austraLasia #2807
Communication ... from Cambodia to Colombia
by Albeiro Rodas sdb (Salesian missionary in Cambodia
now on holidays at home in Medellin)
MEDELLIN (Colombia) 19 February 2011 --Last November,
Laura Villadiego, a reporter from EFE (Spanish language News
Agency, equivalent to Reuters, or API in English), visited
the Social Communication and Journalism Section of Don Bosco
Technical School in Sihanoukville. The resulting article, Periodismo
joven en el corazón de Camboya (Youthful
journalism in the heart of Cambodia) was reproduced by
newspapers in Spain, Colombia and Mexico, such as El
Mundo and El Tiempo. The Spanish media was
amazed at how Don Bosco Tech had managed to open a school of
journalism and communication in a country with not a few
difficulties in freedom of expression and at how young
people from vulnerable communities were able to access
technologies and information.
The attention of the press attracted the
attention of the radio and I received some calls from
Colombian radio stations wanting to know about the project.
Before returning on holidays to Medellín (a journey
that took some 50 hours from Phnom Penh, through Bangkok,
Frankfurt and Bogotá), I was contacted by
Medellín City Mayor. 'Could you offer some workshops
in communication to our Fuerza Joven programme?' My
answer, as a Salesian, was of course 'yes'.
'Fuerza Joven' (Youth Force) is a
program set up by Medellín's Mayor for young
people from the poorest quarters of the city, victims of
urban violence or vulnerable youth who might otherwise end
up in gangs.
Don Bosco Parce
I called my experience with Fuerza Joven,
Don Bosco Parce. 'Parce' is Colombian Spanish slang
for 'friend' in Medellín. Every morning a car from
the municipality with some program leaders pick me up from
the family home in Barrio Castilla and bring me to another
barrio in the city to meet a group of youths involved in a
re-socialisation program. I asked however that the groups be
small, between 15 and 20 each so the youngsters could better
profit from the experience.
I begin with a cultural exposition
about Cambodia and our communication training program for
young people like them. These Medellín youth from the
poorest barrios - portrayed very often by the media as
violent and the inspiration of several movies on urban
violence - are obviously quite curious about this
'newcomer'. Then the stories of young people like them,
living precisely on the other side of the planet (Cambodia
is 12 hours time difference from Colombia), gradually draw
their attention. Many of them have more than one tattoo on
their bodies and now they want their names in Khmer!
After the cultural section on Cambodia
and many questions from my 'parces', we come to the
communication workshop. I explain to them that we cannot not
communicate. Everything in our society means communication
and every community develops its own codes of information.
Then I explain what I manage in Cambodia
in our social communication and journalism section: What
must we communicate? On which bases do we develop our
communication in a country like Cambodia or Colombia, in
cities like Medellín and Sihanoukville?
What must we, as young people, communicate?
There are four elements we, as young people, must
communicate in order to improve our standard of life, make
peace and exchange our gangs for video cameras, Internet,
etc.
1. Hope: In contemporary society our
movies, radio, press and information rarely offer us hope.
Medellín, for example, has been a victim of an
international portrayal by the media as a violent city,
ignoring the many hopeful things we have and our talents. We
should communicate hope for our society with our values and
talents. We should show our cities, as young habitants of
it, to the world.
2. Development: We talk about improving
our standard of life as a right for everybody. Development
is a responsibility of governments, but it must also be
everybody's commitment. We young people contribute to the
development of our community, city and country when we
dedicate time to be a good young man or woman. We are a good
citizen when we study, when we have good ambitions and grow
with ideals.
3. Tenderness: This might sound a
little odd for Latin American culture. In Asia, tenderness
is a natural element in society. A Cambodian man, for
example, is able to appreciate beauty without compromising
his manhood. Tenderness means beauty and aesthetics. The
transformation of Medellín is a good example over the
last two decades. We have built great parks, libraries and
tourist compounds in poor and marginal places that made the
city more attractive and international. For this reason,
Medellín was selected as a world model of social
inclusion by the UN Habitat Agency in Shanghai last October.
When you visit a beautiful place, your attitude changes. You
become peaceful and kind. Dostoievski said that beauty will
save us.
4. Tolerance: We should communicate
tolerance. It is respect for the other as he or she is. We
give importance to humanity. We love everybody because every
person is a son or daughter of God, so everybody is my
brother and my sister. People can think differently, but it
might not be a limit to friendship and living together.
A video showing both sides of the planet: images of Don
Bosco and Dominic Savio at Moore Street, downtown
Medellín.
To end the workshop, we create a video.
The Parceros of Medellín send messages and
questions to their Cambodian peers in Sihanoukville. They
talk about their city and their own traditions. In April,
once I cross three continents once more, back to Cambodia, I
will film the Cambodian youth answering and sharing with
their Medellín friends. The purpose is to produce a
video that we are going to publish on Youtube and Facebook.
We hope that these experiences of
communication with young people will bring good results to
our societies. I offered the municipality of Medellín
the possibility of a youth program like this, also with
something else in mind. The social communication and
journalism section's aim is to create leaders in
communication to multiply the experience. It would be a
dream to create a Don Bosco Parce social
communication section in Medellín if we get the
required support. Don Bosco dreams all the time... all the
time...
_________________
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