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Jharkhand’s Hunger Tales “A June 2012 video on Videovolunteers, filmed by a community correspondent, suggests that people don’t get food grains every month at the local PDS shop and certainly not their full quota of 35 kilos. Most get only about 30 kilos. Meanwhile, a block official explained that about five kilos might have been shaved off to account for the weight of the jute sack.”
The Revolution Will be Vlogged “only 10 percent of the country’s population — 120 million, almost exclusively urban — have Internet access. This kind of skewed information access is what prompted two innovators, Stalin K and Jessica Mayberry, to find a way for rural, remote voices to be heard by the mainstream.
Shoe Comes Right back to the Foot “The campaign was accompanied by a video that actually showed a few of them removing their slippers as they crossed the dwellings of the sawarna community. In no time, the plea gathered close to 5,000 signatures… A click in the right direction has brought national attention to a small village . There are more that could benefit from getting caught in the web.”
Flesh and Bone “Go look at some videos made by community members at the Video Volunteers website… Perhaps you’ve had your fill of bad news. But if you don’t look, you deny yourself a full portrait of India.”
Cause, Camera, Action! “We travel extensively. We reach out to human rights activist, who introduce us to social movements in urban and rural parts of the country.”
India’s Poorest Turn Video Volunteers to Fill News Gap. “The service is among various projects that have sprung up in recent years harnessing technology to give a voice to hundreds of millions of marginalised Indians who feel ignored by the media and the political class.”
Unheard. Unseen. Untouched. “M Mani, a 25-year-old Dalit, has worked with VV in Chennai for two years as a community correspondent for their programme called India Unheard, which uploads one video daily from correspondents across the country. His mother does domestic work in a Brahmin house. He says, “Even though they were kind to me, they insisted we use separate utensils to eat and drink water from.”
Now Showing: Camcorder Tales““I was always interested in filmmaking but didn’t know where to start,” he (Amol Lalzare) says. Help came in the form of a Goa-based organisation called Video Volunteers. Through their ‘Community Correspondent’ programme, they provided him with film-making equipment and know-how.”
Now Showing: Camcorder Tales““I was always interested in filmmaking but didn’t know where to start,” he (Amol Lalzare) says. Help came in the form of a Goa-based organisation called Video Volunteers. Through their ‘Community Correspondent’ programme, they provided him with film-making equipment and know-how.”
Voicing Through Video – Navhind Times “Initiated by Stalin K and Jessica Mayberry, VV, which is now based in Baga, comes up with locally produced media to stimulate dialog and to find solutions to endemic problems.
Under VV they recently started the India Unheard programme …This new initiative constitutes of a network of community correspondents, trained to tell unique stories, stories about their own communities, stories otherwise left untold”.
Times Of India, Feb 27,2011

They are community journalists of the ‘India Unheard’ campaign; change-makers from some of India’s most remote districts and marginalized communities, who use their cameras to shout from the rooftops the ills that plague their world…The awards ceremony is part of a longer training workshop, where these ‘community correspondents’ sharpen their skills and are helped to master their craft.
Oheraldo, February 24,2011“Film Actor Abhay Deol is in Goa on Thursday, Feb 24 for a film awards ceremony– but these are film awards with a twist. He is giving out prizes to community filmmakers from slums and villages around India trained by Video Volunteers, a media organization for which Mr. Deol serves as Ambassador.”
Navhind Times, March 2, 2011
“…actor Abhay Deol was in Goa recently, neither to shoot a film nor just to chill out…He was here for a social cause, to support Video Volunteers, an organization that helps to empower marginalized communities and individuals by teaching them to use a video camera and fight for their cause.”
The Hindu, January 2011: The View from Within
A Kodak video camera and a few thousand stories from the grassroots may seem like an odd combination in a world inhabited by the trappings of mainstream news and TRPs. But, Jessica Mayberry and her team of Video Volunteers have done just that — they armed locals with a video camera and made journalists out of day labourers, rickshaw drivers, and women from an India Unheard.
Times Of India, January 2011: Agents of Change – A Grassroots Reuters
“…grassroots stories of community empowerment are documented every day at Video Volunteers, a media organisation that strives to equip disadvantaged communities with critical skills.’
Fast Company, October 2010: Innovation Agents – Jessica Mayberry, Founder of Video Volunteers“Founded in 2003, well before hyperlocal news became a buzzword as the pillars of traditional media crumbled, Video Volunteers took aim at the widening gap between rich and poor caused by technology…Video Volunteers has trained 150 community producers so far, most of whom are working full time to produce short “video magazines” that have already been seen by more than 200,000 people.”
Deccan Herald,  September 2010: IndiaUnheard – Giving Voice to the Voiceless Grassroots “Video Volunteers (VVs) is encouraging the world’s poorest citizens to participate in the community media movement to right injustices… By providing disadvantaged communities with journalistic and technology skills through its ‘community video unit’ project, it has helped to set up various media production companies that are financially self-sustaining and locally owned and controlled.”
Indian Express Femina, June 2010: Might of the Movies“While volunteering with an NGO in India, Jessica realised that the underprivileged and marginalised communities lacked an authentic voice…”
Indian Express Indian Express, May 2010: Ear to the Ground – Community Correspondents Report on Various Issues“Community Correspondents report on various issues…”
Oman Tribune Oman Tribune, May 2010: Voice of the poor gets a global platform“Army of rural ‘journos’ can trigger a news revolution in India…”
Deccan Chronicle Deccan Chronicle, May 2010: NGO’s online initiative gives voice to the poor“…the NGO launched IndiaUnheard, a nation-wide community-based news agency dedicated to help the country’s most marginalised communities tell their own news…”
Ahmedabad Mirror Ahmedabad Mirror, March 2010: “Tauba tera Jalwa”“Abhay, the brand ambassador of Video Volunteers visited Dalit Shakti Kendra at Nani Devti village to interact with the first batch of community correspondents and exchanged ideas on how to use news videos as a tool to bring about change….”
Business Standard Business Standard, March 2010: “Abhay Deol to Launch ‘IndiaUnheard’ Community News Services“An ambassador of Ahmedabad-based NGO Video Volunteers, film actor Abhay Deol will launch India Unheard, a Community News Service…”
Hindustan Times Hindustan Times, January 2010: Slum dwellers use TV to bring about change“Every six weeks they create a video on a subject of interest for the community…”
Times of India, January 2010: In Stalingrad Lennon Rules“His address is as impossible as his mission. To meet Stalin K., you have to tramp through a small jungle and huff up several steep steps to reach his den on an invisible hill, off the beach sprawl of Baga in Goa…”
MidDay MidDay, January 2010: “Imtiaz Ali and Abhay Deol at video volunteers event”Pictures of actor Abhay Deol who became the brand ambassador for video volunteers.
Hindustan Times Hindustan Times, February 2010: “Change starts now with Abhay Deol”“Things just happened. “I met Jessica (of Video Volunteers) at a conference in Mysore. Both of us were speakers there; I was to talk on the power of stories. Jessica explained the concept of Video Volunteers, post the conference and I found that to be a very challenging task,” says Abhay…”
Navhind Times, August 2009: Community Video Camp to be held in Goa“Goa will witness the first ever community video camp where champions and makers of community video will come together for the first time.”
Times of India, August 2009: Activism in Goa to get boost through community video“What happens when the poorest one billion people in the world have their own media industry?…”
Times of India Times of India, May 2008: 4 out of 4 international film awards go to Gujarat“A boy and girl look at each other from across the classroom, smile and the communal boundaries separating them melt away. This two minute film without dialogues, shot on a mobile phone, touched thousands of hearts across the world recently.”
Express India Express India, May  2008: 22-year-old’s mobile film chosen for Pangea Day“Noor’s film, shot through a Nokia N 95 mobile phone, was chosen from over 2,500 films and telecast across the world on Saturday, as part of the Pangea Day film festival that connects amateur filmmakers and audiences across the globe.”
Pune Newsline Pune Newsline, July 2007: Caste Away“With his powerful documentary on the genesis and growth of caste system in India, Stalin K provokes you to ponder over your own attitudes…”
IBN Live features Video Volunteers CNN-IBN, January 2007: Mumbai’s Slum Youth Says Cut It“Who says our youth is indifferent? A group of five youngsters living in the slums of Mumbai have proven otherwise. They have filmed a video magazine that aims to push a Mumbaikar to the polling booth on February 1. (ApnaTV, a Community Video Unit in collaboration with the NGO Akshara)”
Chronicle of Philanthropy, May 2006: The Face of Philanthropy: Picturing Progress“In some of India’s poorest villages, videos examining subjects that are often taboo—child brides, HIV, hunger, land rights, or the status of the country’s dalit, or “untouchable” caste—are drawing big crowds….”
Ode Magazine, June 2006: Barefoot Filmmakers“How often do you see women from India hosting documentaries? That’s the mission of a new organization—to give poor and forgotten people the opportunity to tell their stories to the world and, more important, to themselves…”
Jessica Mayberry on Wisconsin Public Radio Program “Here on Earth”, October 2005: Video Volunteerism“In parts of the world where literacy rates are low, an organization called Video Volunteers is helping people tell their stories to the world through video production. This hour on Here on Earth, join Jean Feraca for a conversation with Jessica Mayberry, founder of Video Volunteers.”
Clamor Magazine, October 2005: Ready. Aim. Shoot!  Learning Video for Social Change in Gujarat, India“…Apart from the heat, I would normally find this type of situation exhilarating. But, right now, I’m disturbed by the awkward quiet of my fellow passengers. After about 20 minutes, I finally break the silence. “So, what did he say?”…”

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