Peru
Hearing the voices of children and adolescents in Peru Community cinema for social integration
“Randy has taught us that chamo is said to young people and not to all Venezuelans, that naguara is an expression of surprise, that rice with chicken in Venezuela is not green but yellow” says Maricielo, who migrated from the city of Huancayo to the city of Lima a few years ago, and who is participating in the short film “Randy’s Journey”, created, written, and directed by teenagers from El Nazareno School, in San Juan de Miraflores, located in the city of Lima. Just like Maricielo, there are approximately 50 girls, boys and young people who participated in the project Somos Comunidad, a community film project where they are the authors of their own stories, and who, using audiovisual tools and techniques can express their concerns and solutions to the problems they consider important. This project works with Peruvian and Venezuelan students to promote their integration and that of the educational community. This initiative is part of the Monarch Butterfly program, which is implemented by the Peruvian Red Cross, with the support of IFRC, UNHCR and the European Union. Work was carried out in two schools, one with primary and one with secondary students. The students learned – during the course of a week – audiovisual techniques so that they could make their own short films. The first step was the choice of themes, in the case of the primary school children they decided to work on racism, school bullying and class difference; for the secondary school students it was migration, class difference and gangs. After selecting the topics, and a technical training, they developed the videos, and then had a presentation in front of the whole school community. “That the students tell you ‘they tell us that we are the future and I’m going to show you that we are the future, because we are really the ones who can make that change,’ and that people of such a young age explain it to you, seems to me to speak of a very hopeful future,” says Carolina Martin of La Combi – rolling art, who was in charge of the audiovisual workshops.
24
