: What were your objectives for this camp, and have you achieved them? A: The camp is going good. We are achieving the goal of giving the participants a new set of skills. We make them do things they've never done before. The interaction between the organized CVU's and those who still work in an erratic manner has been a really important part of the camp. Now that they know each other they can learn from each other and progress faster. The camp has also spurred interest amongst NGO's to start of their units and use video as a medium for change.

Q: Do you have any plans of organizing another camp in the future? A: I'm in no doubt that we will meet again. The design of the next camp is still to come about, but we will meet, and in a larger number for sure.