Ooijpolder Soundscape

Monday, 07 May 2012 18:09

Spring has started in the Ooijpolder and the birds know it.

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Migration and Citizenship

Friday, 25 November 2011 14:20

What are the essential human rights of people that arrive in France? And how do they build their own social network and create their place in the community? The short movie 'Migration and Citizenship' in France is part of the EU-Relay project I participated in earlier this year.

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Women's daily lives in the Niger Delta - a documentary

Sunday, 25 September 2011 18:51

Clouds were hanging heavily over Port Harcourt when we arrived on the first day. And predicted that the rainy season was still going strong. A raincoat won't help, 'cause you're getting wet inside even quicker from your own sweat than from the rain. It's hot and very humid.

One year later and the girls are back in town for a reunion. We're back in Yenagoa, a town in the Niger Delta. Last year nine young women from the Niger Delta were part of an action learning trajectory. They were trained in gender, human rights, research and video making. Part of the results were nine short documentaries they made.

This time we're aiming to make a catchy documentary about the human rights situation in the Niger Delta. And one that radically differs from the usual stories about violence, conflict and kidnapping. Most important: the production of the documentary is participatory based. It means that some of last year's participants will become the film crew, and all of them are involved in deciding about lead characters and related themes.

A 3-days follow up video workshop will be the start of the documentary preparation trajectory that takes till half October. Updates about the process are available at FLL's website.

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Immigration in 'la douce France'

Tuesday, 17 May 2011 10:45

Camera, check, sound, check, fuel, check. Off we go to France, to make a video item about migration and citizenship as part of the EU-relay.

Migration takes many different forms and the French team (Intercultura) introduced us to some practical examples. In Rennes, capital city of the province Brittany in France, a squatting house serves as a shelter for 60-70 persons from different origins. Volunteers provide them with support and information. While interviewing the director of the involved organization and a volunteer, some mattresses were brought and a woman was washing her clothes.

Marie-Léonie, a Congolese French woman who is retired, told us about her experiences in France where she arrived in 1977 with her children. The dramatic changes in Zaire (as the Democratic Republic of Congo -DRC- was called at that time) forced her to stay in France. It took more than ten years before she obtained the French nationality. She experienced quite some difficulties, which strengthened her conviction to help other newcomers from DRC and neighboring countries.

In Saint Brieuc a representative of the Conseil Général explained us about their activities to support migrants. And at a market in Rennes, we heard interesting opinions of persons who represent the melting-pot of current France: according to themselves, they are 'citizens du monde'. Unfortunately this positive approach is sometimes clouded by opinions of other citizens who reduce them to stereotypes about muslims.

Along with these rich encounters the French team introduced us to the local food and drinks: moules et frites, beaucoup des entrecotes, crêpes et galettes - et bien sûr de cidre.

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Younmindz in the media

Friday, 01 April 2011 12:13

Youngmindz recently initiated a small-scale qualitative research into the opinion of Moroccan Dutch young people about homosexuality. With Manskracht I analyzed the interviews and wrote the report. The research gained a lot of attention from media, amongst others from the Volkskrant of 24 March 2011.

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