Silence Speaks: Multimedia Storytelling in Republic of Congo

According to organisers, the digital story workshops blend oral history, popular education, and participatory media production, enabling people to create short videos about their own lives and stories that may otherwise go unheard. Methods are modified to accommodate languages, literacy levels, and technologies in a given setting, and emphasise reflection on the implications of bringing sensitive personal narratives into the public sphere. Following careful informed consent processes, stories are shared locally and globally, as strategic tools for training, community mobilisation, and policy advocacy to promote well-being, gender equality, and human rights.

Organisers say a key piece of the participant recruitment process involved informing interested women from the outset that their stories were intended for public sharing. Most of the women who participated had less than a sixth grade education and had never had access to any media-making tools. In order to design a workshop process that would be empowering rather than intimidating, and take into account local technology limitations, organisers focused the participatory aspect on photography and drawing rather than on the use of computers.

Prior to the four-day workshop session, UNDP staff carried out an orientation for the women to go over the purpose of the project and describe what would happen in the construction of stories. Each participant was given a disposable camera, and UNDP offered a short training session on photography basics and camera use.

Several weeks later, the women gathered for the workshop to share and record stories, draw illustrations and shoot additional photos and videos on-site. Participants turned in their cameras, and afterwards the photos were developed and edited into short videos and radio spots.

Conflict, Digital Story

According to organisers, although time and resource limitations made it impossible to do focused interviewing with the participants about how they felt in the aftermath of sharing their stories, the sense of relief and pride was palpable on the last day of the session. One participant explained that she felt the testimonials will help raise awareness about the consequences of war, and help other women who are suffering around the world.

Since the Silence Speaks initiative began in 1999, organisers have coordinated more than 40 projects across the United States, as well as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Congo-Brazzaville, South Africa, and Uganda. Silence Speaks is an international digital storytelling initiative supporting the telling and witnessing of stories that often remain unspoken. Silence Speaks is an initiative of the Center for Digital Storytelling.