"Aswatuna" Media Training
Palestinian youth gather around the recording equipment
at Shoruq’s Media Center and watch closely as Ala’a Al Kurdi, a professional
sound engineer, shows them how to conduct and edit their own radio interviews. Today
is the 4th workshop of the “Our
Voices” program, run by Shoruq Organization with support from the European
Union, and the students are learning how to use advanced media tools in order
to support their advocacy projects.
“Our Voices” is a three-month
program that brings together Palestinian youth, ages 18 – 26, to develop
advanced media skills and use media to advocate for issues of concern to the
refugee community. Fifteen youth from across Palestine are participating in
this program, with the majority coming from refugee camps. Most of the youth
are students and young professionals, who are currently either studying media
or working in media.
The program aims to both develop media skills of
Palestinian young professionals as well as help them use media for advocacy
purposes. The youth focus on using broadcast media to change stereotypes
associated with refugees and refugee camps in Palestine as well as raise issues
that are important to the refugee community. Because many people locally and internationally look at refugees in a less privileged prospective way. In the program, youth study and
dialogue about advocacy messages as well as learn advanced media skills through
theoretical and practical workshops. These workshops train participants on
topics ranging from writing and recording programs to editing and managing
sound to designing community advocacy. At the
end of the program, Palestinian participants will produce pieces for local
radio programs.
In today’s workshop, the youth spent six hours learning
about advanced media tools, including recording equipment, media studio, and
sound mixer, from their trainer and professional sound engineer, Ala’a Al
Kurdi. After gaining the technical knowledge, the youth quickly applied it to
their own projects, conducting interviews and editing them in the workshop. From
within Shoruq’s Media Center and beyond, these Palestinian youths are raising
their voices to effect change in their community.
Shoruq Organization was founded in 2012 based on the
values and principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and The
Convention on the Rights of a Child. Shoruq aims to support refugees to strive
individually and collectively to achieve and exercise their rights, including
the right of return to their lands of origin and the right to live in dignity.
Shuroq’s Media Centers organizes trainings each year in different areas of the media.