Abhivyakti is engaged in many activities with different sections of society, most of whom belong to marginalised communities. Some of our main activities are:
The transition to community video idea evolved as we gained experience. Having worked as producer of video documentaries on social issues for many years, we began to realise that as story-tellers we are still outsiders. Being outsider is a comfortable position. The issue doesn’t belong to us, nor do the struggle and hardships people face. While contemplating how to bridge this divide, the idea of community video emerged. The idea was to equip the communities with the know-how of digital story-telling and creating an enabling environment which fostered creation of video stories from the people themselves.
These videos can be seen on – https://www.youtube.com/user/Abhivyaktimedia1987
Abhivyakti organises short term as well as long term training workshops on a variety of issues related to communication skills, media skills, leadership, team building, trainer effectiveness, organisational effectiveness, self-development and tailor-made trainings suited to the needs of grassroots organisations and groups. Our aim is to facilitate learning in participative and effective ways. We either organise or announce trainings and workshops on our own initiative, or we collaborate with other organisations to build their teams’ capacities. We also work in schools to strengthen the learning processes of students and enable teachers to make the teaching-learning environment more child-centred and effective.
Abhivyakti has a long history of publishing print material in form of journals, newsletters, booklets, manuals, and more. We collaborate with other organisations and provide them with content development and documentation resources. We research, visit, interview and document case studies which are then published as per the needs of our partners.
We are part of many networks in Maharashtra and India, which have contributed to the deepening of our understanding of society. We have also started advocating for the rights of marginalised communities using different media and communication technology. Our approach to advocating for the grassroots is through a decentralized network of exchanges that mobilise and circulate the knowledge and praxis of marginalized communities. We also dialogue and exchange important information with our network of grassroots partners, media functionaries, and civil society organisations from time to time. This network connects individuals and institutions together, build their capacities, and encourage them to become transmitters of grassroots knowledge, praxis and advocate for the demands of those who have been rendered voiceless on the margins.
We understand that many grassroots organisations and small groups need assistance in making their organisations more effective. We provide consultancy on programmatic, financial and administrative services that strengthen the capacities of the organisations and enhance their organisational effectiveness.
We have a functional Media Resource Centre in our office in Nashik, open to students, civil society, schools, and colleges, NGO’s from Maharashtra, and media activists. Our collection includes books on various social issues, documentary films, children’s films, audio cassettes, puppet scripts, posters, flash cards and flannel stories for different communities.
