Kolkata Sanved Collaboration
We're delighted to announce that our collaboration with Kolkata Sanved is still in development. Our vision is to work together, using video and dance, drawing together our experience and learning from each others' skills.

The latest news on this project is that Saddlers Wells hope to fund Sohini (founder of Kolkata Sanved) to come over in March. We'd like to build some shared work into her time here and are looking for ways of making that possible.

We're also keen to make Sohini's time in London as fruitful as possible, so if you're interested in meeting with her or working with her during this period, please get in touch.

Stand With Us Update
At the beginning of the year we were working with child domestic workers in India, Togo and Peru. They made a video for the International Labour Organisation who are developing a new convention on domestic work - but haven't included anything about young domestic workers.
Fiamma, Eyelyn, Komi, Foulera and Sajatha have been at the International Labour Convention in Geneva - find out how they got on and watch their video

Creating New Futures

In Peterborough there was rising tension between the host community and newly settled refugees and asylum seekers. We were brought in to work with young people from both communities to build communication and understanding.

On the focUS project the two groups worked separately at first, with each group producing films about their experiences in the city. These films acted as the first point of contact between them, providing an insight into each other’s lives. Watching the films allowed sensitive questions and controversial views to be aired and discussed in a safe environment before the groups met.

The film they went on to make as a single group ‘premiered’, alongside their other films, at the Town Hall allowing friends, family and what we call ‘stake holders’ (those working in the community - youth service, social services, housing, health, refugee organisations, local education) to attend. As a result we’ve had requests for the films to be shown in other settings: schools; youth groups and even open-air screenings in public spaces.

‘You learn, and at the same time contribute to others. They’re learning from you and you’re learning from them. We’re all helpful to each other. It’s like a body – all the parts of a body are very important so if one of it is affected, the whole body is affected.’ Faith, 17 years old

Transformation Project for Trafficked Women

We have recently been working on a project with women who have been trafficked into forced prostitution. The project had a transforming impact on the women involved:

"Usually I feel really low when I talk about these things, but today I feel good about having shared them. We're sharing things with people who understand us and it feels different".

"It has boosted my trust, I had problem trusting people, this has changed my perspective."

"I learned more love. Loving people and loving yourself. No matter what you do, you learn to love yourself."

The women produced a DVD guide for new women arriving at the POPPY Project (who provide key services for trafficked women). They also produced a training DVD for the Metropolitan Police Service.

We worked in partnership with the Metropolitan Police's Department of Human Trafficking to incorporate the training DVD into Police training at a national level. As a result of the women's suggestions in the DVD, the Met have revised their interview protocol for victims of trafficking.

The project was funded by Comic Relief and run in partnership with Anti-Slavery International and the POPPY Project.

Messages From Madagascar

"I'm really eager: it's something that my ancestors have never touched, so now at this point in time we, their grandchildren, are learning, and so it's going to be a teaching for the small ones and for our children and our children's children."

We've been working in Madagascar with an indigenous community in the South Androy region. The community produced six extraordinary films. They live with no electricity, TV or cameras and yet they took to it with ease and grace, and the films they produced were beyond all our expectations.

We had community screenings at the end of the project, and the films are now being shown regionally and nationally, and used as a lobbying tool with decision makers to support changes needed in the community.

Have a look at them at www.panos.org.uk/survivalstrategies. From this page, you can click on the link to Hidden Voices to see the films.