A canvas for our work got created when a women’s federation with an inspiring history wished to capture their story. This was the first project that we undertook as Vriddhi in April 2017.
Thus came about the film – No Small Change – stories of women who stand tall. This was our first project as Vriddhi. One could not have asked for a better beginning. An ex colleagues Narender Kande, with whom we have worked for over 15 years now, Neelanjana Bannerjee, a co-fellow from the Chevening Gurukul Program and I worked over a few sessions of brainstorming identified what was unique about the SPMS story.
As happens with great work, this was a good statement about also what was sectorally very relevant. Enterprise, Housing, Vulnerability. The process of the research involved reading about the challenges for urban poor. It was no surprise that these challenges – access to credit, housing, social security and sense of solidarity were also the key interventions made by SPMS. The shoot followed soon. In the process I realized how much it was really friendships that had helped these women – giving support to each other when they were broken, as much emotional as financial. They built these friendships as they worked together in cluster associations and the federation.
Many development sector stories are more about the larger message – the organization, the promoter, the donor, the bigger message – weaving the stories of impact at the community level to make their point. It has been our experience that communication can play a critical role in accelerating change. If you believe that people are fundamentally enterprising and willing to take charge, then communication done in a way that talks to them and their concerns can be very powerful in that translation from intent to action. Community to community sharing of experiences is a long tried and tested tool for effective extension and motivation. With film and communication products, this gets another dimension. You are not just putting a story out, you are putting forward a possibility. Communication that captures the human story – not just the technicality of the intervention – can deeply inspire and trigger action.
We made one overall film and then detailed films for each of the other dimensions. The film went on to win an award at the film festival of films on Rural Development organized by National Institute of Rural Development.
SPMS used it for dialogue among its members as also to the many who have been coming to visit it. It was recently also dubbed in Hindi.
The film and the story was captured in an article on The Better India.
